Q: How can working with your hands (gardening, crafting, painting, grooming horses, etc.) benefit mental health?
A: Working with your hands gets you "out of your head" and into your heart. Most people overthink, and the thoughts tend to be negative. Not only are creative, hands-on activities a great way to reduce stress, but they can also help boost self-confidence—by giving you a sense of accomplishment and power over how you want to complete the task. [Considering] a lot of people struggle with not having control over life’s circumstances, focusing on hand-based hobbies (not the electronic kind!) can compensate for that struggle. As for grooming horses, it can help people feel connected to the animals and not judged by them, which can relieve anxiety and have a healing effect.