4 Ways to Ritualize Your Cooking Experience
October 23, 2015
Cooking is an experience that awakens and nurtures the whole house.
Like preparing a sacred space for painting, preparing to cook in the kitchen is similar. I get the whole apartment ready for the process. Today, I am celebrating. Therefore, I’m curating a whole sensory experience for my love to come home to, starting from the moment he walks in the front door of our apartment.
My first step is music. When I cook (which is sparingly and less then I would like) for whatever reason, I gravitate immediately to a Bossa Nova and Samba playlist. My auditory palette in the kitchen is apparently Brazilian.
Before I get to the creative work, I do the dirty work. I haven’t been home or active in the kitchen for a few days so this means clearing out the fridge, washing dishes, wiping down kitchen counters and clearing any space I need (I resist the desire to deep clean and re-organize the entire kitchen --I’ll do that this weekend).
As mundane as cleaning sounds, this is the beginning of ritual. And by that I mean, I am ritualistically preparing a space to create, quite literally, in the kitchen. Be it a painting or a meal, it is still the same intentional process.
There is no wrong way to do this. Right now, I am intending to create an experience for me to enjoy the process of cooking (creating), equally to a meal I will enjoy eating!
I’m missing Thyme and Bay leaf, so off to the corner mini-market. Meanwhile I ask my honey to bring home some flowers for dinner. I’m keeping it pretty simple today with a set of tea light candles to bring a little sparkle in the space.
It doesn’t help that I am hungry, so I am going to set up a little something for me to snack on… Let’s see, like a goat cheese and cinnamon apple spread with cinnamon-crisp pita chips with sparkling water. Yum. After all, it’s about the little indulgences along the way in life.
Finally all the ingredients are chopped and prepared. Now, in my humble opinion the “Magic happens”.. The stove top is on and the aromas begin to awake and rise from the kitchen out into the apartment. Time to awaken the senses. I hope the onions don’t kill our neighbors.
Light is dimming outside our bay window. All at once my home comes alive and anticipates my honey’s arrival with me, ready to embrace him in all his senses. Even if right now, it’s just onion and garlic, this meal is intentional, with love, to fill his heart and belly full.
While my onion and garlic cook… I think it’s moments like these that anchor me into the present moment and hook me with a sense of gratitude. My apartment feels lived in. Somehow it feels like Christmas. I’m just happy. Pure and simple.
Cheat Sheet: 4 Tips to Setting Up Your Own Ritual in the Kitchen.
Prepare your space before you prepare your meal.
Set your sights on how you want to feel through the cooking process. Do you want to feel relaxed? Embraced by your environment, or transported even? Don’t want to worry about making the bed or dirty dishes while you stir the pot? Clear whatever is in your periphery that might distract you from your act of creation. For example, I want to feel comfortable, warm, inspired and free of distraction. My apartment is a studio, which means I do a quick clean sweep of the space before I even step into the kitchen.
2. Nurture the creator (that’s you!) while you create.
I think about all my senses before I start. What music I want to fill the space with, the feel of warm socks on my feet, the flicker of light from a candle, and if I am hungry or thirsty, the taste of what I am sipping along the process. All of these stimulations mingle to create my experience while I am creating in my kitchen! By being very deliberate with my space, I am able to nurture myself through the cooking process and make a very enjoyable experience for myself that delivers even more joy into my life.
3. Make it your own.
I will be the first to admit that I have the luxury of space and time and no small children to tend to while I am in the kitchen. My lifestyle is very different then my brother and sister-in-law who have a house and three kiddos between 2 and 11yrs old in the home. Every situation and every person is unique. Make it your own by creating a ritual for yourself that works best for you and your home environment. When I was a young single mother in my twenties, I found little ways to make the space come alive even though I had one eye on my son and the neighborhood kids running in and out of the front door. But, it brought me joy to have children in my space while I cooked!
4. Being present and feeling gratitude has huge benefits.
When I consciously create a space for myself to experience, it grounds me in the present moment very quickly. Usually because I am engulfed in the experience of the space and presently aware of my senses and surroundings. I then begin to feel good and grateful for the little things in life and what I do have. This shift is a very different mindset, not to mention emotional and energetic frequency than being fixated on what isn’t working. This little positive shift reverberates through your entire home and life. It definitely does for me. Enjoy!
Enjoy this Dinner playlist on Spotify
Thank you for taking this journey with me!
From my Heart Center to yours,
NOEMI
