These crafts are the creative way to practice mindfulness
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- Megan Murray
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Let your creativity run wild and embrace the craft trends growing in popularity for promoting mindfulness.
Knitting has long since earned back its cool points, with social knitting groups such as Stitch & Bitch populating quirky bars and vintage-looking cafes all over London and far beyond for years.
But as our need to switch off and zone out from our everyday lives continues to grow, other arts and crafts are being drawn into the limelight, no longer perceived as a passtime only for the elderly. We saw it with the rise of colouring books designed for mindfulness, and now Hobbycraft has reported that year on year sales figures of crafts with links to mental health are soaring.
Hobbycraft tells stylist.co.uk: “We are seeing more wellness benefits in crafting, leading to an increase in people taking up the skills to improve their wellbeing.” The brand reports that the influx in creativity is varied and widely spread, with an upturn in figures across a few different mediums including wool work, painting and jigsaws.
So which crafts should you be trying to be at the front of the latest wellness trend? We’ve looked into each one, to see how you can give it a go at home.
Crocheting
“Crafting has long since been proven to have a positive effect on health and wellbeing. In particular, the rhythmic and repetitive technique of knitting and crocheting is a relaxing way to distract the mind from everyday routine and anxieties,” Hobbycraft points out. And the latest activity along this thread (sorry) is crocheting, for which pattern sales have risen by 179%.
Similar to knitting, crocheting works by looping yarn, wool or thread together to form a pattern, but just in a slightly different style. Whereas knitting needles are long, crocheting uses a single hook and can create a more delicate pattern.
Hobbycraft sells a variety of patterns from animals to decorative squares, but we particularly like the look of Crochet Therapy, a book which combines the art of crochet with practical mindfulness techniques.
Paint by Numbers
Hobbycraft calls this the “new chosen craft to help stimulate mindfulness and relaxation” and reports that sales have increased by over 80%, a number which is reflected in Stylist HQ when at the mention of this rising trend many of the team enthusiastically admit they’ve tried it themselves.
If you’ve never heard of it before, Paint by Numbers is a type of craft book thats pages are filled with drawings left uncoloured, but with a number code detailing what colour each part of the picture should be. It takes all the thought out of what you’re doing, allowing your hands to move methodically through the picture while your brain takes a break as you follow the instructions.
Paint by Numbers books come in all kinds of styles, themes and levels, from the intricate to the simple.
Jigsaws
Jigsaws are famous for being a calming pass time, but with sales rising by 10% year on year it’s clear that they are getting even more popular. Thanks to the slow moving, methodical feel of completing a jigsaw, it’s the perfect activity if you just want to unwind and slow down your mind.
Start with something easy and build up to a bigger piece puzzle, and remember, always start from the edges!
Images: Getty