Feeling overwhelmed? It might be time to take your cue from grandma

Hitting the gym, watching television, spending time with her boyfriend, and catching up with friends and family … 27-year-old Sydney woman Stephanie Airey’s interests are typical of most Gen Zers.

But Airey has another hobby that’s not quite like the others.

Stephanie Airey took up crocheting during the pandemic and has since found it a great way to slow down and disconnect.Credit: Edwina Pickles

“I’m normally watching a new doco or TV show and crocheting,” she says. “Or I’ll take my crochet to watch my partner play sports, when I’m on holidays. And I also crochet in lunch breaks.”

While hobbies such as crocheting, knitting, crafting and gardening are often linked to older generations, younger Australians – specifically Millennials and Gen Z, like Stephanie – are embracing them in record numbers in a trend known as Grandmacore.

And they’re enjoying the mental health benefits.

Grandmacore began as an aesthetic movement inspired by the home and lifestyle of “a traditional grandma”, with cosiness and nostalgia at its core. The trend is all over TikTok, boasting more than 44,000 posts, and has infiltrated Gen Z and Millennial hobbies.

Many Grandmacore activities inherently possess slow and quiet traits that offer significant therapeutic benefits, says clinical psychologist Dr Rebecca Ray. Traits which younger generations, in particular, find beneficial.

“These generations have grown up in a hyper-digital world. They’re more connected than ever, but also more overwhelmed,” she says. “Hobbies like crocheting and gardening offer a kind of antidote: they’re slow, analogue, and allow for presence without performance.”

Additionally, Ray says, these hobbies help younger generations unplug and reconnect with themselves, with nature, or with their creativity.

Airey’s passion for crochet began during the pandemic to pass the time in lockdowns, after discovering crochet content on TikTok and using YouTube videos to learn.

Since then, she has crocheted a wide range of items from amigurumi, jumpers, cardigans, dresses, and ponchos to blankets, and even creates her own designs.

“Crocheting, once you get a hang of it, is a very relaxing hobby. It’s peaceful and enjoyable through its repetitive nature, while not being physically challenging,” she says.

It’s been hugely beneficial for Airey’s mental health.

“When I crochet, it’s able to take up the spot in my brain of doing something productive,” she says. “Being able to sit down and crochet helps stop my mind from racing, it gives me permission to enjoy the space I’m in.”

Associate professor and psychological scientist Gabrielle Wiedemann, from Western Sydney University, says there are “so many ways” hobbies like crocheting can be beneficial – many of which Airey has discovered.

“It takes some degree of your attention which can divert thoughts about other things that may be worrying you, allowing you to detach a bit from the emotional aspects of that, but it’s not so all-encompassing that you can’t still be aware of what’s going on around you,” Wiedemann says.

Other benefits include social interaction and community through hobby-related associations and groups, as well as creating items for charities or as gifts for others, which can help give purpose.

Melbourne Millennials Marcus Matear and Jennifer Leung say this is something that they’ve experienced through gardening.

“The patience of nurturing the produce [grown in their garden] and then being able to enjoy it and share it with others makes it really satisfying,” Leung says.

The couple, both 34, started gardening three years ago when they moved into their home.

“We love cooking, and we wanted to grow our own produce so we could cook with it and eat it,” says Matear.

Jennifer Leung and Marcus Matear took up gardening when they moved to their home in Footscray a few years ago.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

While they didn’t have much experience with gardening when they began, the couple had help from Matear’s dad, as well as neighbours whom they met while setting up their garden.

“We walked around the neighbourhood and asked gardeners over for dinner. We asked questions, and they gave advice,” says Leung.

Beyond their local community, they found that gardening was helpful in other areas.

“We’re dentists and can have some unbalanced stress; gardening is great to balance the stress,” says Matear.

The balance comes in part from being in nature, he says. “I enjoy watering the garden, you see the morning sunlight, it’s relaxing, it sets your circadian rhythm, and you know you’re going to sleep better.”

Therapeutic Horticulture Australia vice president Tanya Bearup, a social worker, agrees. “Research shows that being out in nature, having ‘green time’ helps reduce cortisol levels and improve your mood,” she says.

Research from this year’s Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show revealed 93 per cent of Australians report that gardening, or “dirt therapy”, has a positive impact on their wellbeing.

“Gardening, crocheting, knitting – all these hobbies cause you to slow down and pay attention,” says Bearup. “They help you connect with the present and get out of your head.”

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