The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Better Posture and Less Pain | Podcast Episode #81

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Hey there and welcome to episode number 81 of the BHooked Podcast. I’m your host, Brittany, and you are in the right place, my friend, if you are looking to turn yarn into anything you want, hobby or lifestyle. That’s what this podcast is all about. That’s what the website’s all about. Whether it’s your hobby, whether it’s your side hustle or your full-time job, I’m right there with you sharing those experiences.

Well, as you know, we’re now in the month of September. We have a brand new topic. We’re really focusing a lot on fall projects. But I wanted to take a sidestep from that a little bit because, well, what happens in the fall time? For us, it’s our busy season. We really get down to it. We hustle and we work through more projects over the next few months than we probably do the entire year, myself included.

So what comes with that? Lots of aches and pains. And you know exactly what I’m talking about if you knit or crochet as much as I do. So the topic for today’s discussion is a very important one. We’re going to address what happens when our passion causes us pain. I want to talk all about posture for crocheters and knitters.

And right now, because this topic is fresh in your mind, take a look at yourself right now and how you’re sitting. Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably hunched over a little bit. That’s sort of my natural posture. I am definitely not perfect when it comes to posture. And that’s why I want to have this discussion with you today.

Now, the first step to being better is awareness, right? Well, I want to bring this awareness to your attention because it was brought to my attention here recently. I want to share that story with you. And I have 30 different tips from my amazing Instagram community of ways that we can help avoid the aches and pains that come with knitting and crochet.

So think about this. We experience pain, discomfort, and stiffness as we knit and crochet because of the repetitive motions. So it makes sense that we should maybe change that up a little bit. Change that repetitive motion every now and then.

This is why I’m really excited about Loop It yarn from Red Heart. Now Loop It is a kind of new yarn, sort of new to the market here, and it doesn’t require a hook or a needle. Only your fingers. So by removing those two instruments, you’re really changing up that repetitive motion. It’s perfect for switching things up a little bit, for switching up that routine, but still allowing us to create.

So you can find Loop It at Michael’s stores, or you can order it directly from michaels.com or redheart.com. Trust me, your wrist and your hands will thank you. So give Loop It a try and create projects that look like knit while giving your hands and wrist a break from that repetitive motion of using hooks and needles.

Now, before we dive into the main content here, I am going to have a handful of different resources available for you. I want to share some of the things that I try personally, and I want you to have access to those. You don’t have to memorize any of those things here. I know you’re on the go or you’re busy doing other things. So when you have time, go check out the show notes page. For this episode, it’s behookedcrochet.com/session084.

I’ll have all of those resources listed on that page. And it’s also a great way for you to share your tips, the things that you do to help improve your posture and avoid aches and pains from too much knitting and crocheting.

So I want to preface this episode by saying, first of all, I am no expert. I am no physical therapist. I am not a chiropractor. I’m not in any way, shape, or form an expert when it comes to personal health and personal fitness.

However, I have done a lot of research recently because of something that’s happened to me in the past couple of weeks. I’ll share that with you in a little bit, but I just want you to know I would rather you take this episode personally, as a way to bring awareness to yourself and not an actual roadmap that you should do this, this, and this in order to improve some of those aches and pains.

You should always consult your doctor or your local physical therapist for any changes that you make. We’re all completely different people. We all have different ailments, different flexibilities, different capabilities. So use this episode as a guide rather than a recipe.

Now, let’s get to it.

About five months ago, I started noticing some popping or bumping, kind of grindy, weird motions in my shoulders. And I really wasn’t too concerned about it. It didn’t cause me pain. It was really just when I would extend my arm and maybe bring it back to my body that it would sort of have like a little bump. Just kind of weird. More of a nuisance than anything else. I thought nothing of it.

Well, over time, this progressed. Now, I will share that I’m a side sleeper. I love to sleep on my side. I cannot sleep on my back. And I attributed some of this shoulder bumping, popping, with sleeping on my side. I figured, well, perhaps I should try to sleep on my back.

So I actually did do that. I forced myself to start sleeping on my back and I didn’t really notice much of a difference. Actually, I started feeling a little bit of discomfort. I went through a couple of weeks where I had noticeably done something to my shoulder that brought me some pain. Pretty bad discomfort.

Now, I would say that I have a high tolerance for pain, and that’s probably not a good thing in my situation because I have the tendency to overlook things like that and just sort of work through it. But it got me down for a few days. So after some rest, that did go away. But that popping and bumping, it still was there. It’s still there to this day. I still feel it.

