🧠 Knitting for a Better Brain

The wellness of knitting

On the surface, knitting is a wonderful craft that brings us joy, helps us connect with people and, at the end, we usually have something beautiful to wear. But the benefits of knitting go well beyond that. The act of knitting engages our brains in many ways that benefit our wellbeing.

Today we're exploring what happens in our brains when we knit and how it helps us stay sharp, creative and calm.

Cognitive workout

When we knit, we activate areas of our brains that process problem-solving, sensory and visual information, creative planning and hand-eye coordination. Accessing these areas can help strengthen neural pathways, keeping them quick and effective as we age.

In a 2011 study, researchers found that people who engage in crafts such as knitting and quilting have a lower chance of developing cognitive impairment and memory loss by as much as 50%.

A meditative state

A rhythmic pattern would make any knitter happy. Think of a shawl or any project with fun repetition that has put you in the zone and how relaxed that made you feel.

Dr. Herbert Benson, author of “The Relaxation Response,” says that the repetition of crafts like knitting can induce a relaxed state similar to meditation and yoga. Once you get past the initial intricacies of the pattern, your heart rate, blood pressure and levels of cortisol lower, reducing stress.

Confidence boost

Few things compare to the feeling of accomplishment you get when casting off a project. Creating something tangible with your hands is proof of a skill learnt, problems solved, creative decisions you had to make and countless hours of fun.

Completing a knitted project (and even working on it before its finished!) gives you a sense of purpose and a confidence boost that builds resilience.

Reduces overthinking

When my sister was feeling anxious on her last year of uni, I did what any knitter would do and recommended she pick up knitting. Knitting may not be the solution to all our problems but it reduces overthinking when our worries are beyond our control.

In a 2009 study, 38 women recovering from anorexia were given knitting classes and supplies. 74% of them reported it cleared their fears and a reduced preoccupation while 53% reported it gave them a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Pain relief

When we focus on knitting and the creativity centre of our brain lights up, other parts are shutting down; particularly the "orientation association area" of the temporal lobe says Peg Baim (the clinical director for training at the Mind/Body Institute at Harvard). When people participate in a meditative activity like knitting, they shut off spatial awareness as well as the orientation of one's body in space. This can account for the "sense of timelessness we experience and an expansion beyond ego boundaries."

In a study of 60 self-selected people with chronic pain, they reported that knitting enabled them to redirect their focus reducing their awareness of pain.

We hope you enjoyed learning about what goes on in our brains when we knit. We sure did!

It's so reassuring to see that many of the benefits of knitting that we've experienced have scientific findings to back them up. Can you think of any other benefits or times when knitting has helped you?

Happy Knitting 🤗
xx Camila and The Loopine Team