Clay for the Body, Mind, and Spirit

The phrase ‘to heal the body, mind and spirit’ is used in so many different contexts these days that it seems like the meaning of it has been watered down. We see the phrase used in advertisements for so many different kinds of modalities that I have come to question what it really means to heal each of these things –  the body, the mind and the spirit. Can one type of treatment address them all, or do some treatments target one in particular and the other two are simply healed by association? It makes me wonder.

When we think about “healing,” what we are most familiar with and what we primarily think of is “healing the body.” In doing so, we tend to look for the causes of illness or dis-ease from a mechanistic point of view, as if we are machines. If we can just keep all the parts working optimally then we will be healed. This view completely disregards our emotional and spiritual lives – aspects of our health which I believe need to be addressed in order to heal the body completely. Healing the body is important work, but I am not convinced that healing the body heals the mind and spirit by association.

Can clay heal the body, mind and spirit? If you are regular reader then you know I believe in clay in elemental ways, and I believe clay can help us heal. True transformation though comes through the willingness of a person to heal on all levels. The healing potential of clay from a purely physical perspective can be considered as clay has been used since the beginning of time by humans and animals alike, and is still used by indigenous peoples around the world.  Used in applications such as masks, packs or poultices to take care of external ailments, or used internally as a mineral supplement or detoxifier, clay has a long history of helping us heal our bodies. The first recorded use of medicinal clay is engraved on Mesopotamian tablets from around 2500 B.C., though the practice of ingesting clay for healing purposes fell out of favor around the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Fortunately, modern scientists and health care professionals are reviving the practice and studying its effects.  Initial research has shown that specific types of clays marketed as tools for healing contain massive amounts of trace minerals, necessary for good health.

What about healing the mind? Well, I am not a therapist but I am human. It seems to me that healing the mind includes our emotional life, the ego and the will. Changing old thought patterns and gaining new insight or perspective into who we are and what our purpose is here heals the mind, as does peeling back the layers of old traumas or abuses and changing the stories we tell ourselves day after day. One way to accomplish this is through meditation. Meditation brings us into the present moment freeing us from the past and what might happen in the future. Thankfully clay can bring us into a meditative state, whether through the simple task of rolling a ball of clay in your hand or the creation of complex ceramic pieces. Working with clay offers us the opportunity to slow down and pay attention, to live in the moment.

Understanding how to manipulate clay, the different stages clay goes through, and what tools work best for different goals is work for the mind. Remembering all of this information can be a challenge, particularly when throwing clay on a wheel, which requires particular attention to every subtle movement of your hand and amount of pressure applied. The mind can’t help but think, ‘What do I do next?’, ‘How much pressure do I apply now?’, ‘How should I move this clay to get the form I desire?’  Creating anything with clay demands attention to detail, attention to what’s going in your hands, attention to everything.  When you’re paying attention, you’re living in the moment. In addition to creating the shape of a piece, you have to be aware of the drying, glazing and firing processes. To work with clay, we must focus the mind, and for some, that opportunity alone is life changing.

Healing the Spirit is the hardest of ‘healing body mind and spirit’ to understand. It is commonly associated with healing our emotions. However, healing the spirit is more expansive than healing our physical or emotional bodies. It requires a connection to the soul, to help us to see beyond our own personalities into a connection with the ‘All That Is’, a power bigger than we are, however we define that. This connection to the divine is what I think is missing in our understanding of healing body mind and spirit. Healing the spirit requires spiritual work.

Clay can help us bridge the connection to the spirit through its willingness to take on any form. It can literally and figuratively become a self-reflection. Any creative activity can be a bridge to spiritual healing, though I happen to believe clay is a particularly powerful artistic tool for this purpose.  We can learn about ourselves both through the practice of creating, and through the objects we create. Clay can inspire us to explore and understand our own souls and, as a result, help us to see beyond our own personalities into a connection with the ‘All That Is’. 

I invite you to step into the realm of clay.  It has so much to offer us – joy, experience, exploration, peace, and any number of ways one might define healing.

 

 

 

 Painting by Jim Leasure