The Clay Therapy Guide
Flat Out Happy
There you are!
On your phone, scrolling through other people's lives. But stop, no, this time you're doing things differently: your hands covered with mud, clay dust on your jeans, and yes, the phone's buzzing somewhere across the room but this time, it's someone else's problem.
'Cause you've been rolling slabs for—wait, how long? 3 hours?
Your shoulders dropped somewhere around minute 12. That tight feeling in your chest? Gone. And your brain, usually spinning like a hamster on espresso, is doing this weird thing where it's just... quiet.
Not empty quiet. Clear quiet.
What happened? Well, this is what flat out happy feels like.
And we're here to tell you that it's been there for you to discover the whole time.
What the Clay Therapy Guide is about:
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Cortisol clocks out in 45 minutes, flow state moves in, and three hours vanish like magic. The science of why clay hijacks your nervous system.
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Rolling slabs is repetitive on purpose. Imperfection is the point. And your hands remember things your overthinking mind forgot.
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Spoiler: It's not a tray. How to start simple and why the process beats the product every time. In three simple steps.
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Here's where the research lives plus additional reading.
Part 1.
What's actually happening in your brain and your body
Here's the thing about cortisol—your body's stress hormone, the chemical responsible for that 3am ceiling-staring anxiety spiral. And no, it doesn't respond to pep talks or breathing exercises or telling yourself to just calm down already. We've all been there.
There's a simple remedy!
What Actually Happens to Your Cortisol When You Work With Clay
Cortisol is your primary stress hormone, pumped out by your adrenal glands. When you're chronically stressed, your system runs on overdrive:
So, the hypothalamus (brain region) detects stress and informs your pituitary gland. That activates your adrenal glands and cortisol floods your system.
Your body reacts: blood pressure spikes, heart races, digestion shuts down, immune system goes offline.
This is called the HPA axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis). And when it's stuck in the "on" position, you feel it everywhere.
Why Handwork Hits Different:
Bilateral stimulation (both hands working together) plus tactile feedback (feeling, shaping clay) work especially well because they:
Synchronize both brain hemispheres
Heavily engage sensory processing
Interrupt rumination loops (you HAVE to be present or your piece collapses)
After 45 minutes of creative work with both your hands:
↓ Cortisol in your bloodstream
↑ Parasympathetic activity
↑ Dopamine and serotonin
↓ Prefrontal cortex activity (less overthinking)
= You feel calmer, clearer, grounded
So yeah, it's backed up by science...
The Flow State: Not Mystical, But Mechanical.
Because when you're measuring thickness, cutting lines, figuring out how to make corners meet without gaps, your brain is busy. Properly busy. Not anxiety-busy or scrolling-busy or worrying-about-that-email-busy.
And suddenly there's just no room left for the argument you had three days ago or your overflowing inbox or whether you said the wrong thing at lunch.
You know that thing where time does something weird and you look up and it's dark outside? That's not magic. That's flow state. And slab building is a creative habit that enables you to get into the flow state.
Multiple systems shift at once:
1) Your Brain Can Switch Channels
Your prefrontal cortex (the part that worries, overthinks, catastrophizes) quiets down.
Instead, sensory and motor areas light up—you're more present in this moment and the Default Mode Network (your brain's autopilot for rumination and self-criticism) goes offline.
2) Your Nervous System Flips the Switch
Your autonomic nervous system has two modes: sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest).
Creative, repetitive handwork activates your parasympathetic nervous system and signals your brain: "No danger here. We're safe."
3) Cortisol Drops
Fewer stress signals from your brain equals less cortisol production.
Already after about 45 minutes, your blood cortisol levels are measurably lower. Meanwhile, feel-good neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin rise.
4) Your Reward System Wakes Up
Creative work activates your mesolimbic reward pathway (for those who really want to know: the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens).
That releases dopamine—you feel good, motivated, kind of in the zone. It's literally the chemical antidote to cortisol.
What Happens When You Get Creative:
Part 2.
Smooth Operations - Enter the Flow State
So, that flow state's the goal.
How do we go about it? Let your hands guide you. They'll learn the rhythm. Roll, measure, cut. Score, slip, join. The movements become almost automatic, but your brain stays engaged because every piece is slightly different, every corner needs attention, every surface wants to warp if you're not paying attention. So you pay attention automatically.