Well, about a month ago, I started waking up with some really severe shoulder pain, and it really was manifesting sort of in the front, and it was only when I would wake up. So I did what I always do when I get obsessed with something. I sort of turned to the internet and learned everything I possibly could about what would cause shoulder pain.

I learned some pretty scary things. There are some pretty bad things that can cause shoulder pain. Kind of scared myself to death. I sort of gave myself that kick that I needed to go have it checked out. It was bothering me enough that it was really interfering with my regular routine, my regular motions.

I had some discomfort when I would do things like cook dinner, I mean, let alone do my job sitting at my desk and knitting and crocheting. So I went and had things checked out. I walked in there with just the worst possible outcome on my mind.

And the doctor told me something that I was not prepared to hear. He told me that all of this discomfort, the popping, the bumping that I’ve been feeling for the last six months was due to my poor posture.

I was like, what? What? I don’t even believe that. Now, I know that I have poor posture. I’ve been told that for, gosh, probably the last 15 years. Brittany, stand up straight. Roll your shoulders back. But it’s just so uncomfortable.

If we’re used to standing in what is our neutral position or sitting in our neutral position, I just had a really hard time pulling my shoulders back to where they were supposed to be, straightening my spine the way it was supposed to be, having my head in the proper position. And this appointment brought all of this to my attention. And so I started to change things up.

So I’m standing up straighter. I’m pulling my shoulders back. And all the while, I’m like, I can’t move. I don’t feel like I can move my arms. I don’t feel like I can get a good, solid breath. I’m not going to tell you that this is easy. It certainly wasn’t easy those first couple of weeks. It certainly isn’t easy to this day, but it really does get better.

That’s what I want this story to encourage you by — that once you bring something to your awareness, and thank God I was as lucky as I was, that only posture was causing me this discomfort, and that’s a relatively… well, we’ll say a very easy thing to change. But it requires a lot of work and discipline on my part. I’m in full control of fixing this problem.

I learned that the reason why I have what they call rolled shoulders — basically, my shoulders kind of roll inward — that is a result of having really weak back muscles. So kind of like my scapula, my shoulder blade muscles are weak, and then having really tight chest muscles.

So he walked me through some exercises that will help me to strengthen my back muscles, but also loosen my chest muscles.

So anyways, when we’re in that initial appointment, he was asking about my typical routine. What does my work schedule look like? What does my hobbies look like? What does my extracurricular activities look like?

Well, of course I mentioned that I spend a lot of time at my desk. But I spend probably more time knitting or crocheting. And I thought, I don’t really use my shoulders that much to knit or crochet. I mean, I could see where you would maybe use your upper arms, use those muscles to hold your arms up, maybe to hold your project closer to your face. But my shoulders?

He told me that you would use your shoulders for these motions probably more than you realize. And he wasn’t saying that knitting and crochet was a direct result for my poor posture. Of course, it was something that’s been working its way to where it is now. But he said I should be aware of my shoulder position when I’m knitting and crocheting.

So before I get into all of the tips from my amazing community on Instagram, I want to share what is working for me in my particular situation. So there are five things that I am doing to try to improve my posture so that I can have no shoulder pain whatsoever, no bumping, popping, or grinding, or anything like that — so I can get back to a healthy state where I have good posture, I have good strength, I have good flexibility.

Five things.

So the first of five things is — and this was actually recommended by my physical therapist — was to buy an exercise ball. So right now, as I’m sitting at my desk and recording this episode, I am sitting on an exercise ball.

Let me just tell you, oh my gosh, this thing has made a world of difference. First of all, I’m a fidgeter. I love to fidget. I’m constantly moving and being on an exercise ball is — I’m kind of just bouncing around all of the time just because I’m fidgeting. I find that fun and entertaining throughout the day.

But the thing that I really do love about this exercise ball is that as I’m sitting on it at my desk, it’s the proper fit for me. Now, you can buy exercise balls based on your height, and I’m rather short, so I have the smaller one.

But when you sit on it, it gives you the ideal sitting posture. So my legs are in the right position, my feet are on the floor. That allows me to get my tushy under me where it needs to be so that I can sit up straight and I have no back support. So my entire frame is supporting my posture right now. I’m working those muscles to be able to strengthen them so that I can sit up.

The other thing that it allows me to do is get uncomfortable after a while. I am really bad — and this will come up later on — at walking away from my work. If something isn’t finished, I can’t walk away. It’s a big flaw of mine.

