Embodied craft practices: mindful flow, creativity, and collaboration as drivers for wellbeing

The experience of practising craft has become increasingly recognized for its relationship with, and contribution to, mindfulness and wellbeing. In this chapter, we argue that craft activities facilitate makers’ wellbeing in three ways through (a) sensorial material engagement, (b) the creative act of making, and (c) the social nature of craft. The chapter introduces the notion of mindfulness and elucidates it through examples from our individual practices of metalwork and textiles, demonstrating how wellbeing may arise from mindful interaction with materials. The discussion is expanded through selected examples from the field of craft to further explore how material, making, and co-creation practices can help support mindfulness and wellbeing.