As a clinical psychologist at headspace, people often ask what I do for self-care, particularly during really stressful times.
Well, one thing I do is bake. It is only fitting that ‘desserts’ is ‘stressed’ spelled backwards!
The step-by-step process of baking and, of course, people enjoying the end result, creates meaning for me and can have a significant positive impact on my mood and well-being.
The methodical nature of baking is a perfect example of the mindfulness skills I try to communicate to those I work with such as; paying attention and being mindful in the moment; following a recipe; immersing yourself in a meaningful activity; doing one thing at a time, and keeping focus on the end result.
Of course, it doesn’t always work out the first (second or third) time, and I kind of like that because it means I get to try again, get better at it, and of course, there are always left overs!
2 cups of focused attention
1 pinch of distraction
3 cups of creativity (1 cup extra for decoration)
2 cups of perseverance
3 egg-xpressions of physical movement (or eggs-ercise)
225g of positivity
1 ½ tsp of vulnerability
1 ½ tsp of hope
¼ tsp of bravery
¾ cups of resilience
1 ½ tsp of repetition
Line yourself with confidence and gather all the ingredients.
Use your eggs-ercise to combine the ingredients together, mix well and pour in to your pre-prepared cake tins.
Bake at 160 degrees for 50 minutes then cool for 10 minutes in the tin.
Turn out on to a cake rack to cool completely.
Use the extra cup of creativity to decorate as you like and have fun!
