Cooking Therapy: Relaxing the Mind While busying Hands

Many people do not think to relax after a long, hard day by cooking. Sometimes it's a difficult task and requires more work. But it has its rewards. 

"Of all the rooms in the home, the kitchen is the most important. Considered the heart of the house, see kitchens a lot of activity," blogged Gillian Markson in June 2006 families.com. 

Today, with harried existence society has thrust himself in, the kitchen is an empty wasteland of origami take-out cartons and Styrofoam clamshell left-over boxes. There is no time to prepare a dinner, and the kitchen did not see much activity in the four-minute Steam-n-Eat meals people pop in the microwave. 

It's time for a migration back to the kitchen for some much needed cooking therapy. 

Cooking Therapy? 

"Cooking is a change of pace, a change of venue and a change of mind," said Janet Peterson in an article in Meridian Magazine. 

In the movie "Julie & Julia," actress Amy Adams character examines the phenomenon of therapeutic cooking. When she crosses through Julia Child's first volume of French cooking, she discovers her passion, and in turn reveals the real Julie Powell. 

"Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music," Julia Child himself is quoted as saying. 

Almost everyone has heard about art therapy, music therapy and garden therapy. Why are so many reluctant people to try their pan in the kitchen to discover if that is what really makes them happy?

The Great Migration out of your kitchen.

"There are so many Americans spend considerably more time in front of images of cooking on television, than they are cooking yourself - an increasingly archaic activity, they will tell you that they no longer have time," wrote Michael Pollen in a July 29, 2009 , article in the New York Times. 

Mary Rodale disagrees with Pollen the Huffing ton Post. Instead of people are not cooking because they do not have the time, she said people were not cooking because of the intimidation factor that comes with preparing a complex recipe. 

"What struck me most then was how inadequate we felt, she recalled in an August 10, 2009, Article." Martha Stewart constantly ashamed of perfection that we could never achieve. The New York Times always made me feel like the food we enjoyed was not exotic, elite, and expensive enough. " 

Cooking Therapy in Action 

In an article for the Belfast Telegraph, told Scarlett Johansson, how she finds cooking therapeutic. 

"Scarlett Johansson likes to relax by cooking alone," the April 2010 article read. 

Rachel Ray's website offers recipes that take 30 minutes or less. 

"When you get more comfortable with your cooking routine and preparation skills, things go a lot easier and faster," she advises in an April 2009 blog. 

While the kitchen's take-off Everest can look scary at first, digging in and handle it. This is your zen garden truly ready to take root.