I started making pottery a couple of years ago. What does pottery have to do with mindfulness?

Well, there are a couple of waysi n which pottery relates to mindfulness. First, when I’m making pottery, while it’s not specficially a mindfulness practice, it does require presence. You can’t be in your head when you’re on the wheel or you won’t be able to make anything.

Second, sipping a warm beverage can be a mindfulness practice. Bringning ourselves into the sensations of holding the warm mug, smelling the beverage, feeling our lips touch the cup, the warm liquid hitting our mouths, the flavors in different parts of our mouths, swallowing it and feeling it go down our throats, and any emotional experience we may be having with it all. That’s mindfulness. And if we can have that experience while looking at something that we find pleasant to look at, even better.

We all live pretty full lives and not everyone has time or interest in sitting and meditating for 20 minutes every day. But if we can take something we’re already doing anyway, and make a more intentionally mindful experience, then I’m happy to contribute to help facilitate that.