Slowing Down and the Zen of Baking Bread

Bread has always been a huge part of my life.

Growing up with five siblings meant that sometimes money was tight, and that meant finding ways to cut costs. One of the ways my parents cut costs was by baking our own bread products.

My mother would bake bread at least once or twice per week. Usually she baked sandwich bread, but every so often we'd mix up homemade pizza dough, dinner rolls, seed-filled artisan loaves and more.

Luckily, she taught most of us how to cook for ourselves and bake as well. She taught us how to make pie crusts, her sandwich bread, and all of the other delicious things she conjured out of that kitchen.

It took several years for me to realize it, but bread baking is somewhat of a lost art in the United States.

Outside of professional bakers, there aren't too many normal people out there who still bake their own bread. Sure, there are die-hard bread hobbyists, but even those are relatively few and far between.

Discovering that baking homemade bread is a bit of a dying art has made me love it even more.

Having had a lot of experience with my mom in the kitchen baking bread or cooking, I obviously get some nostalgia every time I bake. But learning that I am, in a way, carrying on a dying tradition makes it even more meaningful.

One thing that I have learned to appreciate about baking bread is that it forces you to slow down.

You have to feel the dough, feel the ingredients and determine how to create the kind of bread you have in mind.

It brings you to the present and, if you want to have good bread, you'll stay there for at least a couple of hours.

It relaxes me, allows me to breathe a little bit and leaves me feeling refreshed.

In many ways it becomes an almost meditative experience where you're pulled out of your own head and forced to live precisely in the present - not daydreaming about the future and not worrying about the past.

Maybe that's reaching a little bit - I'll give you that.

But, since noticing how the process of baking bread affects me I've tried to pay more attention to other things that force me to slow down and reach that state.

I've definitely noticed that it contributes to my overall well-being, and I've thoroughly enjoyed fining new ways to slow down and enjoy the moment.

What rituals or hobbies do you have the help you to relax and live in the present? I'd love to hear in the comments below!