Forget Yoga – Here’s the best hobby for you who is stressed

For a long time it has been very popular with needlework such as crocheting and knitting, and on social media you can see more and more people jump on the trend. But it is actually that knitting is not only a creative trend, but also something that can promote your mental health.

In one study at the University of Gothenburg examined the occupational therapist and doctoral student Joanna Nordstrand How knitting affects people living with mental illness.

The study’s results showed that knitting is very good tools for a variety of reasons. It is a needlework that gives those who are doing it an perceived sense of an opportunity to unwind in everyday life.

Having knitting as a hobby also gives the practitioner an identity that can also place the person in a demanding social context. The activity can also create a structure in many people’s everyday lives, which the people feel good about.

Those who participated in the study also stated that knitting helps them sort out their thoughts that were perceived as clearer and easier while knitting.

– Those who knit have a creative leisure interest that can also help them manage their everyday lives and thus feel good. I am convinced that this is part of the answer to why so many people now stick, says Joanna Nordstrand.

Knitting can also strengthen the brain and memory, it states Henrik Jörntell that is professor of the brain’s sensorimotor functions to Svenska Dagbladet. He explains that the brain is driven by curiosity in order to figure out the world.

– To involve the body in its curiosity becomes stimulating in a different way than pure cognitive activities. It will be a very positive situation for the brain, says Henrik Jörntell.

By using your hands and brain together to solve the tasks in the knitting, you can both become calmer in everyday life and strengthen your brain.