Some parents tend to over-sterilize their kid's environment. A microbial ecosystems scientist shares why a little dirt won't hurt and may be beneficial.
Animal instinct is looking for better solutions than man to positively regulate his immune system. The healing properties of mud are known even by animals, who use it to apply it to their wounds.
Injured animals know how to look for lakes of water or mud impregnated with mineral salts, guided by the smell.
That smell that we perceive after it rains and that smells so good to us is that of actinomycetes, soil microbes, great producers of antibiotics.
Wherever there are healing waters, animals make use of them. Various therapeutic muds called peloids are known, but clay with advantage is the most popular.
Where peloids are used the most in Spain is in La Manga del Mar Menor. The collection of medical data on the cures that occur there would hold many surprises. An entire second generation of antibiotics has been obtained from mud.
The protagonists of this action are bacteria, which to protect themselves from water currents secrete a mucus similar to that which forms on cloths.
In clay, this mucus improves its viscosity, elasticity and manageability, but also its therapeutic possibilities.
The Chinese potters knew this and said that a clay, to have properties, had to be matured in water: time must be given for bacteria to proliferate and biofilms to secrete.
Clay bacteria feed on iron, silica, sulfur and other inorganic materials, which they convert to organic when processing gelatin. Thus, the clay in contact with water comes to life and begins a maturation process that in hours or days prepares it to be used.
Marie-France Muller, author of “How Clay Heals,” believes that clay could play a protective role in an organism weakened by ionizing radiation. For naturopath Michel Abehsera, all clay particles retain a considerable amount of energy from the powerful earth's magnetic field.
The reasons for the biological activity of clays respond to numerous mechanisms: adsorption, oxidation-reduction, hydration, catalysis, ionic exchanges and electron release phenomena. Lynda Williams, a clay chemist at Arizona State University, has been researching the antibacterial properties of clay for more than a decade. Williams explains that people have studied how clay heals wounds for a long time; clay is antibacterial, she said. Williams.
Clay widely used in art therapy practice, working with clay has been shown to improve emotional regulation and release tension, among other benefits. A 2018 study showed that after six sessions of clay work, people with disabilities scored higher on happiness assessments than their peers who did not participate in the sessions. Along the same lines, PTSD UK, a British organization dedicated to raising awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder, found that making pottery helps heal people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Danielle Rossi, a painter and art director at North Philly’s Cristo Rey High School, has folded studio ceramics classes into her curriculum for eight years.
“Working with both hands puts you in the present moment, and that’s healing,” Rossi says. “Many of our students deal with hard things, but making pots provides a moment free of worry. “I can’t change their lives, but clay can give them that respite.”
Animal instinct is looking for better solutions than man to positively regulate his immune system. The healing properties of mud are known even by animals, who use it to apply it to their wounds.
Injured animals know how to look for lakes of water or mud impregnated with mineral salts, guided by the smell.
That smell that we perceive after it rains and that smells so good to us is that of actinomycetes, soil microbes, great producers of antibiotics.
Wherever there are healing waters, animals make use of them. Various therapeutic muds called peloids are known, but clay with advantage is the most popular.
Where peloids are used the most in Spain is in La Manga del Mar Menor. The collection of medical data on the cures that occur there would hold many surprises. An entire second generation of antibiotics has been obtained from mud.
The protagonists of this action are bacteria, which to protect themselves from water currents secrete a mucus similar to that which forms on cloths.
In clay, this mucus improves its viscosity, elasticity and manageability, but also its therapeutic possibilities.
The Chinese potters knew this and said that a clay, to have properties, had to be matured in water: time must be given for bacteria to proliferate and biofilms to secrete.
Clay bacteria feed on iron, silica, sulfur and other inorganic materials, which they convert to organic when processing gelatin. Thus, the clay in contact with water comes to life and begins a maturation process that in hours or days prepares it to be used.
Marie-France Muller, author of “How Clay Heals,” believes that clay could play a protective role in an organism weakened by ionizing radiation. For naturopath Michel Abehsera, all clay particles retain a considerable amount of energy from the powerful earth's magnetic field.
The reasons for the biological activity of clays respond to numerous mechanisms: adsorption, oxidation-reduction, hydration, catalysis, ionic exchanges and electron release phenomena. Lynda Williams, a clay chemist at Arizona State University, has been researching the antibacterial properties of clay for more than a decade. Williams explains that people have studied how clay heals wounds for a long time; clay is antibacterial, she said. Williams.
https://eos.org/articles/healing-power-of-clay-not-as-off-the-wall-as-you-might-think .---
https://www.theclaycure.co.uk/home/13-healing-properties-of-clay/ .---
Clay widely used in art therapy practice, working with clay has been shown to improve emotional regulation and release tension, among other benefits. A 2018 study showed that after six sessions of clay work, people with disabilities scored higher on happiness assessments than their peers who did not participate in the sessions. Along the same lines, PTSD UK, a British organization dedicated to raising awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder, found that making pottery helps heal people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Danielle Rossi, a painter and art director at North Philly’s Cristo Rey High School, has folded studio ceramics classes into her curriculum for eight years.
“Working with both hands puts you in the present moment, and that’s healing,” Rossi says. “Many of our students deal with hard things, but making pots provides a moment free of worry. “I can’t change their lives, but clay can give them that respite.”
https://gridphilly.com/blog-home/2023/12/01/ceramics-studio-brings-the-healing-powers-of-clay-to-schools-shelters-and-seniors/ (2023).--