Day 29: Bake Bread

Stephanie emailed me all the reasons why this is at the top of her self-care routine: 

Bread baking accomplishes a number of different self-soothing techniques for me:

1. It forces me to exercise. Kneading is a remarkably high-energy process that compels me to focus on what I'm doing rather than ruminating on negative and anxious thoughts.

2. Repetitive physical activity soothes me. I feel in control, and I get to work out a lot of pent-up emotions by beating up dough. It's also a soothing tactile experience, kind of like squeezing a stress ball.

3. I get the satisfaction of a concrete accomplishment at the end of the process - ta-da, it's bread!

4. My apartment smells amazing.

5. My apartment is warm because the oven is on.

6. Fresh bread makes my tastebuds happy.

7. I'm able to feed other people with all the bread I bake, making me feel like I'm contributing to others's well-being which in turn increases my sense of self-worth.

Over to Stephanie's I went this afternoon for a bread-making party. We kneaded and baked a delicious rosemary, fennel and cardamon  baguette (it is so delicious that I need to hide the leftovers in my kitchen so I don't eat it all). Stephanie was pretty on point with her list of reasons; while we were in each other's company and able to distract ourselves with tea, wine, and ridiculous life stories, I can see how the physical act of baking bread alone could be soothing. There really was nothing like slice that bread while it was still warm from the oven and dipping it into olive oil.  I'm not ready to commit to baking bread on my own just yet, but there might be more bread-making parties in the future.

Kneading (Photo by Stephanie!)

The final and yummy result