What are the health benefits of knitting?

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Knitting is in! It’s already been shown by celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe or Krysten Ritter, who have proven themselves to be loyal followers of this activity.

Some of the happiest countries in the world are Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, according to the ranking by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

What do these three countries have in common? They are countries of great knitters! Both men and women learn to make their own woolen knitted garments from the time they are small.

Besides scoring original and unique designs, like the ones we offer in our kits, knitting can improve your health through the benefits of practicing this hobby.

It’s been shown in numerous scientific studies that knitting offers many benefits for our health:

1) It exercises our memory. Every time we do something that we like, our brain releases dopamine– an excellent remedy against memory loss. Because knitting is what we like the most, we are improving our memory while we practice our favorite hobby!

2) It reduces our stress levels. The psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi from the University of Claremont, known for his studies related to happiness and creativity, says that “letting ourselves be carried away by an activity, makes us forget everything that is around us”. This disconnects us from our usual state. So, when we’re knitting, we focus on the knitwear that we’re creating, which helps us to tune out and reduces our stress.

3) It combats hyperactivity. Some studies also say that knitting helps people with hyperactivity. Taking up some needles and yarn allows you to release excess energy and concentrate on a single action.

In fact, knitting is one of the therapies used with children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), as it allows them to learn to become more aware of their own movements and thus be able to control them.

We encourage you to read this other article about children, in which we talk about how knitting can impact  their day to day.

 

4) It increases our degree of happiness. A recent study by The British Journal of Occupational Therapy, conducted on a sample of 3,500 knitters, yielded surprising results. It found that 81% of survey participants felt happier after knitting. In addition, more than 50% of the respondents said they felt very happy at the time of knitting. It’s been proven that we are happier when we’re knitting!

 

5) Knitting improves our self-esteem. This practice lets you overcome small challenges. You start out making  simple projects until you move on to more elaborate garments. Thanks to this, you generate greater confidence in yourself and express it when making decisions in all aspects of your life.

6)  Knitting also helps lower our heart rate because it makes us calm down and focus our attention on the needles and wool. It may seem like a mechanical process, but we assure you that even the most experienced knitter has to think about how to make her project.

 

In general, knitting more than a hobby. It’s an alternative way of caring for the body and the mind. As we’ve seen, knitting has many health benefits.

 

If our grandmothers were already tuning out the world by knitting, why shouldn’t we? Join #weareknitters! You’ll see how your life, and closet, grow in quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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