Well, when you’re sitting on an exercise ball with no back support, your back’s going to start aching after a while. And when it does, that prompts me to get up and move around, change my position a little bit. So this exercise ball has been a game changer for me as far as sitting at my desk and doing my computer work.

Another thing I purchased after consulting with my doctor as well as my physical therapist is a figure eight posture band. Now, I sort of have a love-hate relationship with this thing because, as you can imagine, it’s not incredibly comfortable.

It does not allow you to slouch or have your shoulders rolled forward. It really does force you to sit or to stand in the proper position with your shoulders where they’re supposed to be.

Now, for me, one of the things that motivates me when I wear this is the discomfort that I feel under my arms as I’m wearing this. So when you wear it and you tend to roll your shoulders forward, or maybe my shoulders go in this neutral position. If I’m sitting on the couch or wherever, knitting or crocheting, my shoulders always tend to sort of roll forward towards my project so I can hunch over to see it.

Brittany: 38:52
Well, this band does not allow you to do that. So when your shoulders roll forward, you feel it under your arms, like in your armpits. And that is motivation for me to hold my shoulders back.

Now, when I was purchasing this figure eight brace, I had it in my mind that it was going to, over time, just correct the issue. What I didn’t realize is that it’s really a training device because of the way it feels when you try to go into your own neutral position, whatever that may be. It’s a reminder for you to pull your shoulders back. And so that’s what it’s done for me. It allows me to notice where my shoulders are and put them where they’re supposed to be.

So those are the two posture tools that I’m using right now. There are two other, we’ll call them general health things or tips that I’m using also to help me improve my posture and just overall have better flexibility and strength.

The first of which, yoga, came up several times as a tip from the Instagram community of how you can alleviate stress and discomfort from knitting and crocheting. Yoga has been a game changer for me. I think I’ve mentioned it a few times here on the show.

When you sit constantly, man, it does a number on your body. I had no idea. I came from a job before I started doing BeHooked full-time where, yes, I sat a percentage of the day, but I also moved around a lot too. I did a lot of walking and I guess I took that for granted. I thought, I’m young. I can sit for a while. Man, was I wrong. I had no idea how much sitting can put so much stress on your body and on your joints.

So my yoga routine is pretty simple. I don’t do crazy exercise type of yoga. I’m not doing something that really gets my heart rate up. I’m not doing a lot of strength training. But the part of yoga that I absolutely love and that works really well for me is more restorative yoga.

So every morning when I wake up, I hydrate. I go and I do some yoga stretches. And I’ll spend about 30 minutes. I make sure that I carve out at least 30 minutes of my day to doing some yoga and doing some stretches.

Because what I found is that when I skip this, I can really feel it. I especially feel it in my back. There are a couple of stretches that I do on a regular basis that just make my back feel amazing. They’re super simple, one of which I just basically lay flat on my back with my arms straight up in front of me, like sort of have my arms by my ears. And I can feel and hear all of the popping and the cracking and I can feel my spine just decompress. It’s addictive.

There are a couple of other stretches that you can do for back. Actually, I have found that there is a yoga stretch for pretty much any ailment.

Now, one person recommended over on Instagram Yoga with Adriene. I’ve seen a few of her videos as well. She has one that I want to link to, and that is yoga for wrist pain. This particular video helped me a lot when I have binge knitting or crochet sessions and I really need to stretch my wrist, arms, my wrists, my hands. This video helped. I’ll link to it in the show notes page, but you can find Yoga with Adriene on YouTube. She has a very large channel actually, and she’s got some very helpful videos that you can look through.

If you want to get started with yoga, like I said, you don’t have to go all in. You don’t have to make sure you get your heart rate elevated or do all the crazy things. Just getting down on the floor and stretching for a few minutes—I promise you’ll see some kind of return on that few minute investment.

So another general health tip or thing that I’m doing is actually a podcast. I found a podcast by a man named Shawn Stevenson. It’s called The Model Health Show. I’d heard about Shawn on a few other podcasts. He is sort of known for being a sleep expert.

Actually, I purchased his book. It was one of my monthly book reads this year. It’s called Sleep Smarter. By the way, that’s a great book. I’ll link to it in the show notes as well. There’s a lot of really good, useful tips. And if you’re like me, sleeping is one of my favorite things to do. I love to sleep. And this book gives you about 30 excuses of why you should sleep more. So check that out. It’s called Sleep Smarter.

But The Model Health Show is entertaining. It’s very informative and it touches on a lot of different topics. So if you are looking for a new podcast, you find health and wellness to be sort of top of mind for you or very important for you, definitely check out The Model Health Show.

