Hand Stitching as a Somatic Practice

Using cloth, needles, and thread to cultivate equanimity

In addition to being a serial, compulsive crafter, I’m also a non-denominational Minister. I called this publication Joyful Soul Stitching because my work is centered on the soul. With this publication, I intend to infuse a bit of the spiritual into my creative offerings.

Working with your hands is not just creative expression or even busy work. It’s a powerful way to regulate the body.

The tactile pleasure of holding cloth, needle, and thread in my hands to create something is supremely satisfying, but it’s also salutary.

We live our lives in these amazing bodies that require care, feeding, and nurturing. What’s that saying? “We’re basically house plants with complicated emotions. The work of being human brings together body, mind, spirit, and soul.

Human beings have been stitching cloth together for thousands of years. Our Ancestors did it for survival. Today, we do it for recreation. While the world we live in would be unrecognizable to our ancient ancestors, our bodies have not changed since the days before the sewing machine was invented, when we sewed every garment, bedcovering, curtain, and sail by hand.

Now we do it to de-stress from a hectic day at work, raising children, managing businesses, and households. It’s a lot. We also live in a culture that glorifies busyness. Stitching is not another thing to do. It’s a task that offers a respite from all the other things clawing at you for attention.

The repetitive hand movements involved in hand stitching benefit the nervous system. For me, stitching is a refuge from the busyness, as are many other analog hobbies.

How is hand stitching a somatic practice?

Somatic means of the body, so somatic practice is something that involves the body. We can use hand stitching as grounding and centering practice to help move the nervous system from the sympathetic mode of fight, flight, freeze, fawn, to the parasympathetic mode of rest and digest. The breath and the eyes are two autonomic nervous system processes we can consciously direct. You breathe all day long without needing to remind yourself. But you can also direct your breath with intention. Breathwork is one of the most effective ways to guide the nervous system towards rest and digest.

Now, there’s nothing to say that you can’t just grab your stitching and a cup of tea, sit in your favorite spot with good lighting, and stitch away to your heart’s content. What I’m offering is that you create a small ritual around your stitching time to make it more intentional and derive the most benefit from it.

Choose your stitching spot

Always returning to the same spot helps you establish a habit, and your nervous system gets a chance to become familiar with the idea that every time you sit in this spot, you work on your stitching.

Settle in

After you’ve gathered all the materials you’ll need for today’s stitching session, take a moment to be still. If it’s safe, you might light a candle, and then just rest your hands in your lap for a moment. Next, we’ll do some intentional breathwork. A simple practice is box breathing, or the four-part breath:

Inhale to the count of four

Hold for the count of four

Exhale for four

Hold for four

Repeat this breathwork exercise for as many rounds as you want. I find that I can feel the change slip in after about four rounds.

Begin with intention

Set an intention for what you would like to do in the time you have set aside. If you’re a praying person, you might whisper a quick prayer of gratitude as you begin.

Notice and attend to the body

As you stitch, quickly scan your body every few minutes. Become aware of where you might be gripping or holding tension in the body. Release it with a few breaths.

Completion

As you wrap up your work and put it away, take the time to be present to what you created. Check in to see how your body feels. Might you benefit from a good stretch? Take care of yourself.

When I finish my stitching stint for the day, I like to reflect on how incredibly fortunate I am to be living safely in a house, with plenty of food to eat, a quiet spot to do some stitching, and the fact that I’m doing the stitching for the simple pleasure of it rather than for survival. In this, I live an abundant life and I am grateful.

With all the stress we’re facing in our lives these days, it can be helpful to have a simple practice to manage and alleviate it and take care of our frazzled nervous systems. Hand stitching is a treasure for me in this regard. If you’ve read this far, I imagine it is for you, too.

Have you ever created any rituals around your hand stitching work?