Home Cooking: Why Is It So Therapeutic for Body and Mind?
Awaken your senses, cooking as therapy to restore body and mind, with the special touch of mindful eating
When negative thoughts flood our minds, we often escape the present, dwelling in the past or the future, losing awareness of the now. Sometimes, the mind and body become blocked. Without control over them, we delve into chaos, generating harmful toxins that drain our energy and weaken us.
Engaging in activities like sports or meditation is commonly sought to regain awareness. However, there is one activity that, with a high guarantee of success, resets the mind and body, reinforcing health in a fun and pleasurable way.
There’s no need to leave home or be an expert to engage in one of the most therapeutic activities: cooking. Whether alone or with a company, according to psychologists and experts, cooking fosters positive moods by awakening creativity, psychomotor skills, precision, concentration, patience, and self-esteem.
Dedicating time to cooking is synonymous with spending time with oneself, allowing for more conscious and healthier eating by controlling the ingredients rather than pre-processed dishes. In caring for the body, the mind relaxes and stimulates new cognitive processes. Therefore, despite the hectic pace that often pushes cooking time to the bottom of our priorities, the importance of cooking is more significant than we think.
However, while we emphasise the importance of cooking, the quality and properties of the ingredients are equally or more important. A healthy diet ensures that our body functions optimally, preventing diseases or reducing their risk. The food we consume is crucial in improving our mood circulation, combating fatigue, maintaining skin health, and delaying ageing. For this reason, it’s vital to purchase ingredients from places with a proven quality guarantee. It’s the case of the incredible variety of products you can find at Sowll by Clemi’s Market, the sustainability brand with total quality guarantees under the Made In Italy label, which offers many vegan, organic, gluten-free, and plant-based options like the amazing energy bars or granola packs. They are delicious!
Unbeknownst to many, cooking has gradually transformed from a domestic chore into one of the most practised, enjoyable, and fun hobbies.
Through cuisine, you discover new flavours and recipes, often turning them into the most relaxing part of your day, complemented by music or your favourite podcast. Suppose you prefer cooking in a group or with a partner. In that case, you’ll enjoy the advantage of fostering bonds, improving social relationships, and communication.
There’s no doubt that our eating habits significantly influence the functioning of our body and mind. Cooking helps free us from destructive thoughts. For those who wish to maintain absolute control over their minds after cooking, the mindful eating technique can be applied.
If you’re unfamiliar with mindful eating, you’re in the right place. How many times have you eaten while watching TV, using the computer, or your mobile phone? How often have you been fully aware of every bite from the beginning to the end of your meal? How often were you not thinking about the food but about everything you had to do or wanted to do afterwards?
The goal of this technique revolves around the moment you eat the dish you’ve been preparing. However, giving complete and undivided attention to this act is more challenging than it seems.
Therefore, mindful eating focuses on turning off autopilot mode and paying full attention to the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations that arise before, during, and after eating. This increases awareness levels and mindfulness while eating, as well as during the preparation of the dishes, since you are the one who selected the ingredients and created the final result by combining them.
Cooking has a tremendous impact on our well-being. It arouses emotions, activates neurological connections, and brings cultures, people, families, and couples together while acting as an adversary to anxiety and depression. Cooking is a teacher and reflects personality and the care invested in every detail. Cooking breathes life and colour into a home, body, and mind. In Sowll, you can have a wellness consultation to feel and be better with yourself. A holistic and global consultancy. So, as you ignite the stove, think and analyse if you’re being mindful of the present because cooking is living in the now. Now, what’s your following recipe?
