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Both- yoga and knitting have existed since times immemorial. But, is there any similarity between the two? Perhaps, yes. This is why many people are suggesting knitting as the 'new yoga'. Like yoga, knitting too helps manage stress, slows down, helps you look into the making of things and even promotes overall health.
Stress management
Yoga aims at bringing peace and stability to your mind. Knitting too promotes a similar cause. When you are knitting anything, you need to pay 100 % attention. Even if you are doing a simple garter stitch, you need to pay attention to what you are doing. This helps increase the concentration towards a particular thing or object.
Besides, knitting also helps to distract an individual from stressful thoughts. It deviates one's attention by enabling him/her to focus on knitting. Knitting is known to still the mind. It is for this reason that knitting works as a great stress buster. Providing stress relief is one of the primary functions of yoga too. Thus, calling knitting the 'new yoga' would not be a wrong thing to do.
Slow down
Due to increasingly busy schedules, people are always in a mad rush. It is not difficult to find people jumping from one activity to the other. This constant rat race takes a toll on both- the body and the mind. Knitting helps slow down this pace and enables an individual to make peace with himself. Yoga too serves similar purposes. It also aims at providing an individual relief from the daily hustle bustle of life.
Looking at the process of creation
As human beings, we do not understand the process that goes into the making of something. We hardly have the time to look at the components that go into the making of a bigger thing. Yoga helps you understand the process of creation of a being and several other things by inducing peace and tranquility. This in turn enables an individual to understand things around him in a much better manner. Knitting too does a similar job. It helps you see how every single stitch is a part of something bigger. It also enables you to understand that how the slightest effort in terms of a single stitch can bring you closer to the finished product.
Physical and mental development
Both- yoga and knitting promote physical and mental development. While yoga helps in exercising your body and mind by practicing an array of exercises, knitting on other hand enables you to concentrate. It alleviates stress which is a healthy thing for the body. Besides, knitting also ensures that your hands are constantly working, which is equivalent to exercising them.
So, if you can't hit the yoga class, you can certainly pick up the needles.
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