How I Use the Hidden Power of Hobbies

Have you awakened smack dab in the middle of the night only to have runaway thoughts start flooding your mind as an endless loop of worries, frets, self-criticism, financial doom, or any number of problems you need to solve? The trick of the trap when that happens is that the looping, ruminating thinking is very convincing. It makes you believe that all this overanalyzing is absolutely necessary and that it will solve the problems with more thinking. And it’s not limited to the middle of the night. It can hit you at any time of day.

Overthinking, Rumination and Hobbies

That mesmerizing state of overthinking and rumination comes about from different things happening in the brain. It can wreak havoc on peace of mind, convince you to stay in the loop in order to get those “problems” solved, and block you from the present moment. Overthinking and rumination survive in the past and the future. If you can get yourself back to the present moment – the proverbial here and now – those two debilitating states lose their power.

Without diving deep into the wacky and wonderful workings of the human brain, I want to share the most effective tool I’ve ever found to jolt my brain out of looping thoughts. This tool, as you might imagine from the title of this article, is HOBBIES. Yes, good old hobbies!

My hobbies of choice are making, sewing, building, constructing, designing, redesigning, and even teaching these hobbies to others so they have the tool as well. The hands-on, practical, design-based aspect of what I make is what draws me to them. It always has, for as long as I can remember. Those are mine; you will have your own. Or, you might be lucky enough to have your hobby exploration ahead of you, where you still get to discover what lights you up.

The Effective Rumination Buster

It may sound ridiculously simple, but a hands-on hobby – making things with your own two hands – can be one of the most straightforward and effective Rumination Busters there is. Or, at least, that I’ve ever found. I speak from personal experience, yet there’s increasing research to support this. Moving the negative energy of overthinking from REPEAT in our head out through our hands is grounding, satisfying, and confidence-building. Who can deny that these are more helpful feelings than endless rumination? Remember, rumination pulls you out of the present. When you’re creating something with your hands, you are in the present.

As described in his clinical manual, Rumination-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dr. Edward Watkins found that shifting thought from internal rumination to an external, sensory task is a proven mechanism to break repetitive negative thinking.

In other words, get out of your head and into something tangible. I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist of it. This shift out from believed non-action-based problem solving to actual, tangible problem solving is the key to breaking the loop.

Why Does a Hobby Stop Looping Thoughts?

It’s simple. The first thing hobbies do is shift attention away from consuming abstract thoughts to something outside of your head where thoughts demand time and space. However, if you don’t know you’re in the middle of a rumination cycle, it’s going to be hard to stop it in its tracks. Once rumination is recognizable, it’s easier to get a handle on it. Even though it can be tempting to stay in the loop, believing problems are being solved, disrupting the loop needs to become a priority. Otherwise, that mental process can go on and on and eat up your valuable time and energy.

The goal is to break the loop and get back to a state of calm thinking and doing. This is where a hands-on hobby can shift attention quickly. Let’s use slow stitching as an example. Slow stitching is hand stitching done in a very mindful, aware way. No one is rushing toward a finished product. The process IS the hobby/craft.

In order to complete even a small hand-stitched fabric collage, three things are needed: focus or attention, physical coordination, and problem solving. The brain is needed to do that work. I’ve found that when the brain is needed over on a concrete project, attention can’t help but shift from the endless contemplation of problems and imagined solutions to a new task – a hands-on task. Even something small and simple can successfully break the overthinking loop.

What Makes a Hobby Better Than Passive Distraction?

In the midst of a rumination cycle, scrolling social media or plopping down in front of the TV are often used to zone out or give the brain a break. However, those being passive activities, the mind can easily jump right back into its worry cycle. The alternative is to get your hands, eyes, and senses involved in hobby time. If the body can break free from problem paralysis and physically begin doing something, the mind is needed in the present and will follow along. 

Using slow stitching again as an example: feeling the texture of the fabric in your hands, cutting a piece of thread, tying a knot, visually or mentally measuring out stitch lengths – all of these are visual and tactile experiences. Focusing on pushing the needle through the fabric, running it down under, and then poking it back up again – these micro-movements require attention.