Now the last, the fifth topic tip here that I’ve been implementing in my life to try to have better flexibility, better discipline, just overall better health— and that is an app. It’s called the Tide app.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Pomodoro technique before, but that is basically where you take a chunk of time that you deem your focus time or your work time, and then you take a short break after that. Well, the Tide app helps you do just that.

Now, first, I was using the Tide app to help regulate my knitting and crochet sessions because I knew I needed to stretch my arms and wrists as I was going through, and I lacked the discipline to be able to stop. Or in a lot of cases, I just lost track of time.

So what the Tide app has done for me is just give me an auditory feedback. So I know that my crochet time is over for now. I need to do some stretches and then I can get back to it.

What I like about this app—and by the way, this is a free app. I know it’s available on the Google Play Store, Apple users, I’ll have to check on that one to make sure that it’s in the app store—but it was completely free for me to use.

You can set your focus times to whatever you want. So for me, for crochet and knit sessions, I’ll set it to 30 minutes and then I take a five minute break. So I will set my focus timer for 30 minutes. I’ll work away, just have my phone somewhere next to me to where I can hear it ding. And when that happens… that’s my cue to put my work down for five minutes and stretch my hands and wrists.

Now, a lot of the stretches I found from that video that I mentioned before—Yoga with Adriene for wrist pain and that sort of thing. But I do a lot of forearm stretches, a lot of finger stretches, just whatever felt good to me. That’s the type of stretch that I would do.

Now, after using the Tide app for several months for this purpose—just the purpose of reminding me to take a break when I knit and crochet—I have brought it now into the studio and I set my focus time for certain tasks that I need to do.

For example, right now I have a task set to record this podcast episode and I know it’s going to take me about an hour. So an hour is my focus time. But since I’m focusing for quite a while, an hour versus 30 minutes, my break is a little bit longer. So I set my break at 10 minutes after this particular focus session. And this has worked out really well for me.

I don’t want to say that I am perfectly disciplined and I listen to it every single time. I’m still working on that today, still trying to improve my discipline and get over the idea that I have to finish something before I can stop. But this app has been a big help for me—if nothing else, a reminder to take a break. Take a mental break from whatever work you’re doing. Eventually, you’re going to run out of steam. If you’re like me and you just power through things, you won’t even realize that your mind is just drained.

This Tide app helped me do just that.

So I have covered five things that I am doing to try to improve my posture, my flexibility, and allow me to crochet and knit as much as my little heart desires: an exercise ball, that figure eight brace band, the Tide app, yoga, and The Model Health Show. I’ll have all that in the show notes so you can check out those resources as well.

But for now, I want to get on to your all’s tips over on Instagram of how you can improve your posture. I was blown away by the response to this particular post. And it just so happened that that day I was working on a chunky weight project and my hands and my wrists were just… they were just tired. I felt it. You know it. When you work through a project with bulky and chunky yarn, you do need to take more breaks.

So I was sitting there on the couch working through this project, keeping in mind that I really needed to try and sit up straight, keep my shoulders back, keep my head forward, all the things. And I just reached out to Instagram and said, “Hey, right now, this is top of mind for me. And I know it’s something that we need to address. I can’t be the only one who’s struggling with posture and the ailments that come as a result of that from doing what we love.”

The results were crazy. We had over 205 comments. I’m gonna try to get through as many of those comments as I can. I have compiled a list of 30 different tips that you have shared with us, things that you do in order to help improve your posture or improve your awareness of your posture.

All right, let’s get to it.

Number one: Sitting correctly, taking breaks, using stretches and proper hooks will make all the difference. Can I get an amen? Sitting correctly, taking breaks, stretching, proper hooks — that is basically the first half of this show in a nutshell. So that’s very important, tip number one.

Number two: This person had a really interesting suggestion — that when they knit or crochet, they’ll sit on the couch and pull their knees to their chest and then use their knees as a support for their projects so they can bring it up closer to them, so they’re not hunching over. And having their knees on the back of the couch just helps them naturally to sit straight.

Now, I know not everybody will be able to do this, but if you feel like this could help you, definitely give it a try. I’m intrigued by it.

Number three: A lot of people suggested to sit in a recliner. I know this has been very helpful for me as well. Now, we don’t actually have a recliner, but a lot of times I’ll sit up on the couch or on the bed and prop my feet up. That just seems to take some of the pressure off of my back. So I can see where this could be very helpful for some people.

