The benefits of learning new craft skills

Are you looking for a new hobby but you’re not quite sure what you’d like to do? 

Do you want to exercise your creative skills by learning a new skill?

There are several benefits to learning a new skill. If you’re interested in greenwood woodworking but aren’t sure where to start, I am offering short bowl-turning taster sessions.

Bowl-Turning Taster Sessions

This is your opportunity to try bowl-turning using traditional tools. Join me for a day where you will be introduced to the tools and skills needed to make a wooden bowl.

At the taster session, you will join a small group of up to five people. Participants will take part in each step to create a communal bowl. Visit Event Brite to see available dates and venues.

Chance to be creative

Everyone benefits from being creative. Personally, I find that bowl-turning improves my mood. There’s been a few times when I went to the Burwash Bodgers Group feeling low – woodworking always lifts my spirits. But the benefits go beyond how it makes me feel. Science states that the benefits of being creative extend to:

• An improved mood
• Larger social network
• Healthier brain
• More self-expression

Improve your health and wellbeing.

If you’re not a woodworker, my taster sessions will introduce you to traditional woodworking tools, techniques and wood. If you are a woodworker, the experience of being part of a group is always valuable. You will learn skills from the other participants and it makes for a more enjoyable day out when all members can share in the social aspects of being together. The taster session is also a great opportunity to meet new people.

Social Connections

The Burwash Bodgers group has provided me with opportunities to make meaningful connections with people that share a common interest, in short, I’ve made a lot of new friends. In addition, the wider greenwood woodworking community is extremely welcoming. There aren’t many occasions that I would feel confident in attending on my own knowing by the end of a weekend I would have made so many new friends.

Improved Mental Health – The Flow State

There’s no doubt that we all face stresses in life. Whilst this is entirely normal, finding ways to relieve or reduce the stress that are healthy can be challenging. When I’m turning a bowl, it’s common for me to lose all sense of time. I enter a relaxed mental state that I believe is called “the flow state“. All thoughts and worries disappear as you concentrate on the task at hand. There is a range of associated benefits:

• Emotional regulation
• Fulfillment and happiness
• Intrinsic motivation
• Engagement and performance

Self Expression

The beauty of working with a medium such as wood is that you never quite know what you have before you split open a log.  Several aspects will affect the final piece of work making each unique. And as the craftsperson, you get to decide on what you make and how it will be finished.

If you are considering taking up a new hobby then taster sessions can give you an overview without you needing to invest a lot of time or money at the start.