Preloading

How Cooking Can Help You Stay Present

Season 6 Episode 605
Aired on 03/29/2015 | CC tv-14
Food expert and bestselling author Michael Pollan has never considered himself a Zen master but says he regularly finds a sense of peace while preparing a meal in the kitchen. "We spend so much of our time living in the future worrying and living in the past worrying about what we might have done wrong. And the present is inaccessible to us most of the time," he says. "In the kitchen, you can reclaim the present."

Paying attention to what you're doing in food prep can help you tune out other distractions and keeps you in the moment. "I hated chopping onions. I rushed it. And so many dishes begin with a chopped onion," he says. "I learned to say to myself this little mantra: When chopping onions, just chop onions. Don't think about anything else. Let yourself enjoy it. And it's not pleasant always. Right? It's painful. But even chopping onions, you can absorb yourself in. And the world slips away. And it's a great feeling."
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