Follow your taste buds into the kitchen and you will meet, what I believe, is the most powerful way to keep your mind, your body and your soul happy, forever. This is an extreme statement, and I’m sure you’re thinking that I’m being slightly excessive in my perceived effect of cooking healthy homemade recipes in the kitchen on my mental health, but I’m not. And the reason I think it’s not, is because still to this day, 17 years after my breakdown, when I stumbled quite by accident on the power of the kitchen, I still find it calming, relaxing and cathartic. I am living proof that being practical and having something tangible to focus on, offers your mind something else to think about.
Let me explain. You’ve had a busy day, either at work, at home with the kids, or maybe renovating your house; either way, it’s been so busy you feel as though your head is about to explode; then to add insult to injury, you’re starving! Contrary to what you might be feeling, the kitchen is THE BEST place to go and unwind. BUT, you have no idea what you’re going to make; it needs to be fast, right, but fast can sometimes mean convenient, which can result in a takeaway or a ready made meal. We need it to be healthy, homemade and tasty so a little bit of organisation and planning will take care of that.
Rewind a couple of days and imagine you have sat down with a coffee and spent 30 minutes planning your meals for the next 3-4 days. Planning is also a way to nurture your mental health: flicking through cook books, writing down recipes, creating a shopping list, all give us something to take a grasp of. Quickly, the nightmare of what you’re going to cook is eased and now stepping into the kitchen is far easier, with a recipe book at your side telling you exactly what to do – perfect – no thinking required for that tired and hungry brain and body.
Pop on your apron (psychologically this makes me feel ready for action), pull the knife out of the drawer, stick the kettle on (you’re bound to need boiled water) and grab all those veggies from the fridge, along with some store cupboard greats, too. You’re just 10 minutes into the task and I guarantee you will be starting to feel relaxed. No longer are you thinking about work, children (they are now watching a DVD – all part of the plan!), and now your hands are busy chopping, grating and peeling; your mind is busy, busy, busy and this is just what it needs.
Am I enticing you into the kitchen? I feel like running away from my laptop right now and going to cook! Even if I’m not convincing you, it’s OK, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and learning to cook from scratch takes time, as well as banishing old habits too. Take a look at my recipes page – Feast- to find some quick and easy homemade recipes that will get you started.
Oh, I forget one crucial feature of the kitchen – MUSIC – pop the radio on, or your favourite CD, podcast, Spotify playlist and that will ease away your worries too. Music releases dopamine, the feel good chemical in your brain, and if you’re reluctant to step into the kitchen, you will need some feel good chemicals to give you a kick start.
Read this article to find out more. It talks about depression, stress and eating less, all of which can be influenced by listening to music –
https://www.verywellmind.com/surprising-psychological-benefits-of-music-4126866
We spend a hours and hours online, or working in front of a screen for our lives and our work, and although this is certainly a fabulous way to work with many advantages, what it does, in my opinion, is it it stops our lives from being real and tangible. We communicate with people we never see, we order clothes without ever touching them, and we buy food without ever smelling it or touching it. Our senses become redundant, which is why it is more important now than it has ever been to keep those tactile tasks in our lives: cooking, walking in the woods, gardening, photography and many more, that help to stimulate our senses and keep all parts of our minds working hard.
I really hope this has helped you to understand why I feel so strongly about being in the kitchen. When I write, I write from the heart because it matters so much to me and is a cause so close to my heart. I simply can’t function without cooking, and when I cook healthy homemade food every single day it makes me feel alive.
Take care and go and grab a saucepan today!!
Laura xx
