|
|
Food for Thought Friday: finding a FLOW state in cooking ✨
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
photo of me by Erin Conger
Hi friend,
I spent this week utterly consumed by a book. I hope you’re familiar with this magical kind of experience: I couldn’t stop turning the pages, my mind and heart insatiable to consume more and more of the story. Time became irrelevant, as I was so wrapped up I could barely discern its passing. I’d complete a powerful paragraph only to immediately read it again three times over, not wanting the reverent moment to end. Perched on the stool in my kitchen were I sit and make my daily pour over coffee, a few tears crept down my cheeks as I read the final pages. It was one of those books that ate me up and spit me out a slightly different person, enlightened with a broader, more empathetic worldview. (The book is Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar, highly recommend.)
Sadly I have been reading less this year, as my calendar has filled and each week seems busier than the last. It was such a joy to remember the awesome power of good writing; the sheer wonder of being lost in a great book; the power of a story to change you.
This got me thinking about another of my favorite ways to get lost: cooking.
Getting lost in cooking is very different than getting lost in a great story, but both experiences offer the opportunity to find that magical sense of a “flow state” - where time seems to stop as you become fully, experientially immersed in an activity.
A flow state in reading requires a fabulously compelling story. A flow state in cooking is a bit more nebulous, requiring a very specific set of circumstances. For me, the conditions required are as follows:
- alone time (or at least a quiet house) while I’m cooking
- enough time to cook that I’m not in a rush
- phone on silent/no distractions
- I must be cooking something intuitively or making something I’ve made many times before, not using a recipe
- the right state of mind… able to relax and let go enough
- sometimes music helps, sometimes it distracts
- no multi-tasking (ie, listening to podcasts)
Whereas a reading-induced flow state takes you out of your own world and into a different one, I find that a cooking flow state offers variety in its destination. The simplest destination on offer is the present - an active form of meditation. Unlike sitting on a mat, in a state of cooking meditation, you’re engaging all your senses - touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste, of course (always taste and adjust)!
This is the kind of cooking flow state I reach most often. And lately - in the absence of it - I’ve found that I crave this kind of cooking-as-meditation experience when I’ve gone too long without it (as I have of late, due to said busyness).
When I’m REALLY in the cooking zone - my required conditions are met and I'm usually cooking for a longer amount of time - I might reach a different destination, which I think of as an “integration state” of sorts. It’s not that I’m particularly trying to figure something out, but I find that - in this state - subconscious unresolved items might arise, and while my senses are happily immersed in the tasks at hand, there’s a space created in which new realizations, ideas, or clarity might emerge about whatever’s been on my mind or heart lately.
It might be a newfound empathy, or a lightbulb moment about the previously undetermined source of a current challenge, or perhaps a humbling moment where I realize I was wrong. Maybe it’s a new idea about something I should do, a “glimmer” that might inspire a Friday email, or an inkling about something I’m needing or wanting right now.
In certain, special “flow states” found while cooking, it seems an inner wisdom has the opportunity to arise and integrate itself more fully and peacefully into my psyche.
I have a hunch that even if cooking hasn’t ever produced this kind of state for you, surely something else has: maybe running, swimming, or hiking; painting, piano, or chess.
What I’d like to offer today is that cooking can be so much more than just a task or a chore.
Of course - I don’t reach a flow state in cooking every day, it’s more like once or twice a week if I’m lucky. And honestly I didn’t realize how important cooking-as-meditation and/or a cooking in a flow state was to me until the last few months in which I haven’t been having any of this kind of time, and finally realized I was deeply CRAVING it.
Now that I’ve realized I crave it, I'm feeling inspired to prioritize my flow state cooking conditions more often than usual. I'm reminded of what the meditation teachers say: that even 5 mins of meditation daily can have an important impact. Maybe 5 minutes of "conscious" cooking could do the same?
If you're cooking for others, especially little ones, I'm imagining that creating the conditions for flow state cooking would be a pretty tall order. For me, especially if I'm feeling unappreciated when cooking for others, I might start to resent cooking as a chore. In this case, I'm thinking that taking back the cooking process as form of meditation that I'm doing for myself might be the best reframe-remedy.
^Food for thought :)
I'd love to hear what you think, too! (Simply hit reply and let me know.)
Happy Friday!
Love,
Jess
PS. I made a version of this Tempered Spiced Salad this week with raw corn, arugula, yogurt, some stray radishes, and lemon juice and DANG it was SO FREAKING GOOD. Check out the recipe here - my obsession of summer 2020.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
If you like this email, it would mean so much to me if you'd forward it along to your favorite food-loving friends. Wannabe subscribers can sign up here. Thanks for reading!
In case you missed out, here are a few past issues to check out:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