Find something that is the perfect difficulty level (we have those figured out for you!). Not so easy you're bored. Not so hard you're frustrated.
Just right.
This isn't distraction. It's not avoidance.
It's your brain finally getting to do again what it's actually designed for—solve problems along the way, create things, exist in the physical world.
Rolling slabs to even thickness is repetitive. Back and forth, feeling for resistance, checking the edges, rolling again. It's almost meditative in how boring it should be but somehow isn't.
The rhythm of it. That's where the magic hides.
Your hands find the pattern. Your shoulders drop. Your breathing deepens without you noticing. This is what your body's been trying to tell you: slow down, make something, remember what it feels like to just be for a while. Ever tried meditation? It's a wonderful tool. For some. If it doesn't work for you, try slab building.
Try rolling uneven slabs. Your walls collapse, you'll fix it.
Try cutting crooked lines. Your corners don't meet, you'll fix it. The clay won't let you half-ass presence. But it will be forgiving and you can start again.
This Is The Real Therapy
Not the finished piece. Not the Instagram moment. This—the part where you learn that imperfect isn't just acceptable, it's inevitable.
And that inevitable can be beautiful. And that you can always start again. Second chances over and over again.
Studies show that process-oriented creative activities build psychological flexibility.
That's therapist-speak for: your ability to adapt when life goes sideways (which is, you know, constantly).
Part 3.
What you're really making: Something Real in a Fake World
We live in pixels. We work in tabs. We socialize in notifications. There's nothing wrong with it. But we just can't do it all the time. Sometimes we need something real.
And then you roll a slab of clay and suddenly you're holding something. Something heavy. Something that didn't exist five minutes ago and now does because you made it.
Your eyes can focus on something three-dimensional and your hands are feeling instead of typing. You'll feel grounded. Not metaphorically. Actually, physically.
You show up. There's clay. There's a table. Build something. Your hands will know what to do. Let time do that weird thing. See what flat out happy feels like.
Worst case?
You've got a slightly wonky soap dish.
Best case?
You just found your way back to yourself.
Go get messy. Start now.
3 Simple Steps To Go About It
1) Start Simple.
Get messy. Hands dirty. Mind at peace.
Start by wedging the clay and just wedge. Repetitively. 20 times. 50 times. It's a superb feeling.
No need to make a masterpiece just yet.
And then, maybe roll a small slab. Back and forth. Not too much pressure. Just so that it feels right. Perfect.
Get a cookie cutter from the kitchen. And then press it onto the slab. There, you just made your first piece.
2) Keep going.
Boxes. Trays. Planters. Start with an easy geometric shape. Not too many pieces to put together.
Maybe a cup, that's made out of two simple shapes (find our cuddle cup template here). You'll feel the difference. You just need to make something that keeps your hands busy and your mind present.
It's a wonky tray or cup? That's your first flow state, carved in clay.
Be proud! Then you look up and it's been three hours and you're not exhausted, you're engaged. With a clearer mind. And your brain gets that spa moment that it deserves.
3) Stay Satisfied.
Here's the thing:
It's not entirely about what you're making.
Maybe a tray. Maybe a planter. Maybe something beautifully wonky that holds your keys. What actually matters are the minutes where you were flat out happy and didn't even realize it until after.
Part 4.
The Science Behind The Slip
All those claims about cortisol and flow states and brain activation?
They're not just feel-good talk. Here's where the research lives:
Stress Reduction & Cortisol:
Kaimal, G., Ray, K., & Muniz, J. (2016). "Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants' Responses Following Art Making." Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 33(2), 74-80.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2016.1166832
Anxiety Reduction & Creative Activities:
Daykin, N., et al. (2020). "The Role of Participatory Music Making in Wellbeing for People in the Later Stages of Life: A Systematic Review." Frontiers in Psychology, 10.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01091
Brain Activation & Art Making:
Kaimal, G., et al. (2017). "Functional near-infrared spectroscopy assessment of reward perception based on visual self-expression: Coloring, doodling, and free drawing." The Arts in Psychotherapy, 55, 85-92.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2017.05.004
Flow State & Creative Work:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper & Row.
Additional Reading:
American Art Therapy Association: https://arttherapy.org
National Institute of Mental Health - Creative Arts Therapies: https://www.nimh.nih.gov