Do you find it difficult to find any blank spaces in your diary? Does your mind keep wandering? You get the feeling you can’t stop your thoughts? Do you plan the whole week consuming every hour of every day with endless tasks?
This overload of activity is what prevents you from resting and enjoying your day-to-day life. This is why you go to bed every night in anguish. Because your mind is still on all those tasks and thoughts.
We live in a hectic world. Constantly thinking about the past or anticipating the future.
If you feel identified, you really need to know how to apply Mindfulness into your daily life… and it turns out that crochet is VERY Mindful!
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness consists of living fully into the present moment, preventing our mind from making judgments about our thoughts, feelings, or sensations.
Mindfulness helps us to train our conscious attention in the present, to calm and relax our mind and body.
Crochet Therapy
I was reading an article a few days ago that got my attention.
Few studies have been done specifically on crafting, but neurologists are beginning to see how studies of cognitive activities, such as solving crossword puzzles, might also apply to those who make complex quilting patterns.
During a TED conference in 2004, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (a Hungarian-American psychologist) said: “When we are involved in something that requires creativity, we feel that we are living more fully than for the rest of our lives”.
“You know that what you need to do is possible to accomplish, even if it’s something difficult, so the feeling of time disappears. You forget about yourself. You feel part of something much bigger”.
Even today, years after I learned to crochet, I know that I can “lose” hours in a complex pattern.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi initially described this phenomenon as flow: a few moments in time when you are so absorbed by an activity that nothing else seems to matter. Flow, says Csikszentimihalyi, is the secret to happiness.
Doing any activity that helps you focus your attention on what you are doing right now is absolutely beneficial to your health. You will find out easily why Mindfulness and crochet are a perfect combination.
While you crochet, you concentrate on the project within your hands and you stop thinking about all the tasks and objectives you have already done or that you have pending. You stop judging the possible consequences and results of all those actions.
Mindfulness practice requires training to become a habit. I want to encourage you to crochet because it’s an activity that will truly help you by focusing on the present moment.
With a little practice every day, you will manage your time and your stress levels differently. This will allow you to rest every night and enjoy the little things in life.
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