Its amazing just how many benefits there are from getting creative and doing a little stitching. Last week I shared ten reasons why stitching is good for us - and they were focused on the psychological benefits. You can read that post here, and in this blog post I am focusing on the physical benefits of sewing.
Stitching improves Hand-Eye Coordination
1. Improves Hand-Eye Coordination
Hand-eye coordination is important not only for our cognitive development but also for our physical well-being. Because sewing involves cutting along straight and curved lines and managing fabric while the machine is working, your spatial perception is bound to improve. Additionally, if you’re hand sewing something, you’d be forced to be even more in tune with your work with the added awareness of where the needle needs to be placed, and the hands need to work together to move the needle through the fabric. The more you sew, the more your hand-eye coordination can improve.
2. Helps Develop and Maintain Proper Posture
Most of us have found that hunching over is somewhat difficult when we’re sitting and sewing. I recommend you can using your sewing time to practice proper posture. Sitting upright will also help any back pain and headaches you get as a result of tension.
The benefits of proper posture will carry over into other tasks in your daily life. So you’ll find yourself sitting and standing upright more often overall.
3. Keeps Your Fingers Nimble
It makes sense that when we use our fingers in any capacity it will make our hands stronger.
Studies have shown that people who are suffering from arthritis have also found sewing soothing because the repetitive motions soften the joints over time. Regular physical activity can keep the muscles around affected joints strong, decrease bone loss and may help control joint swelling and pain. Regular activity replenishes lubrication to the cartilage of the joint and reduces stiffness and pain.
Regular use of our fingers will also increase our dexterity as well.
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4. Lowers High Blood Pressure
The many psychological benefits you receive from taking your time to focus as you sew are truly plentiful., as outlined in my previous post. Stitching is a form of active meditation, and Harvard studies have shown that meditation lowers stress and blood pressure.
5. Improves Mood
Because of the various mental health benefits of sewing we may also notice an increase in our daily energy levels. Less stress and more dexterity leads to a much better mood overall - not to mention that feeling of satisfaction when you complete a project.
6. Helps the Immune System
When we’re happier and our body has more energy, we also feel much stronger overall. This can contribute to a stronger immune system, which helps us fight off disease and viruses.
Scientific evidence suggests that being happy may have major benefits for your health. For example, being happy promotes a healthy lifestyle. It may also help combat stress, boost your immune system, protect your heart and reduce pain. What's more, it may even increase your life expectancy.
So, sewing can actually make us healthier in a very real way — by keeping us from getting sick in the first place.
7. Fights Dementia
Because sewing improves our dexterity and focus, and quite often we are learning new techniques or problem solving as we go, evidence suggests that people who sew experience dementia and age-related brain deterioration to a much lesser degree. After all, the brain is an organ like any other. If you don’t use it and challenge it (exercise it by doing new or different things) often, it will waste away naturally.
Sewing provides the perfect way to exercise our brain a little bit. Between the math and the project organization, this hobby can easily become our lifeline.
So, to summarise, sewing is not just a self indulgent act of creating something beautiful, it can also be a form of self care for our physical and emotional well-being.
