Celina Jaitley credits baking for turning her life around

Mumbai, Sep 18 (IANS) Former actress Celina Jaitley, who is known for ‘No Entry’, ‘Golmaal Returns’ and others, has shared how baking has helped her cope from stress.

On Wednesday, she took to her Instagram, and shared a picture of herself holding a wine glass as she dressed up in a traditional European countryside attire.

She penned a long note in the caption describing her relationship with cooking. She wrote, “How baking saved me. Beauty queens must ‘bake’ the world a better place. As someone who was never allowed to go into the kitchen I never knew baking would become therapeutic. My military dad never allowed me to enter the kitchen because for him growing up in a Punjabi household he did not want me to inherit the gender roles he had witnessed in his own family growing up”.

The actress shared that her father wanted her to study, to play sports, and to do everything that he saw women not being able to do while growing up. She did all that her late father wanted her to do and thanks to him achieved a lot but secretly she was always fascinated with baking. She shared that her dad and she used to binge on watching ‘Masterchef’ but her father never allowed her to cook.

She further mentioned, “I started baking after I lost my parents and we moved back to Europe. Austria is a country where baking is an integral part of culture and I got to learn so much from so many wonderful women in my village. Every time I bake it’s like meditation. Baking is a great activity for stress relief. Not only can you take out some of your frustrations on your dough, but baking can also reduce stress hormones such as cortisol. The best part is I never imagined I could bake breads. The day I bake breads, my kids are hanging outside the kitchen door like 3 puppies waiting for kibble and husband says he can smell the freshly baked bread even in his office 3 floors up”.

She admitted that she didn’t know that baking falls under art and creative therapy, and shared findings from a study stating that engaging in art therapy is likely to impact stress levels and lead to a reduction in cortisol levels.

“Another important mental health benefit of baking is that it can strengthen your existing relationships, and even lead to forming new friendships. I recommend taking up baking once a week like me besides working out if you need a creative outlet for relieving stress and anxiety. This activity is bound to uplift not just your taste buds but your mood and family’s palette also. PS: The secret to good food is wine – in the chef”, she added.

--IANS

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