The actions required for the hobby need to be functionally incompatible with what keeps rumination going. That’s important, according to Dr. Watkins. The finished, decorative cloth isn’t the main goal. What quietly and subtly happens during the process is where an entirely new level of meaning and noticing occurs. For me, this is where the juice is.

The Process Is the Product

Many years ago, when questioned by my ex-husband why I didn’t try to create more things, and much faster, I blurted out to him:

“The process is the product!”

That didn’t resonate with him. I had never heard that phrase before, but it’s been my mantra for over 30 years.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with wanting to create something just to have a final outcome. But my path of healing has lit up hobbies in countless ways I had never experienced. For me, and for 15 years’ worth of women who attended my hands-on workshops, the process of making, creating, and “hobbying” with our two hands was an eye-opening, beautiful, healing experience where we found good lessons and bits of wisdom all along the path.

At this stage of the game, who wants to continue wrangling with those 2:00 a.m. worry fests that prevent us from the freedom we need to move on with lives we now desire? There are so many creative, therapeutic, light, or complex hobbies to explore with benefits we can’t even yet imagine?

How to Try Thought-Jolting Hobbies

So, how do you try this out? Here’s a brief, real life example of one of my overthinking jags and how I worked through it. 

If the materials I need to shift attention are not easily accessible, I likely won’t do it. To get prepared, I gather a small collection of materials to keep close for the moment I sense my good old brain gearing up to spin its worries and concerns that can never be solved at 2:00 a.m.

Let’s say I began worrying about one of my grown kids. Just because they’re grown doesn’t mean their mom stops worrying. I know logically it’s their life and they can handle it, but as my thoughts tend to do, all kinds of negative possibilities start to creep in. One thing feeds on another, and the overthinking paralysis begins. Now that I can recognize what’s happening and observe it, I quickly realize I don’t want to get bogged down in that emotional spiral. I want to choose something more helpful.

I Reach for My Hobby Box

This may sound a bit elementary, but when I first started working with this, I would say all of this out loud to myself. It helped to keep me grounded in what I was doing:

• Take out the tools and materials and lay them out on the table.
• Take a long, deep breath.
• Now, take another one.
• What’s your intention at this time? (Don’t mention overthinking. Focus on the NOW.)
• I’m going to take five minutes to create a fun little slow-stitched fabric collage.

(I use descriptions like specific colors, shapes, sharp, dull, bright, soft, nubby, etc.)

• First, I’m going to take out that light-colored scrap of muslin fabric.
• Next, I’m going to look through the other scraps I have and set aside 3 interesting pieces.
• Next, I’m going to take my sharp scissors and cut two squares and one rectangle.
• Next, I’m going to find a good, sharp needle and put it here in front of me while I look for thread.
• Next, I like these three colors of thread, but I think this one has the most pizzazz.
• Next, I’m going to thread the needle and tie a knot.
• Now, I’m going to arrange each shape, pin it down, and begin stitching each contrasting piece of fabric onto the muslin.

(While stitching, I play some quiet music from my playlist. I make it a cozy setting.)

Watch, feel the needle, maybe even hear the needle going through the fabric. Magnify the sensory experience. Look for tiny details to notice. If the mini-project isn’t finished in five minutes and I don’t feel like continuing, I feel free to put it back in my Hobby Box for next time.

Take another deep breath.

My focused attention completely shifted from worrying about my grown kid to creating a fun little slow-stitched textile collage. The mini-project replaced my worried and upset state of mind with a creative, helpful piece of art. The key ingredient to this entire process is getting skilled at noticing when the overthinking starts up and realizing there’s an alternative to allowing it full reign.

I can’t think of any hobby that can’t be adapted and used as a tool for this form of anxiety. It provides me with benefits on so many different levels, but for the moment at hand, it stops the rumination and fills me with creative joy.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What hobbies do you enjoy? Do you use them as therapy? What is your hobby goal? Is the hobby the process or the end result?