Finding what helps you relax

There are so many ways that you can find to relax, and I am going to try and describe some of the ways that I have found work for me. I am only going to explain a few of the ways that I relax, and it will depend on the amount of time that I have what I do.

Crafting:

I am one of those individuals that find sitting and working on a project with my hands makes me happy, and I can also normally relax while doing it. For me, sitting in the evening and find a project that I can work on for a little while makes me happy.  I am not a mono crafter as I normally have several projects on the go so, I can work on something no matter how much time I have and what energy level I have.  The main craft techniques that I do are:

·         Crocheting

·         Knitting

·         Cross stitch

Drawing:

For me, picking up a pencil and some paper and drawing makes me happy.  It isn’t something that I do enough of, and I need to figure out how to get back to doing the things that I enjoy doing. I am not a great artist, but I do enjoy sitting and making some fun drawings when I have some time.

Writing:

Now, this is something that most people wouldn’t find relaxing, but I find that when I am sitting and working on my journal, I can relax.

Watching sports:

For me, sitting and watching either baseball or hockey on television is great and also relaxing, but I also need to do be doing something with my hands when I am doing that.  I am not a person that can sit and watch television for hours without doing something else.  It is always interesting to see that when I am watching something on television, I need to do something; otherwise, I will fall asleep.

For me, doing something with my hands is a way to help me relax.  I know that being able to get through some projects also makes me feel so much better.  I know that for me, my crafting is a way to refocus my mind and also quieten some of the thoughts and ideas that have been bouncing around in my head throughout the day.  At the end of the day or on the weekend I can normally find a little bit of time to do something with my hands and seeing some progress on something no matter what it makes me happy.  I may not have a lot of time to do anything in the evenings, but even the few minutes of crafting can make such a difference in how I sleep. 

Everyone has their own ways of relaxing and for me just sitting and watching television doesn’t work, where for others it does.  Some people may play video games or read or go for a walk to relax, and those are all good ideas, and it just depends on the person.  I know in the summer we go for walks in the evening, and I find that relaxing, but again I still need that few minutes of just sitting and meditating with my crafting.

Find what makes you happy and what helps you relax because making sure that you find some time to do the relaxing is important. In the world today, we are normally rushing around, so having a bit of time to yourself at the end of a day can make a big difference.

Stitch Maynia, why the stress?

What is Stitch Maynia:

Originally started in May 2015 as a stitch along for fifteen new starts the first fifteen days of May, Stitch Maynia (get it, May? Maynia?) has grown into an open, welcoming, fun cross-stitch community!

Yes, Stitch Maynia is a thing that happens in May each year, and I sit back and watch as people decided that they are going to be working on in May. Here are some of the ideas I have seen this year:

• Going to start one project each day in May (yes, that is 31 new projects started)
• Going to start one project a week (this is only five new projects)
• Going to only work on one project for the entire month.
• Going to work on each one of my projects for a day this month (yes, they have more than 31 projects on the go)
• Going to finish a project and then start working on another one of the projects that I have on the go.
• I am going to stitch 31 stitches a day on a project during the month.
• Stitch Maynia? It doesn’t matter to me.

In a lot of cases, I have seen people kit up 31 projects so that they can start all of them during the month. Sure, that means that they will have a lot of projects to work on during the rest of the year, but why can’t they start each project at any time during the year. I have been following this idea for a couple of years now, and what makes me laugh is when you hear people at the beginning of Maynia say that they have only finished 2 of the projects that they started last year. They haven’t made a lot of progress, and that means that they may end up with 60 projects on the go with only a day of work done on them.

For me, Stitch Maynia is watching everyone else stress about trying to make progress on things or make new starts. I continue to start projects when I want to start them, and if I happen to start a couple of projects in May (like I did this year) that is fine, but I am not going to stress about what I did or didn’t get done.

If you are going to stress about making new starts or how much stitching, you can achieve each day, or during a specific month, I feel it isn’t worth it. Sure, it is fun being part of a community and sharing what you have accomplished, but there are several other Facebook groups and communities. Other groups, you can be part of, and you can share your new starts and your progress and finishes, and there isn’t the stress of how many starts did you achieve in a month.

Stitching is a hobby, and if it starts to cause you a lot of stress, then it has turned from enjoyment to something else. A hobby is a way to help you relax and find enjoyment so that is what it should be and if you enjoy what you are doing and can do the starts that is great but not everyone is the same, and for me, Stitch Maynia is doing what I enjoy and how I enjoy it.