If you’re having a bad day and step into the kitchen, you might knead dough or roll sugar paste to relax. You’re not alone—Dr. Oetker’s recent Bake Friends study shows that one in three people in the UK choose baking to relieve stress.
So why do people find baking therapy so enjoyable? It combines physical effort with focused concentration, creating genuine stress relief. Each step, from mixing to decorating, gives you purpose and focus, turning baking into an uplifting and rewarding ritual.
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- Creative Expression
We all know, as bakers and cake decorators, how much creativity the craft encourages, so this outcome feels unsurprising.
One in six people in the study said they enjoy baking as a creative outlet and source of expression. In addition, 67% of surveyed bakers agreed that getting active in the kitchen usually helps improve their overall mood.
- Creative Expression
Dr. Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist in the Bake Friends study, explained that creating something simple actively encourages imagination and expression. She highlighted how this process connects strongly to overall wellbeing, giving bakers both freedom and fulfilment through their creative efforts. By letting your mind wander and shaping something artistic without pressure, you naturally strengthen creativity and boost your personal growth.
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- Mindfulness
Baking promotes mindfulness by helping you focus on the present moment and the task at hand. Mindfulness has gained strong interest in recent years, as more people recognise its benefits for mental health and everyday wellbeing. Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, explains that mindfulness means knowing what happens inside and outside ourselves. He describes it as a moment-by-moment awareness, encouraging people to connect with their experiences directly and without distraction.
- Mindfulness
“It’s easy to stop noticing the world around us when daily pressures pull our attention in countless directions. We also lose touch with how our bodies feel, missing important signals that guide balance, health, and emotional awareness.
Many of us then live entirely in our heads, caught in thought patterns that directly influence emotions and behaviour. Without pausing to notice these patterns, we overlook how strongly our thoughts shape both our reactions and everyday decisions.”
How does this apply to baking? Following a recipe keeps you present and focused, shifting your attention away from daily worries. Each step directs your energy toward measuring, mixing, and creating, leaving little space for anxiety or unwanted distractions. Instead of stressing about next week’s commission or yesterday’s disagreement, you concentrate only on what unfolds in the current moment.
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- Positive focus
We’re not going to pretend that baking is always stress-free. Especially when starting and running a cake business, being in the kitchen isn’t always a dream.
- Positive focus
However, we’re looking at baking therapy, not baking professionally. Take some time to create for yourself, free yourself from client needs and expectations and focus your energies on creating something positive for yourself.
As a species, most humans can’t help but put others before themselves. That’s one of the many reasons why we find ourselves looking for stress relieving activities where possible. So whip out an old favourite family recipe, mix some fun and funky colours together in your icing and turn the kitchen from a place of stress to a place of joy.
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- Bonding experience
Baking therapy doesn’t have to be a solitary experience either. While some of us prefer to be alone, baking and cake decorating for the pure joy of creating is a great opportunity to get family involved, especially children.
- Bonding experience
The ‘Bake Friends‘ study found that 1 in 8 bakers think making cakes is a great excuse to bond with the kids in a fun (and messy!) baking session. Baking can create an important bonding experience with family and friends alike,
Do you find baking and cake decorating to be stress relieving activities? If you haven’t tried it, we definitely recommend trying a bit of baking therapy and see how it can change your life for the better.
More information about Linwood Raker can be found at www.linwoodraker.co.uk
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