Number four: Do stretches as soon as you set the project down. This is where the Tide app can come in handy if you need a guideline of how long you should do it. Set your focus time. When you put your project down, just do some stretches.

Now, ideally, I’ve been told that you should stretch your muscle for at least 30 seconds or it doesn’t do any good. Again, I’m not an expert. I don’t know if that’s true or not. That’s just what I’ve been told. So that’s what I try to do. I do forearm stretches for 30 seconds on each arm. I love to do this thumb pull exercise where I sort of stretch out my thumb muscle — especially when I was working on that big chunky weight project. That muscle got a lot of use. So 30 seconds for each stretch seems to do the trick for me.

Number five: This person suggested to sit Indian style on the chair or on the couch. And again, that helps them to sit up straight and keep their back straight. So again, that’s something that we can try.

Number six: Do yoga. Yes, yoga came up over and over and it made my heart so happy because I know that yoga has helped me so much. I think you should definitely give it a try too. Once again, that YouTube channel that this person suggested — and as I’ve seen some videos of hers as well — is Yoga With Adriene.

Number seven: Use a proper chair that fits your body. I can’t even tell you how many times I have sat down in a chair or on a couch and my feet don’t even touch the ground. I know — short people problems. I have really short legs and a lot of couches or a lot of chairs are too deep for me.

So if you’re in my shoes and you’re a little bit short too, when you sit back like you’re supposed to on the couch or on the chair, and if the corner is past your knees or… well, then your feet just kind of dangle there. That’s why it’s so important to have a chair that fits you properly.

You can do a lot of research on this to figure out exactly what type of chair that you need to fit your body type. I did just a little Google search about it. I was in the market for a desk chair that fit me after sitting in one that was way too deep for way too long. I probably helped contribute to my poor posture, but I learned so much about choosing the right chair in the right dimensions to fit your body.

Number eight: Use a standing desk and crochet or work there. I love this idea. I currently, right now, don’t have a standing desk, but I am definitely in the market for one.

Number nine: Put a pillow behind your back for lumbar support. I love this idea. I do this too. Actually, I do this a lot when I’m sitting on a couch or a chair that doesn’t fit me. I would really just put the pillow behind my back to help get my knees in the proper position so that they were hanging off the way they should be and not just kind of sticking out in midair.

But having a pillow behind you gives you some lumbar support and it helps you to keep your back straight.

Number ten: I love this one because this one really hits home for me — keep your shoulders in a neutral position. So kind of pulled back, pulling behind your ears. And this person said to pull your shoulders down so that they don’t eat your neck.

I just got a big laugh out of that one — don’t let your shoulders eat your neck! Roll them back. Put them in a neutral position and hold them there as best you can.

That’s the part that I’m really working on right now. I can pull and hold them there, but I’m doing just that — I’m holding them there. It’s not comfortable. It just doesn’t happen for me yet, but it’s something I’m working toward.

Number eleven: I saw this one a lot as well — to use a pillow on your lap to bring your project up to your level so that it’s at a comfortable position. So you’re not constantly flexing those muscles in your arms, using your shoulders, hunching over.

If you have one or two pillows on your lap while you’re working and you set your project there, then you’re bringing it up, you’re giving your hands something to rest on, and you’re preventing the rest of your body from having to hunch over to see your project. So use a pillow on your lap and set your project on it. Use it kind of like a table.

Number twelve: This goes back to something I’m trying as well — use a posture correcting brace while you’re crocheting. Now for me, it’s easier to keep my posture in mind as I’m sitting at my desk. I’m more aware of my posture. But when I have my project in my hand… I just tend to only focus on that thing — what I’m doing.

And so using that figure eight brace while I’m knitting or crocheting, it does not let me forget about my posture. It constantly reminds me to pull my shoulders back to where they need to be. And because of that, I can’t hunch my neck forward. I can’t really slouch my back either. So this brace has been a big help for me — and sounds like it’s been a big help for other people as well.

Number thirteen: Work on stretches and strength training. Another one that hits home for me — stretches and strength training. One of the reasons why having good posture is so difficult for me is because I have a lot of upper body weakness. And that’s something that I have to work on.

But because I have weakness in some muscles, I have a lot of tightness in other muscles. So strength training and stretching really need to go hand in hand. And to understand where your weaknesses are, as well as where your tightness is, you’re probably going to need to seek guidance on that.

Number fourteen: Along the lines of yoga, somebody suggested doing Pilates. And this is something that I have seen — no experience with whatsoever — but I’m open to try new things. So this is something I might have to dive into as well.

