Stress Baking is Widespread — and Good for You

Baking is not only a fun way to spend your time, but it is a set of defined steps with a finite goal — delicious baked goods. You follow the steps in a recipe and get the finished product. Easy.

I asked readers how they deal with stress, and the overwhelming answer was “stress baking.” So I did some research and found baking or cooking is an incredibly common way of dealing with stress, anxiety, and even depression.

Too often our goals are ill-defined. You want to finish your novel, but when is it “done”? Baking doesn’t have that issue. You either have cookies at the end, or you don’t. It can be satisfying to have that small victory, those few hours of concentration on a process, and the experience of getting your hands dirty. Eating the cookie dough. Licking the spoon. Playing.

Playing. It’s too easy to treat your health as a numbers game. If something is fun or soothing, that can be good enough. However, eating a ton of cookies every time you feel stressed probably isn’t the best move for your waistline.

If you want to get the most out of “baking therapy,” the next step is to share your delicious baking with other people. There are a host of benefits to baking for others. Feeding someone else is a nurturing act. It makes you feel like you’re doing a good thing in the world, in some small way. Maybe your friend is having a rough week, and that cake which says “Cheer Up” in frosting makes them laugh and feel loved.

Taking care of others makes you worry less about your own anxieties. Losing yourself in something tactile like baking helps you get your mind off of your worries. Bake something, and pay attention to the smell of cinnamon, the feeling of flour between your fingers, the rhythm of a stand mixer, and the taste of your finished product. Focusing your attention on the present moment is mindfulness. Baking is mindfulness.

This week’s challenge:

• Bake or cook for someone you care about. Focus on the present moment during the process. Smell, taste, touch, feel, and listen while you bake. Relax.
• Tweet a photo of your finished baking and let me know whether mindful baking helped you manage your stress.