Bread Therapy: The Mindful Art of Baking Bread

by Pauline Beaumont

'Pauline Beaumont writes persuasively about the power of something as simple as breadmaking to help us cope with life's stresses and disappointments.'- Andrew Whitley, author of Bread Matters and DO Sourdough - Slow bread for busy lives'A heartfelt, enlightening book for the baker in your family, your friends, and especially the baker within you.'- Dan Lepard, award-winning baker, food writer and photographer

When life gets challenging, simple pleasures and timeless traditions can help us manage. Bread Therapy is a love letter to the art of making real bread.Making our own bread provides us with an unhurried, creative activity that is joyful, calming and productive - providing a much-needed antidote to life's stresses and strains. From kneading dough, to taking a delicious-smelling freshly baked loaf out of a hot oven, bread-making can be a mindful experience and a therapeutic craft that can nurture and nourish us. As yeast transforms flour and water, so making bread can transform us and our lives.As we seek 'slow skills' to free us from the digital world we are inhabiting more and more, and mindful activity to help us manage our mental wellbeing, so bread-making is experiencing a renaissance. This book will guide you through the art of bread making, with insight into the benefits of this ancient craft which will nourish mind and body. It celebrates bread making as a way of understanding ourselves better, learning important life lessons and making positive changes to our mental and physical wellbeing. It features eight simple bread recipes to get you started on your bread-making journey.Pauline Beaumont is a passionate bread baker, mother of six and counsellor who believes fervently in the power of bread-making to aid our emotional and psychological wellbeing.'We love this book as it sums up exactly how we feel about bread. Bread is like a small animal; it needs feeding, resting and quite a lot of love to get it to feel right. Caring for it gives you a huge buzz. Bread also has the ability to care for you and making bread is such a simple and pure way of boosting mental wellbeing. Pauline's book captures the magic of this equation beautifully.' - Alex and Kitty Tait, founders of The Orange Bakery

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Cookbooks, Meditation, Psychology, Audiobook, Self Help

195 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 17, 2020

Reviews

[Luke Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the fault is probably mine, but I came to this thinking that it would be a book about baking bread with some positivity and encouragement along the way. After all, the subtitle is "The Mindful Art of Baking Bread". Add to that the fact that it was categorized at my library in the "641" section of the Dewey Decimal system, meaning it's about Food and Drink. Well, just the opposite is true. On one of the very last pages of the book the author states (after you've basically read it) that this is a self-help book. Umm, maybe we should have started with that?

There are parts of this book that I do agree with, or that make a lot of sense. Should we be mindful of our actions? Yes! Should we do everything we can to cut down on food waste? Hell yes! Can anyone learn to bake bread in a pretty short amount of time? Definitely, if you can follow a recipe you can make bread or load what you need into a bread machine, and in a couple of hours, you've got tasty bread. But, you don't need bread to be mindful, lower food waste, or be kind to Mother Nature. This exact same book could be written again and again and you'd just have to substitute bread with gardening, riding a bike instead of driving to places / carpooling, buying local. Those are all ways to show love and respect for yourself, and for those in your community, too. The book is probably like 85% self-help and 15% bread. I was looking for the opposite of that.

Am I biased? Yes. I've been working as a professional baker for a decade and a half, and making bread for the last two of those (before that it was more pastry). Some of the things the author writes about making bread I would disagree with. For example, on page 66 she talks about additions to a loaf of bread that can give it even more flavor including nuts. Though she does encourage crushing then up somewhat, nuts are something that (IMHO) you want to add at the very end, or better yet when you're shaping your loaf. The points and edges of walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, etc can be bad for the gluten development of mixed bread. So either mix the dough until it's ready, add the nuts, and mix just a bit more to incorporate, or again, sprinkle the nuts on as you shape your dough.

So if you're looking for a lot of positivity, encouragement, self-help style writing, and are interested in bread making, then you might want to check this book out. If you're looking for how to make a better loaf of bread or any of the baking science that goes to a well-risen loaf, I think you'd be better off looking somewhere else.

