Studies have shown that creative activities like baking and knitting contribute to an overall sense of well-being. Boston University associate professor of psychological and brain sciences Donna Pincus told HuffPost that theres “a stress relief that people get from having some kind of an outlet and a way to express themselves.”

Baking is very good for focusing the mind because it often relies on very exact measurements. You have to add ingredients in the correct order or your profiteroles wont rise， or your cookies will be soggy. Having complete focus on a recipe and not allowing yourself to be distracted by your thoughts can have a therapeutic effect.

In other words， most of the decisions have already been made for you， allowing you to concentrate on the details while nudging your mind away from the stressors and anxieties of your life outside the kitchen.

Baking is a minor feat that you can use to visualize a happy moment in the future， when the cookies， bread， or cake is finished， delicious， and being shared with family or friends.

The act of sharing your finished product can be good for the body and soul， too， says Pincus.

“You feel like youve done something good for the world， which perhaps increases your meaning in life and connection with other people.”

研究表明，烘焙和編織等創(chuàng)造性活動(dòng)有助于提升幸福感。美國波士頓大學(xué)心理學(xué)和腦科學(xué)副教授唐娜·平卡斯在接受《赫芬頓郵報(bào)》采訪時(shí)表示：“人們有了發(fā)泄和表達(dá)自我的方式，就能緩解壓力。”

烘焙對集中精神非常有幫助，因?yàn)樵谄溥^程中通常需要非常精確的測量。你必須按照正確的順序添加配料，否則你的泡芙就不會(huì)膨脹，或者你的餅干可能會(huì)變軟。將注意力完全集中在食譜上，不允許自己分心，可以產(chǎn)生治療效果。

換句話說，你需要做的事情大都已經(jīng)決定好了，因此，你可以專注于細(xì)節(jié)，同時(shí)讓思緒遠(yuǎn)離廚房外生活中的壓力和焦慮。

烘焙可以給你帶來小小的成就感，你可以想象美味可口的餅干、面包或蛋糕出爐后，與家人、朋友分享的幸福時(shí)刻。

平卡斯說，分享烘焙成果對身心健康也有好處。

“你覺得自己為世界做了一些好事，這可能會(huì)豐富生活的意義，增進(jìn)與他人的聯(lián)系?！?/p>

Word Bank

feat /fi?t/ n. 功績

visualize /'v??u?la?z/ v. 想象；設(shè)想

I cant visualize what this room looked like before it was decorated.