Lizz Leral of Quilting For Community on the links between quilting and mental health, and how accessing the flow state via hand-oriented activities can help unlock answers to life's questions

<p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">In episode 297, Kestrel welcomes Lizz Leral, the Executive Director of Quilting for Community, to the show. A nonprofit organization, <a href= "https://www.quiltingforcommunity.org" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Quilting For Community</a> is focused on building community by teaching the art of quiltmaking.</p> <p><strong>“The act of focusing on such a small area of the world — nothing else exists in that little area but that piece of fabric, and whether you’re measuring or you’re cutting or you’re pressing — and my experience has been that when you’re in that state, the answers for the other questions come to you.” -Lizz</strong></p> <p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Over the last several years, I’ve been super curious about the links between activities we do with our hands and our mental health. I’ve read research about how quilting or other crafting activities can reduce overall stress and provide benefits for our mental health.</p> <p class="">There’s this idea of being in the FLOW state, or this feeling of being entirely in the moment and hyper-focused, and in a sort of <em>zone</em>.</p> <p class="">Amidst today’s world where speed reigns above all else in many circumstances, this is something that I find very interesting. According to books like <a href= "https://stolenfocusbook.com/#:~:text=%27Johann%20Hari%27s%20superb%20STOLEN%20FOCUS,without%20guesswork%2C%20prejudice%20or%20ideology." target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Stolen Focus</em></a>, we are having a harder and harder time accessing the flow state today – because we are constantly interrupted by a text or an email or a DM or whatever other random notification that comes through.</p> <p class="">Or let’s be real – we also just get that <strong><em>urge</em></strong> to check our email or texts or IG or whatever, because most of us are addicted in one way or another to our tech.</p> <p class="">In the book I mentioned, <em>Stolen Focus</em>, it’s explained that if you get interrupted while focusing on somethin