Yarn Therapy for the Soul with Theresa Ainsworth

Join this conversation with Yarn Therapy Instructor, Theresa Ainsworth of One Thread,  and Stevie Hannickel, Cancer Support Programs Manager at Wellness Within. Listen as Theresa speaks about the research behind the therapeutic power of knitting and crochet, her experience with teaching women in Ghana, and how her own life-altering disease diagnosis led her to find even more meaning and impact in her teaching.

This podcast is sponsored in part by Koinonia Family Services. This podcast is offered freely to ensure everyone has access to these practices and conversations offered by Wellness Within Cancer Support Services. If you feel inspired to donate to support Wellness Within offerings, please visit www.wellnesswithin.org/give

Theresa Ainsworth has been crocheting for 40 years and knitting for 15 years.  She has been teaching both arts for 15 years at both a local yarn shop as well as a service-learning project while studying abroad at the University of Ghana to complete her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Women’s Studies with Sacramento State University.  After being diagnosed with a life-altering disease in 2017, she shifted her teaching to focus from classes in yarn shops to more meaningful and impactful venues.  She states, "I have long believed in the therapeutic power of knitting and crochet and have studied much of the research around this subject. I have seen the power and meditative benefits first hand in the classes I conduct."

“The act of knitting is a meditation, for the work of the hands compels the mind to rest and gives free rein to movements of the soul”—Author Unknown