Here is an article I found online about the benefits of craft. While this isn't a highbrow peer reviewed article, it still gives a nice little overview of some of the benefits.
My occupation of crochet definitely has saved my sanity over the last 6 months, reduced stress and energised my soul socialising with like-minded friends.
http://www.caringtoday.com/reduce-stress/reap-the-benefits-of-crafting
REAP THE BENEFITS OF CRAFTING
As a caregiver, finding time for yourself is more than a good idea—it’s a healthy one.
Over three-quarters of American households have at least one family
member who spends an average of 7.5 hours weekly engaged in crafting or
hobbies. But crafting is not only popular—even cool now that Julia
Roberts knits and a whole slew of celebrities, from Jennifer Aniston to
Tony Bennett, paint—it’s healthy. Crafting is a great way for caregivers
to help themselves. To tap into the healing power of crafts, follow
these guidelines:
Find a craft you love—the more rhythmic and repetitive, the better.
Passion for a craft keeps you interested, while the rhythmic and
repetitive nature confers the mind-body benefit. Knitting, sewing,
crocheting, woodworking and other rhythmic crafts are great choices.
Make time for your craft every week, and ideally every day.
Don't think of this time as a self-indulgence, but a medical necessity.
“View your craft as if it were a medication that you need to take every
day for optimal benefit,” says Robert Reiner, PhD, a New York
University psychologist whose landmark study documented the health
benefits of sewing and other leisure activities. “If you stop taking the
drug or doing the craft, you'll lose the benefit.”
“Even if it's difficult to schedule,” says Gail McMeekin, MSW, author of
The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and
The Power of Positive Choices,
“it's important to make time for crafts because they allow you to tune
into your body and your creativity, to release frustration and tap into
your deepest emotions.”
Create a space just for crafting. Set up a dedicated
craft space in your home rather than occasionally commandeering the
dining-room table. By doing so, you can craft whenever you have a few
moments to spare. Put your craft supplies in a basket or in the car, or
take over part of a room or office. Just try to find a space that is
yours alone.
Take a class to advance your skills. An added bonus:
You’ll meet other crafters. “Countless studies show that socializing
with others is an effective way to release stress,” says Dr. Reiner. “We
are social animals and we need to interact with other people to stay
healthy.”
It's also empowering to find a mentor who can offer guidance when you
need it. “Just make sure your mentor allows you to express yourself,
rather than dictating that you do things her way,” advises McMeekin.
“You want to release your creativity, not squash it.”
Find flow. “Flow,” a term coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, author of
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience,
describes a state of complete absorption and intense joy. When you're
in a state of flow, you lose track of time as you focus on the task at
hand—a feeling akin to an athlete’s “being in the zone.” Over the past
30 years, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi has studied 3,000 people to find out how
they achieve flow. Actively engaging in a craft about which you’re
passionate, he found, is one way to do it. Sedentary activities such as
watching television don't bring flow, but painting a landscape may.
The other key to achieving flow lies in setting goals. These benchmarks
should be challenging enough to keep you interested and involved, but
not impossible to achieve, says Dr. Reiner. You have to push yourself a
little bit to hone your skill. If the craft is too humdrum, you'll get
bored and stop.
Enjoy the process. Rather than focusing on the end
product, heed the process. "What you make is only the residue of how
much fun you’ve had," says Diane Ericson, a fabric artist, teacher and
creativity coach in Aptos, California. The key is to revel in the task
of creating, rather than just mindlessly pushing to finish a project.
“The act of performing a craft is incompatible with worry, anger,
obsession and anxiety, and that’s one of the ways in which we believe
crafts are healing,” adds Dr. Reiner. “Crafts make you concentrate and
focus on the here and now.”
Don't be a perfectionist. Yes, you want your craft to
challenge you. But don't go crazy. Many crafters tend to beat themselves
up if they do a less-than-stellar job, and end up negating the
health-promoting benefits. “Give yourself permission to be imperfect and
to play,” advises Ericson. “If you have to make a project just right,
you set yourself up with just one more chore to accomplish. You lose the
joy and the fun.”
There are no mistakes in creating, only lessons. “Many
inventions are the result of so-called mistakes,” notes McMeekin. “When
you suspend judgment, you open your mind to creating extraordinary
things.”
Don't compare yourself to others. “It can be deadly to
compare your work to that of others,” warns Ericson. “That puts a damper
on both your creativity and your enjoyment. Remember, you're on your
own journey.” So, instead of measuring yourself against someone else's
yardstick, try to find inspiration in the work of others. If you do your
craft for yourself and yourself alone, you'll have fun—and you'll reap
the healing benefits for your body, mind and soul.
This article is adapted with permission from
Craft to Heal: Soothing Your Soul with Sewing, Painting and Other Pastimes by Nancy Monson (Hats Off Books, 2005). All rights reserved.
