When it comes to sourdough and the gut, and feeling good, then we can’t just look at fermentation alone to support the way we feel. What I learned was that the pauses needed whilst waiting for the leaven to be ready to use, on the retarded boule for example, gave me a window to get outside. Walking is free, and exercise improves memory and attention span, and increases levels of the hormones and neurotransmitters that make you feel more positive and energized, including dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline. You don’t even have to exercise a lot to get the benefits. Even if you aim for 30 minutes of walking or a bike ride (with enough pace to get your heart pumping more) then this should have a huge impact on many areas of your life, not least your energy.
The bread making process itself offers a structure to include lifestyle changes.
Taking the structure of making sourdough and using these ‘pauses’ creates ‘golden stress-busting moments’. It is a rhythm and they become part of a routine, and this is what we teach when it comes to lifestyle – we incorporate meditation whilst adding water as part of the bassinage, or between stretch and folds for example. Both exercise and meditation, or being in the moment with your dough, decrease symptoms associated with stress, anxiety, and depression. Exercise can also flood your brain with endorphins, making your bread routine even more joyful. Walking itself encourages bowel movements by increasing blood flow throughout your abdomen, and exercise helps relieve constipation and reduce colon cancer risks. This aids your digestion, but also means you are much more likely to be more energised for the rest of the afternoon.
How fast do I need to walk to get benefit?
Walking at moderate intensity will be different for everyone, so the best advice in order to get the most benefit is to focus on exertion. Exertion is measured by your heart and breathing rate. For your walking pace to be brisk, you need to be breathing harder than usual. While you should be able to speak in full sentences, you shouldn’t be able to sing!
Meditation and moments to be present.
I am not always convinced that everyone does well meditating, but I think that making sourdough bread and getting your hands in the dough is about being present. To be a good baker and really understand your dough you need to be with it – to sense it, to feel it, smell and know it. I often compare being in love with baking sourdough to meeting a new lover and getting to know how it responds. It is a relationship, and you use all your senses – baking sourdough is an organoleptic experience. Being in the moment will also decrease the beta waves and increase the alpha waves in the brain. This will have the effect of making you feel more relaxed, calm, focussed and better able to deal with stress. Meditation has also been associated with boosting mood and reducing anxiety through regular practice. In any case, by being present and in the moment whilst mixing and shaping, and being connected to your dough, you can find that this form of meditation is a great way of boosting your energy by making you feel calm, yet alert. The process of making sourdough has a structure that you can use to take meaningful breaks, and to meditate, which in turn helps support a healthy gut microbiome and good mental health and digestion.
