4 Benefits You Might Not Aware of Cooking Therapeutically
Not just the food that fills your stomach but the holistic experience that could change your life.
Immerse yourself in cooking helps you stay focus at present, not bother by worrying about the tasks you have done in the past or panicking about the uncertainty in the future.
I love cooking as it nourishes me physically, mentally and spiritually. From the time I step in the kitchen, I have to engage with all my five senses, select a ripe avocado, listen to the popping sound of bacon on the hot pan, smell a toasted bread and feel a running egg yolk pass through my throat. During this mindfulness process, I find myself relaxed in both mind and body which could ease my worries and anxiety.
Mindful cooking helps you escape from stresses.
Cooking is therapeutic if you practice it mindfully, and much more, you will gain a sense of satisfaction by enjoying a delicious dish that you know is the best for your day.
1. Detox your brain
Before you start cooking, keep your phone away from you, it is time to stop stimulating your brain from social media, emails and news notifications. They probably are the stressors to anxiety, depression and your bad mood. Your brain would keep in a vigilance state if you are exposed in the endless digital world. Research shows that smartphone-based stress can be detrimental to your mental health, productivity and sleeping quality.
So, it is time to detox your brain!
Focus on every step on the recipes or in your mind like chopping, mixing or marinating and let your five senses to be presented. How fine do you want the eggplant slices? What texture am I looking for in this pancake mixture?
If you find your thought wander around, it is normal, just acknowledge it and let it go. Take a deep breathe and refocus on what your hands are doing.
Look at the cheese starts melting on your pasta, turning into a golden and caramelised colour and filling your kitchen with a cheesy smell which makes you mouthwatering is a beautiful process that engages you and your present mind. Your stomach will tell you how bad it is craving the pasta. Your brain is trying so hard to imagine the taste of it which boosts your appetite. The first bite would be extremely satisfying.
At this moment, your stress is gone and what replaces it is simple happiness. A state of satisfaction that you would get from concentrating on every detail of your cooking.
Mindfulness is a skill that needs to be practised. Gradually, you would acquire the technique to help you separate your thought and yourself, master your mind and you will find peace and happiness that can revitalise your life.
2. Cultivate your awareness
Starting from selecting the ingredients you need for the dish, your mind is at present. Thinking about the journey of the food, how they arrive at your kitchen, asking questions like what, where and how can facilitate consciousness about your diet and lifestyle and inform future choices.
Do the avocados come from the local? If not, why can you get them at a lower price? Why do you choose free-range eggs instead of cage eggs despite the price? Why the vegetables are packed in plastic? Do I really need to eat that much meat or do I have a choice?
When you understand the food that you are eating, you have built linkage with them and the earth that you are living in.
By the realisation of ‘you are what you eat’, you will find calm, clarity, a sense of control and contentment in return.
3. Turn a daily task into a relaxation
Juggling between daily tasks is not easy and sometimes cooking just can’t simply become an interest. However, it is not necessarily a rushed experience all the time and you will find the food more delicious if you do it mindfully! When I was an international student studying social work in Australia, I had to cook almost all my meals as this is the cheapest way to survive if you are on a tight budget. Sometimes I was reluctant to cook. Many times cooking became an exhausting task for me after a long day. I was not alone. Other students and mothers shared the same feelings with me.
‘It is just for my survival.’
‘I don’t even have time for myself and cooking is time-consuming.’
We associated negative feelings with cooking and made this even harder for us. Not until a lecturer in my class inspired me by ‘chocolate meditation’, I found cooking could actually be therapeutic as well.
I started with a deep breathe, touched and felt the foil wrap of the chocolate, opened it up, smelled the amora and then gently put it into my mouth. I closed my eyes, felt the chocolate melting, the sweetness, the bitterness and the nutty flavour. The process slowed my mind down while I was intentionally and fully concentrated on that tiny little chocolate in a few minutes. The experience was surprisingly enjoyable, satisfying and refreshing.
I have applied this to my cooking and it has changed my life.
It does not matter whether I decide to prepare a big meal spending an hour in the kitchen or just simply to cook a can of soup. Be mindful is the key to smooth your soul. When you focus at present, embrace the process of cooking with all your five senses fully engaged, you will find the time you spend in this ‘daily task’ could be a time out to restore your brainpower and relaxation to help you to cope with your stressful life. Your brain will love the positive feeling generated from the kitchen.
Gradually, you will shift your perception of cooking from seeing it as a tiring task added on your busy day to a rewarding me-time that you look forward to.
4. A self-care to self-determination
Mindful cooking is a form of self-care not only benefit physical and mental health but also nourish your spiritual health. When you pay attention to every step of cooking, You are more conscious about the sort of food you intake daily, what food you like and how you like them. You start to treat yourself well by cooking well and eating well.
You gain control of your diet instead of putting food into your mouth in an auto-pilot mode without knowing what really they are.
This is an act of self-determination.
Moreover, when you spend time in the kitchen preparing yourself a dish you love, you have time alone and a break which will nurture your wellbeing. This is an act not only show that you are capable to function and feed yourself but also demonstrates that you understand the importance to care and love yourself.
And yes! It also means that you are very likely to have the resource and power to take good cares of others.
On top of that, mindful cooking can also boost your creativity, confidence and self-esteem. Using different ingredients and spice to mix and match creating a flavour that is palatable to you but does not make you bored need you to engage with your creativity. Besides, your cooking skill will improve by time and confidence comes along with it. The process will facilitate your self-esteem as you value yourself and it could also help you to develop another facet of your life that you realise is crucial to invest time on it.
Above all, I hope you can find cooking therapeutic and turn this chore into a relaxing experience. Remember to put away your smartphone and enjoy the feast with all your five senses!
Here is the link if you want to understand more about the techniques of mindful cooking.
