knitting. knitting therapy – BACK PAIN BLOG UK…

With us all facing another lock-down it’s easy to become quite low and despondent about the whole situation. But what if you could turn things around and make it advantageous.

I am a very positive person even with all I have gone through and have to deal with I keep a smile on my face and stay as confident as I can as there is always someone else worse off than me. But, this last month has even left me feeling pretty desperate.

My life is my family and with the lockdowns in London just before Christmas and both my children have someone in their family working in London it meant spending Christmas on our own with FaceTime as something to look forward to daily.

On Monday when then PM announced the new lockdown measures due to the new strain of COVID spreading so fast it did make you feel quite unsafe about going out at all. We are lucky enough to live in the country and can go on walks and see only a handful of people but people living in the city do not have this option which makes it even harder for them.

My son and his wife decided last year they were going to move out of London and near us and his sister in West Sussex. Just before Christmas, their contract was exchanged and the secret I had been keeping for a while ( until they had exchanged) could be shared with the rest of the family. We were ecstatic and when we saw they were only 2 miles away from his sister which is only 10 miles from us I was on cloud nine.

My husband and I were also able to celebrate together that we were to become grandparents again this July. What more could anyone ask. I had a fixed grin for some weeks. Of course, the grin isn’t so wide now as we cannot help our daughter with her 18-month-old during her second pregnancy and we cannot help our son and his wife who move into their home next week.

So, donned with my pen and writing pad I started writing a few things down over the Christmas period of what I could make to help out my family without even being with them. I have always love craft things and last year I made my granddaughter a sensory book for her first birthday. All made out of felt with lots of touchy-feely things on each page like you can see on the photo above. It took me months to make but the pictures on the faces of my daughter and her husband were enough for me to feel every hour spent on it was worth the effort. I have a lovely video which lasts quite a while of my granddaughter playing with the book and I quite often pop it on as it always puts a smile on my face. If you want to see any more of some of the craft items I make, I have a regular ‘Day in the Life of a Back Pain sufferer’ on The Bad Back Company’s blog.

Here are a few of my ideas I wrote down to start in January. I had kept my children’s nursery curtains from when they were babies as it was a lovely Sanderson nursery print and thought one of them might like them for their own nurseries but how do you split a pair of curtains? Well, one of my ideas was to make a quilt out of each curtain which is on my list for this month.

I also wrote on my ideas list that maybe we could put a hamper together for when my son and his wife move into their new home which I have immediately started putting together and I am also making a card for them. I love making cards and decided I could sketch a picture of their house onto a card for them to make it even more personal.

I decided that maybe I could help my daughter out by doing a load of batch cooking for her as my granddaughter does love my homemade fish cakes and courgette muffins. I knew it would help and make me feel more involved. I am about to make a batch today for her.

I can sit for hours looking for ideas on Pinterest that might spark another idea or something I see in a magazine. Last year I bought as many of the Christmas magazines as I could find as I love the Christmas editions and decided to put them away until Christmas Day so I had lots to read through over the Christmas period. They were a blessing in disguise and got my mind thinking of other ways to inspire me to maybe try something new that either myself, my family or someone else could benefit from.

The chances are if you are reading this then you have access to either a laptop, iPad or iPhone and the internet and so a brilliant way to find something new for you to get interested in is a magazine all about it.

Pocketmags is an online magazine company which sells subscriptions and single issues of lots of magazines for you to read on your laptop etc. We all like to feel of a magazine but with most of us not getting near a WH Smith or good newsagents for a long time I am sure you will not have seen nor heard of some of the magazines available on Pocket Mags website. The best thing is that you can buy single issues so you could read them through and see if you think it’s something you might be interested in. It might be that you want to learn more about your condition or start a new course but you are not quite sure about it. I am pretty sure you will find whatever you are looking for on the PocketMags website.

As many of you will have seen from previous posts that I have written I am an avid believer that writing helps you cope with chronic pain but that is for me personally. Reading is another of my favourite hobbies. I have always got a fiction book on the go and every afternoon when I go for my rest I read a chapter or two from my book to help me relax and give my body a rest.

