A stressed mind resembles a tangled ball of yarn, often difficult to untie.
There are many ways to calm your mind, one of which is setting your hands a simple, mostly repetitive task.
This is how we can start crocheting, knitting, ceramics, drawing, painting, weaving by hand, writing by hand using paper, pencil or a pen, colouring books, making hand made jewelry, etc..
Working with our hands brings us a number of benefits on an individual level (and also collectively).
Some of these benefits on an individual level are:
- Calming the mind
- Reducing stress, as manual activity requires concentration and focus
- Personal satisfaction/accomplishment – by creating a piece with our own hands we realize that we are capable of starting a project, developing it and finishing it, and this is so rewarding
- Developing new techniques and manual skills
- Learning new subjects, which creates more neural connections in our brain, and stimulates dopamine in our body, which is an essential neurotransmitter for reinforcing reward
- Exercising and expanding our creativity
- Connecting with people having similar interests
In my personal experience, when I started drawing again and began attending painting classes, many years ago, I lost, without realizing it and therefore without making any effort, a habit that I had had since I was a child and which I had fought against for years without success: the habit of biting my nails.
I’ ve had many benefits since then and still do: ongoing learning, stress reduction, the creation of a new space where I can focus, calm my mind and exercise my creativity, allowing me to design projects, develop and finish them, contributing to my personal fulfillment.
There’s something very satisfying about creating pieces/works with your own hands, however simple they may be at first.
In addition, I have met and still meet new people with the same interests as me and this contributes to magnify the senses of sharing and belonging, so essential to a meaningful life.
Reference books:
- “Calm, Secrets to Serenity from Cultures of the World”, Lonely Planet
- “ How to stay sane: The School of Life”, Philippa Perry
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