The Joy Of Baking

mental health

From a young age I have loved baking especially with my mum. As a young child I found it magical to see how the cakes in the oven would change and get bigger and bigger. Or seeing how the biscuits got all golden; not forgetting the wonderful smells they created coming from the oven.

My mum used to come into my primary and do cookery lessons, we learnt how to make lots of different things from cheese scones, jam tarts and marble cake to name a few.

A few years ago I went into a mental health hospital for a couple of weeks. I had 1:1 sessions with the occupational therapist (OT for short). The OT and I had quite a few sessions together baking. We would bake party food together such as cupcakes,biscuits and brownies. I would make party food because when someone was due to leave the ward we would have a little leaving party for them. I enjoyed doing baking activities whilst in hospital as it helped me with my anxiety as I started to feel more comfortable around others. I found by baking it helped me to talk to others and start conversations. People would ask me questions like “what recipe book did you use?”Or “how much chocolate did you use ? “. From just these few questions the conversations I was having grew and before I knew it I had made new friends. I loved seeing others enjoying my baking!

Last year at college I did baking sessions to build up my independent living skills. I would make all the recipes from scratch and my 1:1 helper would help me to make each recipe. I made things such as Victoria Sponge Cake, Black Forest Gateau Cake and Pineapple Upside Down Cake. At college before I made anything I would go on the computer and look at a supermarket website to see how much the ingredients cost and how much I would be spending to make each recipe. I would then go to that supermarket and buy the ingredients I needed.

Chocolate Fridge Cake.

Baking doesn’t just make me feel happy, it helps me build up lots of different skills:

Baking helps me to improve my maths as I have to weigh each ingredient correctly to make sure the recipe turns out right . I also need to make sure the oven is on the correct heat and I have to manage my time efficiently because my baking needs to be done and cooked properly before the end of the day.

Sometimes when baking I will need to rub butter into the flour with my finger tips to make a crumble type mixture, by doing this with my hands I am building up my hand strength; I need to make sure I am building up my strength as I am weaker on one side of my body due to my disability.

I find following recipe instructions sometimes difficult to understand so by trying out new recipes I am not only building up on my reading skills but I start to understand the sequence of the instructions.

At college I enjoyed baking things for when we did cake sales . We raise money for Children in Need, Comic Relief and local charities that helped disabled people and their families.

Creativity And Mental Health

mental health

I have always loved being creative, I have found that doing creative activities helps me to express, understand and process my thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Creativity plays a big part of my mental health recovery journey in lots of different ways. Here are just a few ways creative activities help me with my mental health.

I used to go to a Mental Health Recovery College. Here I did group workshops on creative activities such as glass painting, pottery and scrapbooking. I enjoyed doing these as I was able to express myself. I felt safe as I knew others would understand if my day wasn’t going so well. By doing creative activities I was able to let go of my worries for a bit. I could just have some fun and feel like my life wasn’t just about going to doctor’s appointments all the time.

One of the things I love about doing something creativity is there is no right or wrong. It helps me to try and relax , sometimes it relaxes me so much I feel I can start to tell people how I actually feel I have found it has also helped me to develop my trust in others.

To begin with I found pottery very difficult but as time went on I found I started to like it more and more. It helped me to ground myself as I was really had to work with the clay in my hands. I found doing the pottery very tactical this helped me to stay in the here and now.

I enjoyed using different tools such as a garlic press to add texture to my work. I now find that having different textures in the pottery is useful when having to really focus on the here and now. As I touch different textures on the pottery such as smooth and rough indents in the pottery.

I love doing scrapbooking I did do a little bit as a child. I enjoy having a book that I have made using lots of different photos and pictures I like. I enjoy building up on the pages by adding things like ribbon, stickers and wrapping paper to name a few. When I am sad I find looking at my scrapbook a good resource to use as it helps me get a smile on my face. It’s really lovely to have photos in my scrapbook too as this reminds me of many happy memories.

Printing is another thing I like to do sometimes I might use a print I have done as a background and build on top of it. Sometimes I may layer prints on top of other work. I may use paint; ink, stamps, feathers and bubble wrap to make different patterns and marks.

I have done some decoupaging on glass. Here I have used an old glass and covered it in a light pink and orange glass paint. I have a few layers of paint dabbed on using a sponge to build up the colour. I have then stuck lace to the glass and covered the lace in paint. I have then added beads and hessian material to the glass rim.

On this glass I have put strips of pink, red and orange tissue paper all over the glass. I have then added pink powder around the rim of the glass I put pink ribbon on the glass too. I find these make lovely presents to give to someone. You could put a little fake tea light or fairy lights in the glass too and see the glass all lit up!

I would love to know what creative things you like doing. You could leave a comment or send me a message on Instagram.

Photography & Mental Health

mental health

Over the past couple of months I have really got into photography, I have found that it is helping me to manage my mental health.

Doing photography helps me to not only be creative but to help me to really ground myself and bring me back to the here and now.

Photography is a very useful tool for me to use when doing my grounding technique I learnt in therapy.

The Technique

5. Name 5 things you can see right now

4. Name 4 things you can hear right now

3. Name 3 things you can touch right now

2. Name 2 things you can smell right now

1. Now take a slow deep and breathe

I love doing nature and animal photography as I have to really look at what is around me and try and see how and what it could look being photographed in different ways. I especially like taking photos in autumn as the leaves are all changing colour I like how the light shines through the leaves and can cast shadows on the trees. I enjoy experimenting with trying to get photos of the raindrops on the leaves and grass.

Raindrops On A Fallen Leaf.

Raindrops On A Blade Of Grass.

Light Coming Through The Leaves.

Taking photos of wildlife has helped me to look at detail and to take my time when looking and not to rush but be quick enough to capture the shot I want.

I really enjoy taking photos whilst on walks with my dog, by doing photography I can now see things I wouldn’t normally see for example the light shining on some leaves or some fungi growing on some wood. This helps me to stay in the present and try not to dissociative.

Pheasant In The Garden.

Visiting Bumblebee.

Wild Deer In The Garden.

The great thing about doing photography is that I can do it where ever I am because I don’t have to just do it on a traditional camera I can do it on my phone or iPad.

Doing photography has also helped me to express myself too as I can do my own photography projects on different topics. By doing photography I can express and understand my emotions in a creative way instead of keeping my thoughts and feelings inside.