But she recommends that Pilates is a great way to strength train, also to improve flexibility and posture.

Number fifteen: We’re halfway there. Take periodic stretching or rest breaks. This is again where that Tide app can come in handy if you’re looking for something to help you with that discipline aspect of it.

I can’t stress the importance of taking breaks enough. Not only does your mind need a break from what you’re doing, but your body really needs a break from what you’re doing too. The repetitive motions are really what cause us the ailments.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of RSI before — repetitive stress injury. That’s a real thing, guys. You can literally injure yourself from doing the same motion over and over. So break up that repetitive motion by taking some breaks.

Number sixteen: Stretch your chest muscles. I love this one too. This is something that I am doing now religiously every single day, sometimes multiple times a day, because I do have those shoulders that want to roll forward.

That means that my chest muscles — kind of like the muscles that are in my armpit that go up underneath my collarbone — those muscles are very tight.

So what I like to do to stretch those muscles, and I was guided to do this by my physical therapist as well, is to use a doorframe. Put your arms up on the doorframe and lean into it, and you’ll get that really good stretch in your chest muscles.

Number seventeen: Diversify your crafting. I love this one too. So many of us struggle with the discipline to just walk away from what we’re doing because we love what we’re doing. We don’t want to put the project down. We don’t want to walk away.

Brittany: 57:58
We want the relaxing qualities that knitting and crochet brings us. But did you know that you can still get your yarn fix but change up your motions?

The first instance of this for me was when I learned Tunisian crochet. So I was crocheting just normal with my regular crochet hook and was starting to feel the effects of that. Well, I learned about Tunisian crochet, which uses a completely different hook. It’s kind of a hybrid between knitting and crochet, if you will, if you’ve never heard of or are familiar with the term. Tunisian crochet is a great way to allow you to use yarn. You’re still using your hook, but you’re changing up those motions.

Now, just a little plug here as well. I did a Tunisian crochet for beginners on Craftsy, actually, or for Craftsy. I went and filmed a full beginner series video, and I walk you through three of your first Tunisian crochet projects. I’ll link to that one in the show notes as well, so you can check that out if you’re interested in learning Tunisian crochet. A lot of times Craftsy will have that class on sale. That’s something I don’t really have control over because it’s on their platform, but it’s a great class. I’ve had thousands of students in there, and I — it’s great if I do say so myself. It was a fun experience for me as an instructor, but it will give you the opportunity to potentially learn a new craft if Tunisian crochet is new to you and you’re looking for a way to change up that repetitive motion.

Another thing is what I talked about at the beginning of the show, that loop-it yarn by Red Heart. Go pick some of that up from your store. It looks very… blanket yarn-ish, if you will. It’s a fuzzy yarn, but it’s made up of a bunch of loops. And you work the loops within itself, sort of up the line, and you create a project that looks like knitting.

Another thing that I tried was changing to knitting. I crocheted for a long time, then I tried Tunisian crochet, and then I bounced back to knitting a little bit. I’m still using yarn. I’m still doing what I love, but I’m changing up those motions. And now that I’m able to do all of these things, when I start to feel aches and pains from one particular project, I’ll switch to something else and change things up a little bit.

Okay, now moving on to 18. I had a lot to say about that last one.

18. So many of you mothers out there suggested to use a boppy pillow for extra support. Now, I don’t have any kiddos of my own, so I have no experience with this one, but I would say at least a dozen people said that they used their boppy pillow or their nursing pillow for that extra support. So if you have one of those laying around, you might want to give that a try. A lot of people said that that helped them.

19. There were another handful of people who recommended using those glider chairs. Now, once again, I don’t have a glider chair, so I don’t have personal experience with this one, but a lot of you said that it allows you to have proper back support or sit up straight, but also the armrests were very helpful to have your arms rested so that you could bring the project close to where you were. And just overall, it sounds like those glider chairs might be a good option to help promote good posture and support when you’re knitting and crocheting.

20. I love this one too because I love self-care. Take a hot bath or a hot shower after a crochet binge. I know when I was experiencing some of that shoulder discomfort a few months ago, taking a hot shower really helped with that. It helped make everything just feel a little bit more loose. So if you can, after you take a — or after you have a long crochet or knit binge, take a hot shower or take a hot bath and just warm up those muscles and relax a little.

