A Hackney charity is promoting the wellbeing benefits of wheel throwing with ceramics courses aimed at people struggling with their mental health.
The six or eight-week courses at The Centre for Better Health aim to reduce stress and anxiety by teaching learners how to make items like bowls, mugs, and ornaments using the potter’s wheel.
Wheel throwing, a pottery technique which involves shaping clay on a spinning wheel, can help people feel more grounded and relaxed due to the hands-on nature of the activity.
The Centre for Better Health ceramics tutor Maria Alvarez Echenique said: “Ceramics is a great way to combat stress and be more focused by working with your hands.
“I’ve seen people on this course who have been through quite a lot of trauma and difficult times, and being able to finish with an object that they made was a really lovely process for them.”
She added that pottery is a great way to make items you can use, which is especially important at a time when many products are created and consumed digitally.
Watch the video below to find out how wheel throwing encourages people to find time away from the online world, and how this can positively impact wellbeing.
As well as ceramics, The Centre for Better Health’s creative, mindfulness and movement courses include yoga, watercolour, embroidery, and flower arranging.
Course prices depend on income, or are free for members of the City and Hackney Wellbeing Network.
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