29th March, 2025 A Clay Therapy Session at Claymen Studio.When Shakti Shalini (an NGO supporting survivors of gender and sexual violence) first reached out, their ask was simple: a gentle, meaningful workshop for their volunteers—something light, maybe creative, just a break from the difficult emotional terrain they navigate every day. What they didn’t expect, perhaps, was an experience. Something tactile. Grounded. Unexpectedly moving.We invited them to Claymen Studio for a session we called Feeling, Not Forming—a clay therapy workshop built not on skill, but sensation. Not about making something right, but about feeling something real. Clay has a strange kind of honesty to it. It doesn’t lie or pretend. It just waits for your hands to show up. It’s soft, forgiving, familiar—something from childhood, when shaping something out of nothing was still allowed to be fun.About 15 to 18 volunteers joined us. With Aman guiding gently, the session unfolded in three quiet parts: Feel: Write down one feeling you want more of in your life—peace, joy, rest, clarity, strength. Draw: If that feeling had a shape, what would it look like? Form: With small pieces of clay, bring that shape to life. Some made characters, others formed pots, hearts, blankets, even tiny landscapes. The studio filled with soft music and the kind of quiet that only exists when people are fully present. No pressure, no outcome. Just people and clay.At the end, the table held dozens of small clay memories—none alike, all enough. Volunteers spoke of empathy, hope, power, lightness—and there it was, reflected in their hands.We’re grateful to Shakti Shalini for trusting us with their time. What began as a simple workshop became something more: a pause, a reconnection, and a reminder that sometimes, feeling is the form. We hope to hold more sessions like this. Not to teach. Not to instruct. Just to offer space.To be.To feel.To shape softness into meaning.