21. Keep your arms supported with pillows or armrests. So it’s something I have been trying to do as well. I like to put a couple of pillows next to me when I crochet on the couch and just sort of put them under my arms and allow my arms to rest on that. And I notice it does help a lot with helping me to keep my shoulders where they need to be. Give that a try. Put some pillows under your arms as you’re knitting and crocheting.

22. Use an ergonomic crochet hook. I agree with this 100%. The moment that I changed to an ergonomic crochet hook, that was a game changer for me. Now, several episodes back, I spoke with Harrison. He’s the founder of Furls Crochet, and I’ll have that episode linked in the show notes page. It was a really, really great episode because he explained what an ergonomic hook does for you.

For me, I had no idea. I thought, oh, it’s just a more comfortable handle. I didn’t realize the science that was behind it. And he explains it in that episode. Basically, when you have a tiny object — so think about your steel crochet hooks or those aluminum crochet hooks that are really thin — your hands are… they’re forced to squeeze a little bit more to hold on to that skinnier object. And when you have an ergonomic hook with a bigger handle… then your hand has more to hold on to and that alleviates some of the stress.

Again, check out that episode with Harrison. It’s episode 39, so you can go back to your podcast player and check it out there. Again, Harrison explains the science behind the ergonomic hook and why it actually does help.

23. This was an interesting one. I haven’t tried this before, but this person suggested to sit on the floor because it forces you to sit straight up. Now, again, this is one of those options that not everybody will be able to do, but if you find yourself able to sit on the floor for a certain length of time, maybe give this a try.

I can see where it would force you to sit straight up once again, because you don’t have that back support, but I can also see how it will promote you to take frequent breaks — because let’s be honest, it’s not comfortable sitting on the floor.

24. Transition to sit on the edge of your seat to force yourself to sit straight up. I like this approach because you can sit back on the couch or have your pillow behind you if you’re like me and you’re short and your feet don’t touch the ground. But after a while, remove that support, scoot forward on your chair or on the couch. I could see where that would help you to sit straight up.

25. This person suggested to use hand therapy tools — so balls or those exercise devices for your hands. I can see that this would be very helpful as well because it’ll improve the strength in your hands.

26. Rather than feel completely deprived from having to put your project down because your hands or your wrists are tired, you can still get a crochet fix without actually crocheting. One of the things I do when I need to take a break, but I am just not ready to be done with my craft is I’ll do other crochet-related things.

I like to look at patterns. I like to listen to podcasts. I like to go to Pinterest and be inspired by what I see there. Ravelry, magazines, or books. So just because you have to put your project down to take a break doesn’t mean you can’t still get your crochet fix through other ways.

27. Do core exercises to support the spine. This is another really great tip. It goes right back into that strength training and even flexibility. This is something that I know I struggle with a lot. I have upper body weakness. I also have core weakness. And it makes sense that if you strengthen your core, then it’ll help support your back and your spine.

28. Crochet at your desk using the desk as the project support. Or if you don’t have a desk, then use your kitchen table. Now think about that. When you’re sitting at your desk and you’re probably a little more aware of your posture — I know I am.

For whatever reason, when I’m sitting at my desk, I remember: okay, shoulders back, back straight, head forward, feet on the floor. But I don’t go through that routine when I’m sitting on my couch. So perhaps you transition your crochet routine spot to your desk or the kitchen table for a little while. You don’t have to be there all the time, but maybe crochet on the couch in your comfy spot for a while and then transition to the spot where it will help you promote better posture.

Number 29. We’re almost there, guys. Walk around the house. For me, this is also a game changer. I love to leave objects where I can’t easily just reach over and grab them. Think about that. Your phone. Our phones are attached to us at all times. Shawn Stevenson from the Model Health Show jokingly in an episode I just listened to calls it your precious. It’s so true, right? We always keep our cell phone right there on us.

So what do I do? I put it on the other side of the room. That way, when I need it or if I want to go check something, I physically have to get up and do it. Another thing I like to do, because hydration is also something that I’m working on, I’m not great about drinking the right amount of water every single day.

So I have a couple of things. Actually, there is an app that I’m currently using that I was recommended from a friend. It’s called Plant Nanny. Totally free app that you can get. Once again, it’s definitely in the Google Play Store for the Android users. And I believe it’s also in the Apple Store.

So Plant Nanny is a way for you to keep track of the amount of water that you’re taking in every day. And it gives you that feedback because, as you can imagine, you have a little plant and plants need water, right? So when you drink yourself, you log it in your Plant Nanny app. And you keep your plant happy and healthy. And it grows.

