Let’s take a look at coping through cooking!
Have you ever had a bipolar disorder coping strategy that became a passion?
Did this passion help you reduce your symptoms and at the same time fill the room with delicious smells?!
Coping Through Mindfulness
I’ve had bipolar disorder my whole life. Along with medication and therapy, there are other ways to manage symptoms including coping strategies.
Coping strategies include mindfulness, which means living in the moment as well as awakening to experience.
Mindfulness includes forms of meditation such as breath awareness and kundalini yoga.
Did you know that cooking is a basic and overlooked form of meditation.
Cooking In The Moment
Cooking is a simple daily task that can help you find peace as well as enjoyment in the present moment.
An example is an easy and simple recipe such as candied sweet potatoes. When you’re starting it on the top of your stove by adding butter to your pan you’ll notice your mind is set on that simple task.
Then you start adding brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to the butter. When this happens there’s a delicious smell that not only makes you hungry but also triggers feelings of warm nostalgia. Also it plays a role in activating areas of your brain linked to emotion as well as memory. As a result you’ll find that this calms an anxious mind.
Benefits Of Cooking?
It’s hard to get motivated when your in a depressed mood because of bipolar disorder.
Due to depression weighing you down; you might be in the mood to overeat. Also you might have a hard time getting up and doing anything else.
When you’re feeling depressed there are many benefits to coping through cooking for yourself.
What Are Some Of Cooking’s Benefits?
Benefits Include:
- Cooking Is Therapeutic: Cooking is an effective therapy, because it encourages creativity. Also it reduces anxiety as well as depression.
- Healthier Food Options: People who cook for themselves tend to have better overall health.
- Focus On What You’re Eating: When you’re cooking for yourself you’re not surrounded by other distractions. You can enjoy your food more and exercise better control over what you eat.
- Cooking Forces You To Get It Together: Preparing your own food takes some planning. As a result it encourages you to be organized and focused, which helps with bipolar symptoms.
- It Connects You With Others: Cooking for someone else is a way to express love. Whether it’s for your significant other, kids, roommates, family or friends you’re all working together to make something amazing.
How Do You Cope With Your Bipolar Symptoms?
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If you’re interested in learning about nutrition’s role in brain health, please click on: “B Vitamins For A Better Mind”!
Sources:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320392
https://lifehacker.com/when-you-eat-focus-on-just-eating-1548927900