Benefits of wood carving

Wood carving is not just an art or some techniques. It is also can be a part of person`s healthy way of life because it has good impacts for body, mind and spirit. About those benefits of wood carving we want to share with you in this blog.

Wood carving belongs to a kind of art. It fascinated artists and craftsmen for ages. Its trail in art successively follows the general course of art and illustrated in different forms including supplicatory, religious sculptures and abstract images through its evolutionary journey over centuries. Wood carving subjugated the hearts of the artists and general people for its natural aesthetic look, texture and natural grain pattern.

Wood carving also takes a person through a relaxing and peaceful carving process to come up with a beautiful piece of art. It has a great impact on body, mind and spirit as it demands thoroughness, focus, patience, and vision for something to be carved out from wood with someone’s own idea and vision.

However, let’s talk about multiple benefits of wood carving including physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing and ultimate productivity in the society and nations.

People who are doing wood carving as a hobby are incredibly calm and relaxed while carving. Some of them even carve into wood without any target, just for that relaxing feeling. Yes, studies have proved and I can feel it in my workshop, that wood carving lowers down stress, heart beat and also blood pressure.

Modern era is an age of technology. People are too busy and exhausted to deal with a stressful and boring modern lifestyle. We often ignore the needs of the body and soul and their connection with spirituality. These gaps in turn profoundly impact on our ability to rationally deal with technology-based mechanized life through a peaceful and productive manner. As a result, we get depressed and lack self-esteem to effectively deal with worldly miseries in the long-run.

While one can ventilate such pains and manage stresses by getting engaged in precious art work like wood carving. The design comes out from wood carving makes a person happy, proud, and confident. It’s evident that different kinds of crafting including carving are categorized as joyful activities associated with mental therapy at old homes to get rid of anxiety and stress.

What is mindfulness? Dictionaries says that mindfulness is an ability to experience life in here and now moment, while being able to cope emotions and staying away from judgements.

It is Really like that. I can say from my personal experience that I am fully here and now. I fully concentrate on the product I am carving and I leave all the judgements behind. There is only me, tools, wood and my feels. I am fully focused. I usually forget time, which runs so fast while wood carving.

We often ignore the inherent characteristic of our body which has the ability to create something beautiful. But if we engage ourselves in creating something, our body automatically synchronizes with our mind. And it generates a great amount of positive emotions which works like a healing process of emotional barriers and transforms to a positive and creative personality.

It’s a very common behavior or emotional expression among the people with mental disorders that they find it extremely difficult to rationally deal with routine life and activities. Wood carving helps a mentally disturbed person establish a focus and reinforce the mind to be able to process things. Thus it employs a sense of connection between the person and the surroundings. Finally it rejuvenates the mental state of the person leading to a positive emotional transformation and mental alertness and stability. A study titled “A phenomenological study of the therapeutic benefits of Woodcarving ” published by Graeme Hamilton, revealed that the participants who got involved in the wood carving tasks reported it as peaceful and uplifting stimulants. This study suggested that wood carving is one of the common kinds of arts in every country and people can get involved and feel connected, irrespective of their backgrounds and cultures.

The first two points are very significant, but I literally love this one: wood carving reconnects our spirits with nature. Are You asking how? Well wood was once alive and we are deeply connected with it. We feel more relaxed and naturally more positive when we are surrounded with wood. It has nice smell, great look, it feels good on touch and it just feels right to have wood around us. It is our mother Nature and who knows, maybe we go one day and give something back to her. Maybe we plant a tree so the next generations will have some wood to carve from and oxygen to breathe.

When a carving task takes place, one gets fully involved, concentrated in creation and feels relaxed. It helps get rid of stress, anxiety, and feeling of isolation. Wood pattern, its colors, aesthetic look, and carving process help a person shift his mind set, depression and connect with the whole atmosphere. One’s mind gets reinvigorated as much as it connects with natural entities and that leads to the spiritual development through touching, smelling and working with the object directly.

Millions of people across the world depend on wood carving for their livelihood. They generate substantial income by selling wood carving products. Thus it not only heals their mental disorder, also assures their income, affordability, meeting daily necessities and keeping them cool, relaxed and free from tension. An investigation of carving woods was carried out to understand its socio-economic impact on the lives of the people involved in wood carving occupation. 50 respondents took part in the study. The study focused on investment and return analysis to conclude about the economic benefit of wood carving occupation. The study revealed that the rate of return against investment was 48.80% which concluded that the carving trade is profitable and economically viable.

When someone earns and contributes to family and society in various forms, it adds value to the person’s life. S/he is respected and recognized for their artistic skills by the family, community and society. This makes a person feel proud, valued and confident. This process leads a person to be more prone to social and spiritual development. Thus it helps the person take social responsibility, combat challenges, and develop a positive attitude towards individual, family and social life.