MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Why Stress-Baking and Cleaning Make You Less Anxious

Five takeaways:

1. In the early days of Covid, a baking craze arose. The hashtag #quarantinebaking became so popular that Amazon sold out of popular brands of flour and chocolate chips.
2. It turns out there is neurological proof that homekeeping and self-care activities such as baking can help stop cycles of anxiety and depression by changing how the human brain self-regulates.
3. When humans perceive a threat, their amygdala– a region of the brain associated with stress– begins firing. The prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotion, begins working less effectively.
4. Activities such as baking or bicycling can reset the brain and allow the prefrontal cortex to more effectively regulate emotion. They offer a sense of applied skill and control.
5. Studies suggest that behavioral activation– as with activities like baking– can be just as effective as meditation in helping to reregulate brain activity. In the anxious early days of lockdown, this was hugely helpful as an escape.

From Sara Harrison at Wired:
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