Sewing and Relaxing: The Calming Effects of Creating Something

Sewing and Relaxing: The Calming Effects of Creating Something

Do you love to sew? I do. However, it’s not because I enjoy making beautiful things for myself and others. You may not realize it, but sewing and relaxing are deeply connected. There are many reasons to get on that sewing machine!

Do you know what is considered your body’s most considerable muscle? Well, it’s your brain. When you sew, your mind will be active in ways recognized medically, some related to sewing and relaxing. For instance, a person who suffers from chronic pain will find that their pain decreases when they sew.

If you’re a person suffering from mental health issues, sewing is an activity that may help you. For that reason, you may want to try it.

Whatever your age, sewing is something that has many benefits to offer. It will not only help you with your health, but it will help you with your memory. It’s also effortless to learn. Therefore, knowing the benefits of sewing will undoubtedly convince you to try to use stitching as a way to stay calm and healthy.

Sewing and Relaxing: Relieving Stress and Anxiety

When you concentrate on sewing, your current project will engross you. This meditation will bring on feelings of relaxation, also encouraging positive thoughts. The practice will also reduce your anxiety and stress as you unwind and become immersed in your sewing project.

Sewing Makes You Feel Happy

Stitching increases the amount of dopamine in your brain. Dopamine is a chemical, known as a neurotransmitter, that causes brain cells to send messages to each other. When you have high levels of dopamine in your body, the activity you’re practicing is more pleasure. This dopamine caused by sewing increase will cause you to feel happier.

Sewing Exercises Your Brain

Your brain needs to exercise regularly to stay sharp. Stitching helps to keep our minds in good condition by keeping it active.

At one time, doctors believed that a person’s brain stopped developing past the age of 20. However, researchers now think that doing crafts such as sewing a person’s brain function can improve as they age.

Sewing Builds Self-Confidence

If you want to be successful in life, you must have positive thoughts about yourself. In other words, you must have self-confidence. Sewing may seem simple, but it can help you build that.

When you’ve finished sewing a skirt or shirt after working on it for a long time, don’t you feel great? Sure you do. Using a pattern and working through a project gives a person a fantastic feeling of accomplishment. This accomplishment feeling will undoubtedly improve both your confidence and self-esteem. Having faith in yourself can make other difficult hurdles in your life easier to overcome.

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that you can benefit from sewing in many ways. For instance, people who sewed had a stronger cognitive sense than those who didn’t. Their social and emotional well-being were also found to be better. This study conducted by the University of Glasgow also found that the self-esteem of people who sewed got a boost.

Sewing Helps to Prevent Dementia

If you’re an older person, you will be happy to know that stitching can help by preventing dementia. Even if you’re not in your senior years yet, sewing can train your mind to be active. If your brain is exercising now, it will be stronger in your later years.

Your doing crafts such as sewing can reduce your risk of getting dementia. The Mayo Clinic conducted a study of people over the age of 85, and reported the following in an article:

  • “Painting, drawing, and sculpting in old age may protect against dementia.”
  • They also found that people “who had taken part in arts were 73 percent less likely to have suffered memory or thinking problems.
  • Crafters were 45 percent less likely to have mild cognitive impairment while socializing lowered the risk by 55 percent.
  • Regular Internet or computer users reduced their risk of memory problems by 53 percent.

Sewing Encourages Creative Thinking

When working on a sewing project, you must apply creative thinking, which will, in turn, lead you to try new things. Once you experience solving problems with creative thinking, you are more apt to use it in other areas of life.

A recent CNN article titled “This Is Your Brain on Crafting” reported the beliefs of Csikszentmihalyi by saying, “When we are involved in creativity, we feel that we are living more than during the rest of life . . . You know that what you need to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger.” It seems that the key to happiness can be sewing. So why not just keep on sewing?

Sewing Combats Depression

A mood disorder such as depression can cause a person to suffer from a constant and persistent feeling of sadness. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression is a common mental disorder in the United States.

Symptoms of a Major Depressive Episode

  • A person may have pessimistic or hopeless feelings.
  • Their mood is persistently sad and anxious.
  • They lose interest in once pleasurable activities like hobbies or sex.
  • The person has constant feelings of guilt, helplessness, or worthlessness.
  • Their energy has decreased.
  • They have a hard time remembering, concentrating, or making decisions.
  • They have insomnia or they’re oversleeping.
  • They have thoughts of death or suicide.
  • They either have a low appetite causing weight loss, or their overeating causes weight gain.
  • They can be restless or irritable.
  • They persistently suffer from digestive disorders, headaches, and pain with no other cause diagnosed.

Treatment that includes both psychological counseling and medication helps most people suffering from depression. However, other treatments can also help people going through mood disorders. Experts are currently studying the health benefits of doing crafts such as sewing.

Sewing is receiving recognition as a way to fight depression. It does this by reducing your stress as it calms your mind.

Sewing Improves Your Hand-Eye Coordination

Since tailoring requires you to work with a needle and thread for hours, it naturally develops your motor skills. By doing this, you will improve your hand-eye coordination. With better hand-eye coordination, lots of life’s tasks will become easier.

Sewing Improves Your Heart Rate and Lowers Your Blood Pressure

The Home Sewing Association conducted a study of how sewing affects blood pressure and pulse. The study’s findings were that sewing not only lowered a person’s blood pressure, but it also decreased the number of heartbeats by 11 beats.

Sewing and Relaxing: The Secret

What’s the key to total happiness? Does anyone know? However, by doing creative activities such as sewing, you may be on your way to understanding the secret to complete satisfaction. In any case, you can avoid anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, depression, and dementia as you build self-confidence and creativity by sewing.

Did you like this post on sewing and relaxing and can’t wait to get started? At The Inspired Sewist, we have all the materials you need to delve into the beautiful world of stitches. We provide our customers with counseling and lessons to help them understand this beautiful craft better. Contact us for more information!