[Westminster Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went back and forth in giving this book a 3 star or a 4 star. I initially grabbed it off the shelf because I thought it was a cookbook! Although it encompasses many wonderful step by step directions on making your own loaf of bread, it has equal amount of important life lessons to improve your physical and mental health. Great, but not what I anticipated which is why I had a hard time grading it! This book would be perfect for someone who enjoys cooking, who hasn't mastered homemade breadmaking and who is looking for a way to slow down their pace of life and work through the process of having more grace and kindness for themselves and less hurry, less perfectionism! I love making homemade bread and do so weekly. It does slow down my pace of busyness and helps me enjoy the smaller blessings in my life so I completely understand the authors desire to share this technique of enjoying life more!

Find Bread Therapy: The Mindful Art of Baking Bread at the Westminster Public Library today!

And if you are in search of new books to read, try our services, What Do I Read Next. Our library staff are standing by to create a personalized recommendation list for you!

[Sydney · Rating 1 out of 5]

It hurts to not finish, but this book is just stating obvious things about mindfulness, and not reallly teaching me how to make bread. None of the bread recipes have turned out. The most I got out of this is that recipes don't always tell you the type of yeast to use, they just assume you prep it before hand.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really unique book. Part mindfulness/meditation how-to and part cookbook/inspiration for baking your own bread. Beaumont combines baking bread with mindfulness and self care. She explores tenants of mindfulness/self care through aspects of baking bread. Each chapter explores a topic and then ends with a recipe. As a gardener, canner, and home cook I do feel like it's empowering to grow and make your own food from scratch. We're often told we don't "have time" for things like that, but as Beaumont perfectly illustrates with this book these same things are often very important and healing. Overall, a really unique book that has definitely inspired me to work on my bread game.

A quote I really liked:

"However, it does seem that the more that digital and remote ways of interacting dominate our lives, the more we appreciate the opposite; the benefits of a return to basics, the natural, the handmade, and the real. We recognize the merits of walking, even though we could get to our destination more quickly by car; we relish the joys of growing our own vegetables, despite the labors involved; and we might sometimes spend days knitting a sweater, rather than buying one from a shop. This book is about the value of making bread by hand, from choice rather than necessity, and the benefits that can result for our health and well-being." (p. 4)

[Matt McLain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very relaxing. Makes you want to connect to the more material and earthy side of life. Get out of my head and make some bread has got to become my new weekend mantra. This book also spoke to perfectionism a lot. It was a helpful and calming reminder that to be imperfect is to be human. There is no perfect bread and there is no perfect anything, so just relax, say, “that’s ok” more, and live out your values to the best you can.

Shout out to my boy Noah Jines for giving me this CD. Shockingly, I did have a CD player in my truck and listened to all 4 CDs.

[Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely more "self help" than I was expecting, but shouldn't have been a surprise since it's written by a therapist. She dies discuss bread and bread making, but it's heavy on ideas of finding your purpose, connecting with nature and other people and begging more aware of the impact of our daily choices. Not bad, just not quite what I thought I was getting into.

[Reannon Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kind of book- bread & self help!

[Kelly Lemoine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a self help book - the sub tie "the mindful art of baking bread" is very misleading.

It should be called therapy and bread baking.

Good recipes & some feel good moments is why I gave it 3 stars.

[Shanreadsnwrites · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are moments of this book I really liked (especially the first and last chapter!) From the description and the cover, I thought this book would be a love letter to bread making and it’s therapeutic nature — however to me the book felt like 90% self-help therapy that only tangentially deals with bread. There are some good takeaways and things to chew on (pun very much intended) - but for me a lot could be left out or written more bread-related. Some aspects of buying stone-mill flour also seemed a bit privileged and I wish mentioned food insecurity at least once. 3.5/5

[Doyle Swinimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like baking or want to get into baking bread but struggle with the idea of imperfections you will find this a very helpful read. There are plenty of great ideas on how to enhance your flavours. Before I got through the read I was making a whole wheat loaf with ginger and cardimom and it came out delicious!

