One of these students, who had traveled extensively in Thailand, swore that the Thai people she met were as gentle as they were because they spent so much time pounding and chopping and cooking in the kitchen. She stayed with families in rural areas and awoke each morning to the sound of the rhythmic pounding of the mortar and pestle coming from the kitchen. It seemed to her that their aggressions were directed and transformed into something useful and creative, rather than harmful and destructive. Pounding up a storm in the kitchen certainly can relieve frustration, anger and depression as well as produce a great meal and the resulting feeling of accomplishment. The sharing of the meal restores a sense of harmony and connectedness with others.
Energy is transformed from negative to positive, and everyone gains.
These therapeutic benefits are not forthcoming, however, if you are rushing against time in the kitchen. Paste making can be a very engaging process, and time constraints will only produce stress rather than relieve it. A food processor mainly chops and shreds, and unless liquid is added, you end up with a coarsely chopped mixture, not a paste. Grinding and pounding with a heavy mortar and pestle, on the other hand, crush the fibers of herbs, releasing the essential oils that hold the flavors and aromas. That is why herbs that appear fibrous and dry become very moist when pounded.