I spent a full morning the other day on Pocket Mags website and went from A-Z of their Magazine Back Issues. My list is a page full so I will have to cut that right down but some on my list were Arthritis Digest, Easy Cook, Cross Stitch ( my daughter bought me a pack for Christmas) Knitting, Card Making, Family Tree and lots more. Some of which I will definitely write about on here.

It is only 6th January today and I already have a two page list of ideas on things to make, read, or help others with, to take me away from the difficult situation we are all in at the moment. If I only inspire one person to maybe start a new hobby or make a list like I have to help you over the next few months then I will feel this post was worth writing. I am of course always happy to help anyone who maybe going through a very difficult time.

Knitom wrote in an article that ‘Knitting is an effective, easily accessible tool that everyone can use to manage daily stresses. But it is also a valuable self-help tool for those dealing with more serious mental health issues and/or medical conditions. The main conditions that therapeutic knitting is used for are:

Stress
Low mood
Depression
Anxiety
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Addiction
Eating Disorders
Chronic pain
Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia

Research at Cardiff University found that the more frequently people knitted, the happier and calmer they said they felt.

Eighty one percent of respondents said they felt happier during and after knitting, and 54% of the respondents who were clinically depressed said knitting made them feel happy.

Similar to a yoga flow, the rhythm of working the same stitch over and over again calms the heart rate and breathing, creating a feeling of stability and inner quiet.

The Independent wrote ‘ Knitting won’t just result in a new sweater – research has found the hobby can also reduce depression and anxiety, slow the onset of dementia, and distract from chronic pain.

Published by Knit for Peace, the findings are the result of extensive research into previous studies analysing the benefits of knitting, as well as the initiative’s own research.

According to Knit for Peace, a network of over 15,000 knitters in the UK who knit for people in need, there is substantial evidence that suggests knitting is beneficial to a healthy mind and body.

Knitting, has proved a perfect way to switch off and relax, even better than meditation which some people find hard to practice.

Knitting groups are also popping up all over the country where you can meet up with fellow knitters and catch up on all the gossip.

A physiotherapist (Betsan Corkhill) was so convinced of it that she set up a knitting group in the Chronic Pain Unit at the Royal United Hospital in Bath and founded Stitchlinks which aims to provide support and friendship through knitting and stitching worldwide.

Experts feel that there’s a neurochemical effect on the brain which undoubtedly changes brain chemistry for the better, possibly by decreasing stress hormones and increasing feel-good seontonin and dopanine, while knitting.

The UK’s Hand and Knitting Organisation who has a list of knitting groups throughout the UK explain why joining a group will make it even more beneficial.

They provide an opportunity to make new friends who already share an interest.
They can get you out of the house and give you some ‘me time’.
Knitting group members are always willing to help each other with advice when someone runs into difficulties with a project.
They give opportunities to share and swap patterns, and check out new yarns. Some even run yarn swap sessions.
Chance to work on group projects from yarnstorming to charity knitting.
Company at a yarn show. Yarn events can be more fun with others to share the joy of squishing a colourful skein and admire a new pattern.

Knitting groups come in all shapes and sizes and meet a variety of places – check their list to find one that’s right for you.

As most of my readers know I have recently moved from the East Midlands to West Sussex and so I decided I would definitely join a knitting group once I was settled in but I missed the monthly meeting so I decided to go to a crochet class instead.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to crochet but I soon found out it wasn’t right for me as I needed to look down at the stitches for to long which meant it was pulling on my neck fusions and causing me pain.

I don’t have the same problem with knitting as I’ve been knitting for so long that I hardly look at the needles. So although knitting is without doubt very therapeutic it may not be suitable for everyone depending on their circumstances.

They are extremely sociable though, so much so, I rang to ask if I could still come to the class, pay my fees but bring my knitting as it was the whole group that I enjoyed.