Keeping Yourself Healthy through Knitting Benefits

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how knitting benefits the lives of so many. As a knitter, you’re probably well aware of the wonderful qualities of knitting, what keeps us coming back to it. You may not directly tell yourself all the reasons why you love to knit, and why you’re so drawn to it, but instinctively, I’m sure that all you knitting readers feel these reasons and these benefits. But life can be difficult. We can get busy. We may suffer tragedy or hardship. One of our loved ones might be traveling through a difficult season and need us so much that we think any time not spent helping them is time wasted. Perhaps for these, or any number of other reasons, you feel exhausted or in great pain. At times like this, it is sadly all too easy for us to say, “You know what, I just have far better things to do with my time than knit.” I know I’ve said it, or at least thought it. Too often I think of knitting as a luxury, or at least not something that I necessarily must do every day. And so at times I set aside my knitting, thinking “this is a frivolous thing that I should not be doing right now. I should be doing x, y, and z instead.”) Have you ever felt this way? If so, today I want to challenge you to think otherwise: that such times may be exactly when we must knit. We must! Because knitting is truly good for us. Not just simply in a feel-good way, but in a healing and restorative way. Not sure what I mean? Let me give you some examples. The Healing Powers of Knitting This Is Your Brain on Knitting: This fascinating CNN article lists a variety of medical benefits relating to the brain that you can receive from knitting. These benefits include relieving stress, fighting inflammation, creating dopamine (the body’s natural anti-depressant), increasing our ability to meet challenges and overcome disappointments, and even fighting the aging of the brain. Make Room for Men: This article is about male knitters who fight the stereotype of knitting being a “women’s hobby.” But within this article, you’ll see anecdotal evidence of the information in the CNN article, as the Director of Product Research and Development of Skacel Collection (a yarn distribution company) describes how knitting has improved his life. A Young Male Knitter’s Journey to the Contemplative Hobby: More of the same here, though this is a beautifully written, almost lyrical article. This particular male knitter describes the relaxation benefits he derives from knitting, as well as his ability to show love through his knitting. How Knitting Changed My Life: No hyperbole here, this woman’s life really did change through knitting. Much of it was due to the new sense of purpose and passion she discovered through knitting. Don’t Stop Knitting! It Keeps You Healthy: Finally, to wrap up, here’s a marvelous blog post from Katherine Martinko outlining precisely what kind of health benefits knitting offers, and why you shouldn’t stop for longer than you must! In order to bring good to the world around us, it is important that we do all we can to stay healthy. Part of staying healthy includes finding ways through the storms of life. I hope that this collection of articles has shown you that you really should continue to knit, even when times are hard. Knitting benefits really can improve your health and keep you healthy!