Baking therapy is real — you aren’t imagining the pleasant feelings and overall mood enhancement you feel when you take a freshly baked chocolate cake out of the oven. Official scientific studies prove it: baking therapy is beneficial for those with mental health disorders.
Why is baking therapy effective at improving concentration, increasing feelings of self-esteem and building confidence?
Baking Requires a Slow, Methodical Approach
Mindfulness is a helpful technique for staying consciously in the present.
Baking is an exercise in focus and concentration. From measuring to mixing to kneading, you can’t rush through it — you have to take it slow. This keeps you calm and centered throughout the process, reducing stress.
Using Your Hands Keeps You Grounded
More and more, people are staring at screens as they go about their everyday lives. There are screens in the grocery checkout line. There are digital displays everywhere you look. You carry around a small screen in your hand 24/7.
Baking therapy is so effective because you’re forced to work with your hands. It stimulates your brain’s cortex and helps enhance mental health. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty!
Work Together and Strengthen Bonds
When you have a friend, co-worker, spouse or child help you bake, you’re boosting your mood through teamwork. Working together helps strengthen emotional bonds and helps you feel a sense of community and purpose.
Use Your Senses
Baking therapy isn’t all in the mind. It starts in the senses too. You’re touching, tasting and smelling your creation as you go, and this also helps you relax.
Exercise Creativity
When you’re allowed to let your creativity run wild, it can helpfully contribute to your emotional well-being. Being creative is a wonderful way to express your individuality and your ideas, and it instantly puts you in a better mood.
Sharing Gifts with Others
Baking symbolizes selflessness and giving. It’s no fun to create a delicious treat if you aren’t going to share! When you bake to give to others, you’re tapping into a desire for an altruistic purpose. You feel like you’re contributing something positive to the world that has both physical and emotional significance.
Next time you’re asked why you love to bake, you’ll know how to explain why you find such satisfaction in the kitchen, whether it’s your hobby or your profession. Baking therapy may be part of the reason the kitchen is your happy place.
Do you have all the supplies you need to make your next baking therapy session a success? Trust
Stratton Sales for mixers, ovens, trays, tables and any other items you need for your in-home or commercial bakery!
