Yoga for Healthy Hands

About the Contributor

Handwork is Heidi Parkes’ biggest passion. She loves the portability, and especially the quiet connected to stitching by hand. It allows for meditative moments, incredible productivity, and epitomizes the affordability of quilting. She is an experienced educator, having taught high school art for nine years, and studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During the five years since she left public education, she has exhibited at QuiltCon, The Dairy Barn, The New England Quilt Museum, The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and near her Milwaukee home at The Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Art. She has also exhibited in traditional art galleries and museums, exploring quilts on the wall, as fine art objects. Balancing traditional techniques with modern concepts, often in a series, is central to her artistic practice.

Heidi’s personal history as a ‘Highly Sensitive Person,’ HSP, led her to mending clothing and practicing yoga. She mends things for comfort, and appreciates the way her clothes teach her about the repeated movements of her body. She joyfully shares her yoga practice with others (especially makers), having received so much from her 200-hour vinyasa and 500-hour yoga therapy trainings. Join her on Instagram at @heidi.parkes