Knitting is not only handicraft, it’s a meditative tool that comes with many benefits. The rhythmic and repetitive nature of knitting is what makes it a form of meditation. This nature helps keep the mind in the here and now. Why is that important? Keeping the mind focused on what’s going on right now takes focus off of things that can cause depression, stress, anxiety and even pain.

I know first hand how knitting can help deal with depression, stress and anxiety. In my early 30’s I had a rough few years as I struggled with a still birth, an infant loss, family deaths and postpartum depression. It was a bittersweet time. Amid the sadness was great joy at the birth of my two daughters. During this period of my life I was in therapy, on anti-depressants and I knit.. a lot. The therapy stopped. The anti-depressants stopped. The knitting continued. Knitting wasn’t new to me. I’ve been knitting since I was 8 years old, but for the first time in my life I needed to knit. Knitting became so important to me that I wanted to share my passion and in 2007 I started this blog. Today knitting continues helps me  with my mental health.

We want to fill our lives with good habits and rid ourselves of bad ones. Did you know that knitting can replace an undesirable habit? Wouldn’t be great to stop smoking and replace it with lace shawls and soft baby blankets? Of course it’s probably not quite that easy but some studies have shown it can help. One study conducted said that subjects with eating disorders who began knitting, obsessed less about their disorder while knitting. Basically it helped keep them think about something other then eating. So knitting can be a great way to replace a bad habit with a good one, that is as long as you don’t get addicted. – more on that later.

This is the end of part one of Knitting is Good for Your Soul. I will post part two next Friday. There will be four parts.

Credits will be included in the last part of the article.