Like most knitters, my craft relaxes me and helps me center myself in my life. When I need some forced relaxation, I’ll turn off my ipod and visualize my life as video game. I must make concentric circles lay on top of each other and form one circle. The one circle is my life—focused and centered. This weekend, I read two knitting books to help me use my knitting time as more effective form of relaxation: Zen and the Art of Knitting and Mindful Knitting. While both are about meditating while knitting, they are very different books.
Mindful Knitting is a great beginner’s book on meditation while knitting. It offers step by step meditation lessons without all of the new age stuff, focusing on allowing thoughts to happen until my mind is quiet. I know enough about meditation to know that this is an often-used approach in teaching, but it is so hard! I live in a world of multitasking. I answer emails while listening to training conference calls; I talk on the phone while cooking dinner; and I have been im’ing while writing this blog entry. I usually multi-task my knitting too. I listen to an audio book, watch a movie, or knit with friends, chatting, and coffee.
I did try it this weekend. I sat in a quiet room, and I just knit. Nothing else. My mind raced, but I followed the books advice and let the thoughts come. I acknowledged them and then put them aside. I never got to the point where my outside thoughts quit coming, and I was only focused on knitting. Still, it was relaxing to knit in a quiet room without a multitasking force. I will keep trying this method. I think that with practice, it will work for me
Zen and the Art of Knitting was much harder for me to read. It focuses on knitting as a spiritual exercise. I want to use meditation the same way I use yoga—relaxation and good feelings. I appreciate that meditation can be spiritual, but it is not spiritual for me. So, while I did not enjoy this book, I do recommend it to people interested in incorporating spirituality and prayer into their knitting.
I’m not sure how much either book will affect my knitting habits. While I did enjoy knitting with no distractions, I’ll probably only get around to doing it once a week.
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Sometimes I knit and do nothing else. I too have a hard time letting go, not focusing on my to do lists, my faults, stewing over something. Knitting by itself, no music, no tv is good for meditation, though sometimes quite challenging. I will try to get those books as a resource, thanks for the reviews.
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