5 Ways Hand Building Pottery in San Francisco Boosts Mental Wellbeing

If you're searching for an activity that's both artistic and therapeutic, try hand building pottery classes in San Francisco! The simple act of touching cool, smooth clay alone is enough to boost your mental wellbeing. But at pottery hand building classes, you'll also learn how to make beautiful DIY ceramics that you can be proud to display in your home or give as unique gifts to the special people in your life. Save mastering the pottery wheel for beginners for another day, and savor the simple pleasure that comes from just you and your hands creating original ceramics in the most down-to-earth way imaginable.

Although hand building pottery might look easy from the outset, a lot of focus goes into these handmade creations to ensure they make it to the end of the process of kiln firing and ceramic painting. This focus allows you to unwind from outside distractions and connect with your sense of touch as you mold your own ceramics.

Once you master the different pottery for beginners techniques like pinch pots, coil building and slab building, the sky's the limit! You can build everything from ceramic mugs to teapots to flower vases. And if you want to learn pottery basics from the pros, head to one of the pottery studios in San Francisco and the Bay Area for step-by-step guidance by local ceramicists.

Next stop: a new creative hobby that offers incredible benefits for your mind! So, here are five reasons why pottery is one of the best things to do in San Francisco for your mental wellbeing.

Hand building pottery offers a creative outlet

Did you know that simply being creative can reduce stress and boost your mood? It’s easy to get stuck in the cycle of work and daily life and sometimes we forget to work our creative muscles too. But pottery classes in San Francisco offer the perfect opportunity to express yourself by creating your own handmade ceramics.

This offers an outlet and release from the pressures of life, without being too intimidating. Pottery classes are perfect for beginners and even total newbies can produce amazing functional ceramics because there’s no right or wrong way to do it! By being creative you’ll not only reap the mental relaxation benefits but you’ll also find yourself more confident exploring and experimenting with new ideas in other areas of your life too.

Pottery improves your focus and attention span

While the creative process of hand-building pottery is super fun, these DIY ceramics do take some getting used to. So, when you’re mastering all the different pottery techniques for beginners and understanding the process involved in making each one, you’re guaranteed to be focused on the present as you create your pieces. This allows outside influences and worries to melt away, giving your mind a chance to relax and expand.

It might sound like a lot of work, but once you get into the swing of making your own ceramics you’ll soon discover how therapeutic this process can be! The hand building part of making ceramics is actually quite soothing too. By taking time away from other distractions and focusing on your fingers at work, you’re able to unwind and relax – something that often gets lost in our daily lives. And as we all know, practice makes perfect! The more pottery classes in the Bay Area you attend, the better you will get at creating beautiful handmade ceramic pieces.

As you become more comfortable fully focusing all your mental energy on one thing in the present, you’ll see a positive shift in your focus for other tasks in your daily life as well.

Working with clay boosts your confidence and encourages an optimistic outlook

So what’s the connection between pottery and a positive outlook? Well, when you’re making your own ceramics you’ll see just how much you can create with a few new skills! And seeing those results and taking pride in your work will in turn boost your confidence. This will also help you to develop an optimistic outlook towards life, as you take a more positive approach to day-to-day problems.

Clay hand building provides a new creative focus that helps you break free from bad habits too. All of us have those unhelpful habits that we wish we could do without, like checking social media too often which usually results in a deflated self-esteem. So why not use pottery as the perfect way to rid yourself of these things that don’t encourage an optimistic outlook on life? Once you begin working on ceramics it will become your new creative focus and by focusing on this instead of other activities you'll find yourself feeling more confident and positive about life.

Pottery classes in San Francisco are an opportunity to be social

If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we all crave a connection with others. So, if you’re looking for a new hobby in San Francisco this year, then pottery classes offer the perfect opportunity to meet new people. Pottery studios in the Bay Area are open early till late, so it’s easy to fit this hobby into a busy schedule.

Pottery is also one of the most social hobbies out there! Whether you’re taking part in a pottery wheel throwing class or simply browsing the shelves at your local ceramics store, you’ll always find someone happy to chat about what they do. Potters are usually friendly and eager to share their experiences with anyone who shows an interest in their work, which is why potting is such an excellent social activity for anyone who loves meeting new people. Just make sure you try not to get too distracted from creating those amazing functional ceramics!

Hand building pottery connects the mind, body and spirit of the maker

You’ve heard the saying ‘mind over matter’? Well, it's a pretty powerful phrase that can help you achieve just about anything. And hand building pottery in San Francisco allows you to bring this into your life by engaging all three of these areas at once! By using your hands to mold and create something from scratch, you'll find yourself working out creative knots in your brain, soothing stress with a sense of accomplishment and most importantly connecting with your sense of self.

You have probably also heard that directly touching nature, through activities such as walking barefoot on the ground, or surfing, provide a great amount of mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing? Well, hand building pottery has a similar positive effect on the body and spirit, because clay is all-natural. You might even tap into a wonderful sense of childlike play as you explore the world of handmade pottery. Maybe you're not splashing around in mud puddles anymore, but sinking your hands into a nice pile of cool clay feels just as great! 

Not only does practicing pottery boost your mental health but it also lowers levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, allowing you to truly relax and unwind. So while there are plenty of ways to practice mindfulness in San Francisco, why not try one that involves getting messy and creating something beautiful?