The Healing Power of Crafts

Find a Hobby and Help Yourself De-Stress

by Nancy Monson

How do you relieve stress and decompress from everyday pressures? If you're like a whole lot of Americans, including actresses who play TV's Desperate Housewives, you craft.

"Thanks to their ability to tune you into yourself and your feelings, crafts clearly have physical, psychological and spiritual powers," says Gail McMeekin, M.S.W., author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and The Power of Positive Choices. In fact, one landmark study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and sponsored by the Home Sewing Association, showed that sewing was more relaxing than reading a newspaper, playing a videogame or playing a card game. According to the study's author, New York University psychologist Robert Reiner, Ph.D., the findings prove what crafters already know: Crafts de-stress. "The act of performing a craft is incompatible with worry, anger, obsession and anxiety," he says. "Crafts make you concentrate and focus on the here and now and distract you from everyday pressures and problems. They're stress-busters in the same way that meditation, deep breathing, visual imagery and watching fish are."

According to Harvard University mind/body expert, Herbert Benson, M.D., repetitive and rhythmic crafts such as knitting may even evoke what he calls the relaxation response, a feeling of bodily and mental calm that's been scientifically proven to improve health and reduce the risk of heart disease, anxiety and depression. "You can induce the relaxation response through any type of repetition, whether it's repeating a word, prayer or action, such as knitting or sewing," he notes. "The act of doing a task over and over again breaks the train of everyday thought, and that's what releases stress."

Reaping the Benefits
To tap into the healing power of crafts, follow these guidelines:

* Find a craft you love — the more rhythmic and repetitive, the better. Passion for a craft keeps you interested; the rhythmic and repetitive nature fosters the mind-body benefit. Knitting, sewing, crocheting, woodworking and other rhythmic crafts are great choices.

* Make time for your craft every week, and ideally every day. Don't think of crafting as a self-indulgence, but a medical necessity. "View your craft as if it were a medication that you need to take every day for optimal benefit," says Dr. Reiner. "If you stop taking the drug or doing the craft, you'll lose the benefit."

* Take a class to advance your skills. An added bonus: You'll meet other crafters. "Countless studies show that socializing with others is an effective way to release stress," says Dr. Reiner.

* Enjoy the process. "What you make is only the residue of how much fun you've had," says Diane Ericson, a fabric artist, teacher and creativity coach in Aptos, CA. The key is to revel in the task of creating — the fabric, the colors, the patterns, the new idea — rather than just mindlessly pushing to finish a project.

* Don't compare yourself to others. "That puts a damper on both your creativity and your enjoyment," warns Ericson. "Remember, you're on your own journey." Instead of measuring yourself against someone else's yardstick, try to find inspiration in the work of others.

If you do your craft for yourself and yourself alone, you'll have fun -- and you'll reap the healing benefits for your body, mind and soul.