Zen-cuisine and the Brain: Part3

I used to get really agitated when preparing one certain recipe. It was something I often made on holidays. Or when company was coming for dinner because the dish is so tasty. It is a wonderful salad with fresh pineapple chunks, oranges, and blueberries, in a delicious spiced parsley dressing. But for some reason, as soon as I took the ingredients from the crisper, my hands would start shaking. My mouth got dry. My heart pounded. I felt like I had to move faster and faster to get the task done. I was dizzy with anxiety. And all I was doing was cutting up oranges! Truly, I was slicing mindlessly, with haste, not enjoying the experience very much.  

I'm not suggesting that slicing oranges has to be a peak event, but it shouldn't be a stressful activity! Thinking about recent neurological research, I realized that I had made this agitated reaction is my default option for neural wiring when preparing this recipe. I know I can rewire my brain. I want to change this habit by creating new neural circuitry for a calm, a less stressful response. I decide to make the salad more often. Then I could use 'neuroplasticity' to enable the new pattern to form more quickly with frequent activation through frequent practice.

I used zen-cuisine's tool of mindfulness to I practice over and over. I varied the salad ingredients from time to time, and came up with some creative new recipes in the process. To help make the transition from feeling agitated to feeling calm when prepping pineapple, I used a zen-cuisine technique called 'mental rehearsal'. Before beginning to make the salad, I take a few minutes to sit quietly in the kitchen. I follow my breath moving gently in and out of my body. I close my eyes and see myself take the pineapple from the fridge.

I breath slowly,evenly. I see myself put the pineapple on the cutting board with a feeling of ease. I twist off the green foliage, and cut the pineapple in half. I easily peel the fruit, and cutout the core with steady hands. Calm surrounds me. Calm and steady energy flows through the body, gently riding on my breath. Slowly, I open my eyes and begin to make the salad, calmly beginning with the pineapple.

Mental rehearsal activates the same neural circuitry that real activity triggers. Calmly cubing the pineapple in the mind benefits our practice, and actually enhances the circuitry that produces calm feelings when we are preparing fruit 'in real time'. The more I practice 'mental rehearsal' in my mind before cooking the stronger new neural circuitry becomes. This stronger circuitry benefits my cooking experience.

 

Over time, with repeated practice opportunities, the new habit becomes more natural than the old. It's now the default mode in my brain. I make pineapple salad, prepping the fruit with good-hearted ease. Now I sometimes cut up pineapple just for the sense of calm it brings  me! Happy Cooking!   

Visit Juicy Foods for great zen-cuisine recipes!