Caring for our mental health has never been more important. Read on to find out why cooking has the potential to be a great self-care ritual, and how you can ensure that your experiences within the kitchen leave you with a sense of calm, as well as a delicious meal to eat!

Shifting Focus

Throughout the day our focus is pulled in many directions, from work or studies to caring for children and running your household. Modern-day life can leave us overstimulated, but cooking up a tasty meal is a great way to remedy this and leave the day behind. 

It is as simple as choosing a meal, and putting all of your attention into creating it, no distractions. Cooking has the power to channel focus into just one activity, and can offer a sense of power and control which is naturally calming the mind. Due to the immediate nature of cooking, this shift in focus allows you to quickly let your worries go.

A great way to create this shift in focus is to block out time for cooking, put your phone down and limit distraction. All you need is your recipe, ingredients and your equipment. 

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Connecting Through Cooking

Cooking has been a way for communities for connect for millenia, and its affect is one of fulfillment, great for boosting your mental health. Getting family or friends involved in cooking allows you to build confidence which will stay with you outside of the kitchen, as well as improve on your communication skills. 

Cooking with others can also be a great bonding experience, bringing your closer as you delegate tasks, make decisions and finally share the tasty result of your labour and a great sense of accomplishment. 

Considering inviting friends, family and loved ones to join you in the kitchen is the perfect way to create positive and healthy experiences whilst cooking, and can be lots of fun!

An Exercise In Creativity

Being creative is scientifically proven to have a positive impact on our mental health. The kicthen is a place of endless possibility, creating your own recipes, make new meals and explore new tastes is a great way to get creative.

Not only will you build on your knowledge on ingredients and potentially come up with some delicious new flavours, but this experimentation will feed into a sense of freedom naturally build up your self-confidence. 

So next time you set aside some time for cooking, consider what creative twists you can put on the recipe to truly make it your own.

Enhancing The Experience

Music has the power to help shift our headspace instantly, so why not make it an element of this self-care ritual? The same could be said for a favoured podcast, or maybe a great audio book. Considering these sensory elements can be pivotal in creating great experiences within the kitchen. 

Working to set the tone, sound can be used as a tool to help you escape the everyday as you cook, and can be great to experiment with, pairing playlists with different cuisines. 

Choose one of the Prestige playlists to put on whilst you get to work on a flavoursome meal, and allow yourself to be transported into a fantastic culinary experience. 

From channelling your focus, to connecting with others and exploring your creativity, the possibilities for using cooking as a form of self-care are endless. 

How do you use cooking to relax? Let us know if you have any tips in the comments below.