Body love & Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s almost cookie-baking season. A real and legitimate season that typically begins in late September and ends only when temperatures rise too high to turn on the oven. Well, in my last batch I noticed something I hadn’t noticed before…something that’s made each batch better than the last.

A little background, before I became a HAES therapist/nutritionist, I worked as a pastry cook churning out cakes, bars, tarts, and cookies on repeat for a little bakery. Meaning, even though my bakery days are over, I can make a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back. And the more times I replicate this simple recipe, I find myself zoning out more. Or rather, zone IN. Entering THE ZONE, as one does when they get into what’s known in the psych community, and now wider society, as “flow”. Musicians, painters- scratch that- actually almost any person doing anything methodically can enter a “flow” state when they become totally mindful of the task at hand, mind and body awareness merge into one consciousness. Some say it’s pure bliss.

Well, most of the time, when I know something like the back of my hand, I tend to do it on autopilot! The polar opposite of flow. But this particular baking session I entered the legendary flow state. I didn’t have any TV or background noise to distract me (no shade! I just hate hitting pause and play a million times on The Office between the whirs of my KitchenAid mixer). And as I drizzled in vanilla extract into the churning cookie batter I started to think about what it means to bake something “with love.” We always hear that phrase, “made with love.” But what does that mean?! It’s clearly not on the shelves of the grocery store. So how do we know when something is infused with love. I’ve come to believe it means baking the cookies with care, paying REALLY close attention to what I’m doing, how I’m adding those eggs, how I’m measuring that flour. It doesn’t need to be done perfectly. Even Ina Garten gets a little laid back with the flour measuring I have noticed. But as I lost myself in the disappearing stream of vanilla extract I thought “these are about to be the best cookies I’ve ever created” (muah ha ha ha ha). Becuase I knew that I was attending to every second of their creation. I was fully THERE will them. And I think it will be apparent with every balanced bite, every flake of sea salt adorning them, every gooey chocolate chip throughout.

How does this relate to body acceptance? I think that sometimes, in some scenarios, the word Love can be effectively substituted with Attention. We show children love in large part by giving them attention. We love intimate partners by attending to their preferences, listening to their day, and we crave attention in return. We can show ourselves love by simply being there with our bodies. What are you hungry for, body? What hurts? Are you in need of a nap, brain? Would you like to go to that party tonight, body, or have some alone time? When we tune into the body, we show it love. It is the body’s love language. The body feels it. And I believe the body deserves it. Because this one body, is the only batch of cookies that we will ever get to bake. We don’t have to do it perfectly, but as long as we are noticing the body, and adding ingredients and resting time with care, acknowledging its beauty and deliciousness, we are sure to yield a most delectable experience.

With love,

~Emma

P.S. To learn more about how to love your body today, check out my services here.