There are numerous benefits of trying a pottery workshop in Manchester from meeting people, to learning a relaxing activity that helps relieve daily stress. There’s a good reason why celebrities, from Seth Rogan to Brad Pitt, are turning towards the craft and giving it a go. Here’s why we’d encourage everyone to try pottery out:
Making Pottery is Good for your Brain
As someone who has trained in Neuropsychology, and changed career to be a potter, I conducted research on how to train your brain. There were a number of things important in the research literature for longevity of healthy brain function in old age. These things can help build up your cognitive reserve, a kind of brain function strength that staves off the effects of dementias. What are they?: Exercise, socialising and novel activities.
These are the most stimulating things we can do for our brain. Well guess what? You’re engaging in all those things when taking a pottery workshop. It requires the development of fine motor skills and takes physical effort to roll, knead and centre clay, it’s very social when learning in a class, and it engages your brain heavily when you learn a new skill. It also helps to relax you and relieve stress which is great for your brain, and promoting good immune system function too. So taking a pottery course in Manchester is a great way to bolster your brain.
Taking a Pottery Workshop in Manchester can help you Relax
It’s well known that learning pottery requires a lot of concentration. It’s that concentration that takes your mind away from your thoughts, ruminations, and daily stresses to focus on a fun and creative activity, that soothes and calms the mind. This meditative like activity can help bring you into the moment and quieten negative thought and anxieties. It’s no wonder then that the NHS has pottery studios used for therapy in their mental health services.
Meet New People in Manchester in a Friendly Workshop
A pottery workshop is a great way to meet new people in Manchester. As activities go, it really is easy to join one by yourself and make buddies with the other people there. People attending workshops also come from all walks of life, with a really diverse range of people helping to expand your access to different networks and ways of thinking. As there’s pottery making to be done there’s also no obligation to socialise, which is what makes it so great. You can sit down and focus on your pots if that’s what you want to do. However it is really common for classes to become socially supportive groups, that promote a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Lastly you’ll have a hobby to talk about to your current friends and family, gifts to give them, and ceramic art around your home giving you even more social capital. So if you wouldn’t mind making new friends in Manchester, then a pottery workshop would be a great activity to try.
Learning Pottery Enhances your Creativity
Through slabbing your clay into a ceramic art sculpture or trying a new mug handle shape, making pottery really enhances your creativity, even for people who don’t feel ‘arty’. There are so many aspects to pottery making that can be creative: You can make utilitarian pieces, varying their style, shape and design, and learning along the way what works, what doesn’t and what sort of aesthetic you want to create. You can focus on form, but you can also focus more artistically developing patterns or painting styles you apply to your pots to make them your own. You can also learn by accident, with the unpredictable nature of firings sometimes you can discover happy accidents, that teach you a new technique or effect. In making pottery you’re spending time practicing and developing your creative thinking and skills.
Pottery is FUN
Yep, well it isn’t surprising that doing things that are good for your brain health, relieve stress, and providing a community for you to make new friends, would be fun. It’s like when children make a mud pie, but for adults. A place you can play, no judgement. You’re likely to have a good time, all while making food vessels for your home to hold everything from tea to noodles.
