Food for thought

Food, and cooking, can be so much more than just fueling your body. It can be an act of love, playfulness, and creativity. It can be about creating magic moments and bring your family and friends together. And it’s something we all do, in our everyday life. So why not use this everyday task, as a moment to recharge and take care of ourselves and others?

Living in a fast-paced reality, everyone gets depleted at times and need to find ways to recharge. What we do and how we do it can vary from person to person and from day to day. Recharging doesn’t have to be complicated or exclusively something we do on holidays or days off. It can be the smallest acts, in our everyday, like solving a crossword puzzle or mindfully preparing our next meal.

Research shows that cooking can be very mindful and therapeutic, whether you chop vegetables or smoosh tomatoes by hand, it allows us to engage all our senses and focus on the present moment. It also allows us to be creative and playful, experimenting with new flavors or trying new recipes.

Cooking, especially when done for others, have several positive psychological benefits. And yes, we know, cooking for a bunch of hungry kids, does not always sound very mindful. But hear us out. Performing an act for another human being, like cooking, makes us happier and we feel connected to each other. Eating together encourage a sense of trust, community, meaning, purpose, belonging, closeness, and intimacy, all of which have been linked to things like increased happiness, decreased depression, and greater overall wellbeing.

Join us this spring and learn how cooking for others also helps us to bond with our loved ones and fellow humans. Just like food and water, making connections is one of our human basic needs and cooking for others combines the three needs.