These Simple Joys Can Produce Benefits You Never Imagined

Photo by WOSUNAN from Freerange Stock

Do you remember mud pies? Do you remember how delicious it was to squish that cool, soft mud between your fingers? 

It’s because there are zillions of nerve endings in fingertips. Well, okay. It’s actually about 3,000 in each one. That’s still a lot. I mean, how is it possible to fit that many on a fingertip?! 

But ohhh, how wonderful that they’re there! Think about how lovely it is to stroke the skin of loved ones, or to run your hands through their hair. Or digging in cool soil to make room for seeds or plants. 

We are tactile by nature, some of us more so than others. And touching things that feel nice in our hands just makes us feel good.

The idea of squishing a lot of mud through your fingers and under your nails may not appeal to you, but what about getting your hands into some cookie dough? Wouldn’t it be lovely to work all those yummy ingredients together, perhaps with chocolate chips or raisins or maybe cinnamon and cloves, which would delight your nose, too? Then taking little blobs of dough and rolling it between your hands to make a nice little cookie? Ooo, that would be fun! And tasty, too, after they’re baked. 🍪 Although there are those people in the world who eat cookie dough. Ew. Especially with raw egg in it. Double ew. Salmonella hazard. 🤢 Don’t do it! ❌

For the more advanced baker, you could get your hands into a load of bread dough, working it to mix everything together, then kneading for several minutes until it is a lovely, smooth, elastic dough that you can shape into cinnamon buns, knotted rolls or simple loaves — whatever your imagination dictates. 🍞 🥖 🥨

Maybe you just want to dive into your kids’ playdough. And if you haven’t got kids or you haven’t got playdough, there are countless recipes for the stuff on the internet. Easy peasy to make, and loads of fun to enjoy, pummelling it, squashing it, rolling and shaping it, and if you don’t like how it turns out, bash it up and start over.

Great stress reliever, too. Just sayin’.

When the playdough dries, you can paint your creations. Or chuck ’em in the bin. Whatever you want, but at least you’ll have had a little mental health break and it’ll have done you a lot of good.

There’s something very therapeutic about this mindless activity of working with squeezing and mixing stuff in your hands. It’s calming, soothing and relieves stress. That’s why you can buy those pretty little stress-relieving balls, some of which make a lovely chiming sound as you roll them around in your hands.

Another fantastic benefit from this sort of activity is that it wakes up and dusts off your creativity. The imagination is stirred, ideas flow, insights abound. You might even find a solution to that problem that’s been nagging at you for some time. 

So what’ll it be? Are you gonna make some cookies? Some cinnamon buns? Some playdough? Or are you gonna “get down and dirty” and go and find some mud to squoosh around for a while? If you’re worried about looking like a weenie, find a kid and presto, there’s your excuse to play.

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Spiritual Arts Mentor and Master Teacher, Liberty Forrest, guides you in discovering who you are, why you’re here, and how to follow that path.