Every year we celebrate World Mental Health Day without fail. The 10th of October will always be one of the most important days of the year for us.
This year's official theme for the date is "Mental health is a universal human right” which we couldn't agree with more. It's time everyone starts taking health seriously, regardless of what part of you it affects. You can read more about this year's initiative on the World Mental Health Day 2023 official website!
As you may know, Unwind Studio was created because needlepoint turned into a way for our founder, Cristina, to cope with her own issues and bring a sense of calm to her mind in difficult times. Since then, we have strived to spread awareness and share relevant information about it, helping people in their day-to-day lives to find some peace in crafting and bear witness to their own journeys.
The purpose and core values of our small business are always present in everything we do, and there's nothing more gratifying for us than joining our customers, artists, and the friends we've made along the way in their paths and seeing the impact that needlepoint has on their mental health.
#EmbroideryVSAnxiety with Vika
Vika is an incredible embroidery artist whom we've been collaborating with for some time, planning new needlepoint kits featuring her breathtaking landscape art (you can check her work on her website, you won't regret it!!). As we learned her own story with crafting and how advocating for mental health-related issues is such an important part of her own business, we couldn't pass on the opportunity to join forces and create a beautiful piece to mark this year's October 10th.
Much like Cristina, Vika started her journey of crafting to deal with her own issue -generalized anxiety disorder. She was diagnosed with it in 2021, when it was getting out of control, and sought help. Seeking help is extremely important, but this can be very hard - whether to recognize you need help or to not let the shame around these issues paralyze you, and even more so when mental health care is not accessible and affordable for everyone at all.
Vika found peace in embroidery, just like Cristina found calm in Needlepoint. Needlepoint is one of the forms of embroidery, so it only makes sense to work together on this special occasion. If you want to learn more about these types of crafts and their connections, read our article on What is Needlepoint?.
In her own testimonial on #EmbroideryVSAnxiety, Vika says:
"I found embroidery at the perfect time and it turned into a great outlet for me. It’s been three years, and only now I can start saying that embroidery really has made me change my anxiety habits and lessened the triggers. It’s the repetitiveness of it. It’s the calming effect. It’s the art making. It’s really helping me with my mental health.
I hope this topic keeps being talked about. I hope awareness is kept being spread. I hope help becomes more accessible for everyone. I hope we kill the shame in it and embrace our lives by doing so. So let’s take those mental health days off work. We need them! And there needs to be no shame in that.
Let’s make every day a world mental health day."
We created this needlepoint piece together as a way to perpetuate this motto and spread the word on how crafts can really change your life, little by little, and how important it is to really take care of yourself and make time to prioritize your mental health.
2023 World Mental Health Day Campaign - Celebrate with us this special day!
If you want to learn more about how crafts can help your mental health, read our dedicated blog post 6 Reasons why crafts are good for your well-being and mental health and remember: you're never alone in this!
