Woodworking, whether hobby or profession, is an engaging craft that fills up your time, takes up your energy, and employs your physical and creative skills. One could easily take on a DIY project or a home renovation assignment and just get lost in it—in a positive way. And while there could be challenging instances, tiring days and frustrations that are part of woodworking, by the end of it, there’s always a sense of accomplishment and overall joy. Have you ever thought about the health and therapeutic benefits of woodworking?

We just love this wooden creation!

Several positive effects involving physical, mental, and social health can be attributed to woodworking. While you may just enjoy woodworking and love what you accomplish with it, it’s great to also know about the therapeutic benefits it brings.

Physical therapeutic benefits

First and foremost, there are a lot of physical benefits you can get from woodworking, as it is a field that requires a lot of physical work that can be a form of exercise. Carrying wood that you would need for a project strengthens your body and improves your heart condition. As you often move back and forth and maximize the use of the different parts of your body while doing a woodworking activity, you are able to maintain the flexibility of your joints and tone your muscles, sometimes even improve your balance. Those who use saws for different types of projects are able to develop a good sense of hand-eye coordination as well.

Mental therapeutic benefits

You might find it difficult to think about how such a physical activity and job can bring therapeutic advantages to your mental health, but we’ll point them all out for you. First, your mind retains its sharpness through the concentration each project requires and your creative cells are stretched to come up with a great design for your project. Your whole brain is at work while you do DIY woodwork, training both your right brain and left brain as you compute measurements and then engage in creative thinking about your output.

As you do different woodworking tasks, your serotonin levels sparks up, boosting your mood in the process. As this happens regularly while you work, this results to a decrease in mood swings and other emotional disorders. A different sense of fulfillment is also achieved through this craft, as creating something from scratch or accomplishing something you wouldn’t expect you could do brings pride and joy.

Managing stress & anxiety

Managing stress and anxiety is another huge therapeutic effect of woodworking, as it becomes a channel to keep one’s mind occupied while helping you cope with pain, depression, traumatic brain injury, and other mental problems.

Social therapeutic benefits

While both physical and mental benefits would have been enough, we wanted to highlight what woodworking can do to you in terms of social engagement as well. While some people find it hard to join circles or groups with the same interest, when it comes to woodworking, it isn’t that hard to do. Whether online or in person, local woodworking communities are often welcoming, especially to newbies. There are always experts who are willing to impart their wisdom and assist those who are just starting with their woodworking journey. In fact, even the male-female demography of woodworkers all over the world is changing too, with a growing number of females becoming woodworkers and inspirations for other women to not be afraid of woodworking.

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We know that not everyone starts woodworking for its therapeutic benefits. Some start it as a serious career choice or just to have something to do during their spare time. However, the added advantages that come with woodworking are known to many woodworkers. If you’re looking for a new hobby, give woodworking a go!

This post was submitted by Sawinery & photos by Pixabay.