It is a mindful activity that engages all the senses. It creates space to process and time to think and feel. It allows an opportunity to gain insights into one’s behaviour, be aware, and develop communication skills and tools for time and stress management.

For Aisling, when she cooks for you, it is her way of connecting with you, expressing a feeling or an emotion, sharing a moment of joy and deliciousness with you and then allowing you to create pleasure and satiety in your day.

On a psychological and physiological level, the deliciousness of food creates instant triggers in the brain to release the pleasure chemical dopamine as well as the hormone ghrelin to stimulate appetite, and this, combined with a reduction in cortisol levels, can also reduce stress, giving way to those positive physical and socio-emotional benefits. So not only is the process of cooking mindful but there is also time to explore eating behaviours and relationships with food and learn how to listen to our intuition and trust our instincts.