Baking Therapy {5 reasons to bake for your mental health!}
Baking therapy refers to the act of using baking to reduce stress and promote your overall well-being. Baking can have the tremendous ability to focus the mind, distract from negative thoughts and feelings, and improve mood.
The focus we place on our mental health is just as important as any other aspect of our health. By measuring ingredients, mixing dough, and watching cakes rise, baking can be a meditative and therapeutic experience. Read on for some of my favourite ways that baking therapy can improve mental health!
5 ways baking is great for your mental health:
1. It evokes your senses
Baking is an activity that will put all of your senses into action. Whether you’re feeling a soft cookie dough, smelling a freshly baked cookie, hearing the crackle of brown butter, or seeing your cake rise in the oven – all of these baking activities engage your senses and provide you an opportunity to breathe deeply and get lost in the moment.
2. It is a mindful activity
Doing any repetitive activity can have a calming effect on your body to reduce stress and ease anxiety. Baking requires many repetitive motions that can help distract your mind and ease your stress. Kneading dough, measuring ingredients, mixing batter, and decorating desserts are just some of the many beneficial repetitive tasks of baking. Similar to going for a walk, throwing a ball, or playing music, repetition in baking provides a soothing distraction from stress that is predictable, requires your attention, and results in the creation of something new.
3. It is a creative outlet
Baking at its core is an act of creativity. Whether you’re planning an intricately designed cake for a friend’s birthday or deciding what kind of chocolate/candy/nut add-ins to put inside a cookie dough, your creativity is blossoming and allowing you to feel accomplished with every step. The more you engage in these tasks, the more fulfilled, relaxed, and inspired you will feel.
4. It increases self-confidence
Many aspects of our life are out of our control, why not shift our focus to things we can control. Whether you have been meaning to make your first pie, a new flavour of cookie, or the fudgiest chocolate brownies, the choice is yours and the oven is your oyster. Get started, take breaks, laugh often, and savour your sense of accomplishment.
5. It is fun!
Baking can be both fun and stress-free when we follow simple recipes. At the bottom of each recipe on my stress-free baking blog, The Mindful Meringue, you will also see “Sofia’s Tips” – tricks that I have learned through trial and error to help you feel more confident while baking. For the happiest baking experience, be sure you are baking things you like eating, making frequent stops to ground yourself in the moments and engaging your senses!
Overall, baking as a mindful activity can be a great way to promote mental health and well-being, while also enjoying the delicious baked products of our efforts.
I can’t wait for you to come join me in my stress-free kitchen as we engage in some baking therapy together!
Love,
Sofia, The Mindful Meringue
