Taking Time to Breathe

This week's blog is early, and is devoted to a technique that is very important to sewing--breathing.  As I have aged in the sewing business, I have observed that the occupational hazards include the back, hands, and eyes.  Many ex-seamstresses I meet tell me that back, hand or eye problems have made it impossible for them to continue their trade.

So as a meditater and practitioner of taiji (tai chi chuan),  I have worked for years to correct and maintain my body habits while sewing.  The most common one is slumping or leaning forward.  The latter is often caused by squinting to see, which I will discuss in a moment.  Slumping is just plain bad posture.  So when I am sitting at the sewing machine, I stop and remember what my mother tried to teach me, sit back, relax, and straighten your shoulders.  Find a relaxed but erect posture that aligns your neck and upper back, and then breath deeply, release and relax!


The second problem, leaning forward is addressed similarly.  Stop, breathe, relax, and correct the position of head, neck and shoulders.  Breathe some more and relax.   Then try to maintain that posture while returning to sewing.

I squint  because I have a blind spot in the very middle of my right eye.  Not just the normal one, but a scar left from surgery to close a retinal hole that would have destroyed all the vision in that eye if left untreated.  Then I had an artificial lens implanted to correct the cataract formed by the retinal surgery.  It took some creative experimentation, but I now use two different sets of bifocals--one for driving and normal activities, the other for reading, sewing and fine work.  Keeping them up to date is essential, with annual exams and new lenses.

In addition, stopping and refocusing the eyes on a distant scene, then closing the eyes and gently massaging around the eye sockets (NOT the eyeballs themselves!), will help relax the eye muscles.  If you tend to dry or irritated eyes, invest in some relieving eye drops and use them when you feel tired.  I find that often my sense of fatigue is mostly in my eyes.

But the most important part of all is awareness, or mindfulness as it is called.  I practice mindfulness meditation, which is a persistent returning to the present moment, to the breathing and to a place of relaxed happiness.  Years of practice make it far easier to wake up in the middle of an intense session of sewing, and realize how in-tense I am, and to breathe and relax.

So the last tip for a long and happy life as a sewer is to take time to breathe.  You don't have to twist yourself into a cross legged position or chant, just sit back and take three deep breaths, with your mind focused on your breath.  A mini-meditation, if you will.  Then scan your body and see where the pain and tension are, and move, stretch and breathe to work it out.  Then go back to your task.

Making habits that will help your body work longer may take some time, but if you are planning on a long and happy life, it makes sense.