Now you don’t need Plant Nanny to stay hydrated. And I’ve kind of gone off on a little tangent there. But what I like to do is not bring my water to my studio. Instead, I have reminders set. Basically when my focus time ends, that’s my cue to get up and go get a drink of water. But I physically have to walk to the kitchen sometimes to get the water and walk back to my studio.

Gives me a great excuse to get up, move around, stretch my muscles, and stay hydrated. So walk around the house, and if you need a little help to do that, leave something that you need or want somewhere where it’s completely out of reach.

Number 30, and this is a repeat, but I’m repeating it here because it is so important. Take frequent breaks. Take a break. How long have you been sitting there crocheting or sitting doing whatever you’re doing right now? How long has it been since you got up and did something else?

It doesn’t have to be something that completely pulls you away from your task. Maybe you’re working and you have to stay where you are. Remember, when you take these frequent breaks, you’re not peeling yourself away from that project completely. You’re just taking a break. A few minutes, one or two minutes.

If you need the motivation to just ease into it, if you’re like me and you just can’t put things down before they’re done, convince yourself that you’re just going to take a two minute break first. Then once you get used to that, increase it to three minutes and four minutes and five minutes and set your break time to be dependent on how long you worked on your task before you took that break.

So if you’re working on something for a solid 30 minutes, you should at least take a five-minute break. If you’re working for an hour, you really should take about a 15-minute break. Check out the Pomodoro Technique. You can read all about it online and definitely download that Tide app. Again, I’m not affiliated with them in any way, shape, or form. It’s a completely free app, at least at the time of this recording. It helps.

Now, we have covered so much ground. This is a much longer episode than I ever anticipated, but I really wanted to hit home on some of these topics because not only is it a big deal to me, but through that one post on Instagram, you showed me that this is a huge deal to you.

So as we wrap up things today, I want to make sure that you have these four points, these four takeaways from this entire episode.

Number one. Awareness is the first step. You don’t have to fix every single problem right now. It’s going to take a lot of time, but the first step to making any change is the awareness. Right now, you’re aware of your posture because we’ve spent the last hour talking about it.

So maybe throughout this episode, you were sitting up a little bit taller. You were rolling your shoulders back a little bit more. I know I was. When you’re aware of something, then you can make those changes.

Number two, this is not an inclusive list. I don’t want you to think that you have to do all of these things and that all 30 of these things, plus my personal tips there at the beginning, are the magic formula. Because they’re not. They’re just a compilation of things that have worked for other people.

So take this list and figure out two or three, just two or three things that you can realistically incorporate into your crafting routine.

Number three, please be mindful of your limitations and don’t push yourself too hard. Again, I’m not an expert. I’m not a physical therapist or a doctor. Yes, I may have studied pre-med in my college years, but I am not an expert. I’m just a person who’s sharing their experiences and the experiences of others online.

So take baby steps and work towards your goal. For me, my goal is to keep my shoulders back to where they’re supposed to be. I’m setting that one goal for myself to be able to hold my shoulders where they’re supposed to be so that my rotator cuff there isn’t bumping and grinding into each other, to do that naturally without thinking, without feeling like I’m constantly flexing my back muscles to keep them there.

Set one goal for yourself and be mindful of your limitations. Don’t use the things that we’ve covered here if you feel like you can’t physically do them, okay? Take this list, figure out one or two things that you can do, and know that the progress is going to be minuscule. You’re not going to see amazing progress overnight. But with time and discipline, we can improve our ailments. And I say we because I am right there with you.

All right, now, number four. If you need the motivation, think about your life without crochet. What does that look like? It sounds pretty terrible to me. Well, if you don’t care for your joints, your hands, your wrists, that visualization that you just had, it could be a reality.

Let this motivate you, motivate us, I’m working on this too. Take care of your body now so that you can keep doing what you love.

All right, guys. Thank you so much for all of your time and attention today and for the ability to be able to share this really important topic with you. Be sure to check out Red Heart’s Loop It Yarn so you can incorporate a new movement into your routine but still experience that creative outlet.

Once again, you can find Loop It Yarn at Michael’s stores. And when you have a minute, check it out on redheart.com. You can see the 12 different colorways and project inspiration and some video tutorials on how you can use this unique yarn.

Thank you once again. It’s been a real pleasure. Be sure to check out the show notes, bhookedcrochet.com/session081 for all of those resources that we covered here today.

Make sure that posture, stretching, flexibility, taking breaks is important to you so that you can keep doing what you love.

All right, I will be back at you next week. Same time, same place. Thank you guys. I’ll see you then. Bye-bye.