A couple of years ago 3,500 people around the world participated in a psychological
study... on knitting. More than 80% of participants reported that knitting made them feel more
calm, happy and less stressed compared to before they took up the hobby. Sure, they
had probably made a bunch of cute hats and socks, but it was the actual process of doing
the needle-loop-stitch and being creative that led to these warm and fuzzy feelings.
Research shows that activities like playing a musical instrument, craft and solving crossword
puzzles can make people feel more calm, happy and less stressed.
In stressful situations, like having a mountain of work, going through a break-up or running
out of tacos, your stress response kicks in. The brain sends stress-hormone signals through
nerve pathways that tell your body to go into fight or flight mode.
Even if we overcome our stressful situation, feelings like anxiety and restlessness can
hang around.
When you're practicing something that's rhythmic and repetitive, like playing an instrument
or the needle-loop-stitch of knitting, it can induce a relaxation response. It's sort
of the opposite of fight or flight. The relaxation response leads to calm feelings, relaxed muscles
plus a decrease in blood pressure and your breathing rate.
One study showed that when this response was induced in participants, it changed their
gene expression, what dictates our optimal health or illness. The genes that turned on
in the study are linked to improving the batteries in your cells, better managing blood sugar
and slowing aging.
Anything that breaks the train of everyday thought can evoke the relaxation response—yoga
and meditation included.
But activities like knitting also use several areas of your brain, involving functions like
paying attention, planning, processing sensory and visual information, storing memories and
coordinating precision and timing of movement. Accessing all areas stimulates the connections
between your nerve cells and keeps those connections quick and efficient. As we age, the more we
use these connections the more our brains keep fit, and we can even prevent illnesses
like dementia.
For creative, rhythmic and repetitive activities, the benefits show a pretty logical pattern.
A few weeks ago I came across this project called neural knitworks, where my local art
gallery is crowdsourcing knitted neurons that they'll use to build a huge brain. If there
are any other cool projects like this you know about, please share them with me in the
comments! And if you want to knit a neuron, there's a link to the project and pattern
in the description. It might just be good for your neurons too.