Cooking as a Mindfulness Practice: Nourishing Your Body and Soul
If you are engaged in any form of self-development work, you’ve most likely been referred to meditation as a supportive tool for self-inquiry. It’s a good piece of advice; sitting meditation has been shown to reduce stress levels, enhance self-awareness, and improve your sleep quality, just to name a few benefits.
If you already have a sitting meditation practice, that’s wonderful. You’ve probably started to benefit from its effects - an increased sense of connectedness to the world, a decreased sense of anxiety, and a spaciousness throughout your day that may not have been there before. However, if you don’t already have a meditation practice, and if the idea itself makes you feel like another task was just added to your never-ending to-do list, then please consider this an invitation to forgo a structured practice altogether for now and focus instead on how you can engage mindfully with tasks that you already do.
Anything in your daily life can become a mindfulness practice. All you need to do is to complete the task – washing dishes, taking a shower, going for a walk – with a sense of presence and non-judgement. One way that you can engage with this practice is through an activity that you are probably already doing several times per week: cooking a meal.
Cooking is a wonderful opportunity to engage with mindfulness because it’s something that we have to do for ourselves in order to survive. Even if you get take-out almost every night, my guess is that you at least have made a sandwich or a bowl of cereal for yourself at some point in the last few weeks. When I talk about cooking here, please don’t take it to mean that you must cook several intricate and expensive meals for yourself and/or your family several times a week. What I’m referring to is the planning, preparation, and execution of putting ingredients together to create sustenance for yourself, which does not have to be time-consuming or extravagant.
Checking In
The first step in cooking mindfully is connecting to your body. Pausing at some point throughout your day (ideally before you’re in the grocery store aisle) and asking yourself, “what would feel really good to eat tonight/this week?” may seem like a small question, but it’s an opportunity to check in with yourself and notice what you need. This is an act of being present to yourself. If you are the one in your household in charge of mealtime, you have an opportunity to steer the meal in a particular direction that aligns with your desires. If your kids are in an anti-green-stuff phase and you’re really craving a big salad or pesto pasta, you can tuck away whatever arose in your check-in with yourself for a time when tantrums won’t erupt, like a date night with your spouse or an evening to yourself. Sometimes the knowledge of whatever arises during your check-in can simply offer information about what you’d desire at some point soon).
Engage with the Senses
As you choose what you’d like to cook (or as you pull open your fridge to see what the grocery shopper in your household got for this week), notice if you can engage with your senses as you begin. Pay attention to the textures, colors, and aromas of the ingredients laid out before you. Notice the weight of each ingredient, the strength of its smell, its texture and temperature before you even decide what to do with it. As you’re cooking, notice the delicious smells that fill your home, the flavors that emerge as you taste the dish at different stages in the cooking process, and the ways in which the colors of the ingredients change as they cook.
Invite Creativity
The kitchen is a canvas where you can experiment with flavors, try new recipes, and improvise with available ingredients. This creative process can be both liberating and expressive, providing an outlet for self-expression. Whether you’re following a beloved family recipe or inventing something new, the act of creating something unique and delicious brings a sense of accomplishment. If you realize halfway through the process that you forgot to get a particular spice at the store, notice if you can use it as an opportunity for flexibility and adaptability, instead of scrapping the whole meal or frantically running back to the market.
Attune to Rhythm
Cooking provides a dedicated time for relaxation and focus, diverting attention from the demands of daily life. The rhythmic actions involved in cooking, such as stirring, kneading, or chopping, can be therapeutic and meditative. These repetitive motions can promote a state of flow, a sense of being fully immersed and engaged in the activity. This state of flow reduces stress and anxiety, offering a peaceful respite from the constant stimuli of our modern world. See if you can notice what rhythms arise during your meal preparation - do you rock back and forth while you wash the dishes? Do you hum to yourself as you stir the pot? These unconscious actions typically offer some form of self-soothing. You don’t have to do anything different with them, you simply need to notice what’s happening with curiosity.
Conclusion
Incorporating cooking into your routine as a mindful and therapeutic practice can bring about a profound positive impact on your overall well-being. Embrace the process, savor the moments, and let the kitchen become a sanctuary where you not only nourish your body but also nurture your soul. Remember that the true essence of cooking lies not just in the final dish but in the mindfulness and joy infused into every step of the process, even if the meal is your easiest go-to recipe in the middle of the week. Cooking mindfully transforms an everyday task into a meaningful and enriching experience, one that brings balance, peace, and a deeper connection to yourself and the world around you.
