Baking Can Help You Relieve Stress During Coronavirus
Have you started stress baking yet? I don't know what you call it, anxiety baking, baking away the stress, procrastibaking? Whatever you call it, it's human nature to try and find a distraction when we are anxious or stressed.
Dr. Mary McNaughton-Cassill, a clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, San Antonio, told Delish.com "The smell of spices and vanilla are comforting, and [they] often remind us of happy times. Olfactory scents are particularly linked to areas of the brain that involve emotions and memory,". You can't deny the fun in it all. Cassill went on to say that "Mixing inert substances together and watching them rise can bring out the mystic, or the chemist, in all of us."
It's amazing that we are allowing ourselves to think outside the box and be creative. You can add color, you can change the flavor, you're able to form different shapes. It's like a pre-k project on steroids but in the best of ways.
McNaughton-Cassill added that "There is a rhythm or pattern to baking, It feels familiar and can even lead to a mindful state." Mindfulness is crucial for someone struggling with anxiety, it leads to reflection instead of reaction. Psychologists all over the world believe mindfulness is one of the best ways to combat anxiety and depression.
Before you convince yourself that all you're going to do is gain weight during your self-isolation, remind yourself that you're baking for your sanity. So, get to baking friend!