[Lafourche Parish Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the many stresses in everyday life today, baking bread can be a way to slow down, be creative, and help your mental health. Is there anything as soothing and uplifting as the smell of freshly baked bread? Even if you don’t eat it, just the aroma can brighten your spirits. Knead away your aggravations and frustrations and create something that nourishes you. Try out various combinations of ingredients and find a new favorite bread. Part cookbook, part mindfulness manual, part self-help guide - Bread Therapy combines all three into the process of baking bread.

Pauline Beaumont elaborates on various topics and then gives a recipe for a specific type of bread. Lifelong Learning is accompanied by a detailed recipe for Sourdough Bread. The process of creating the starter using flour and water may take from 4 days to 2 weeks. Apple Brown Betty is the recipe for Accepting Imperfection. The topic of Truth (Soda Bread recipe) discusses self-knowledge and identifying personal values. Step by step directions, with special tips and variations, are given for each recipe.

I really liked the Dill and Beet Bread (the recipe for Being Creative). It is a round loaf using raw beets, which gives a pinkish-red tint to the dough; but when baked, the bread is speckled with pink dots. (Be sure to use gloves when grating the beets to avoid staining your hands.) Besides tasting wonderful, it is very pretty – and different! The loaf has to cool before cutting and serving – which can be difficult since it smells so good. Variations to the recipe include adding potatoes, carrots or onions. Herb variations include basil, chives and rosemary. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Soda Bread can be made in under an hour - and you can eat it while warm. It is delicious!

Explore your bread-making skills in creating something wonderful to eat with this insightful and thought-provoking book!

Availability: Book
Rating: **** Stars
Reviewer: Kathy, Cataloging

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

*.5

There are lots of excellent books about the bread baking, and the therapeutic, health, and other benefits of making it yourself by hand with a sourdough starter. For instance, check out the excellent writing in Brother Juniper's Bread Book: Slow Rise As Method and Metaphor by Peter Reinhart and Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish that elevate bread making to both an art and a spiritual experience, while also providing excellent recipes, a solid understanding of bread making fundamentals, and careful instruction on the techniques and skills needed to create that perfect loaf.

This book does none of those things. It focuses instead on the psychological side of the equation, cautioning the reader not to become anxious if their loaf doesn't turn out well, and to forget about being a perfectionist when it comes to making bread. IMO this capitulation in advance is a terrible approach, and I'd rather the pages were instead filled with confidence building measures that would result in pride-worthy achievements. The best way to convince yourself that you are capable of doing something is by actually doing it, and doing it well with proper technique and knowledge of how and why.

[Olga · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it hard to explain my rating for this book. In a way, it was more self help than learning about making bread but that isn’t what is bothering me. Like another reviewer said, I do wish she mentioned food insecurity at least once & possibly early in the book. It did feel like she was shaming store bought breads in a way. So many people don’t have the time or resources to make their own bread and it is just a worthwhile hobby in today’s society. She wrote so kindly I like to think those weren’t her intentions so I could also look past that. I wish she stated more research backed studies or maybe cultural references more throughout the book. Sometimes it just felt like an elder stating her opinions though, she does have a degree in psychology & philosophy - I just wish she brought in others more. I loved the cultural bits she did include but, it was just a small bit at the end of the book. I agreed with a lot of her mental health advice and as a person who loves talking mental health, I have heard a lot of it before and possibly needed to hear some of it again at this time in my life. I have saved some recipes to try once I return the library copy & look forward to thinking of this when I do:

“The imperfect loaf stands for the imperfect life.
In learning to accept imperfection in our loaves, We can learn to accept it in our lives too. The acceptance of imperfection allows us to develop compassion for ourselves, to be kinder to ourselves, and to worry less. The acceptance of impermanence reminds us that nothing lasts forever and that therefore we should value every day we have on this earth as well as the loaves we make.” p148

[Streb-reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book on Sunday, April 9 and Monday, April 10, 2023
It was an amazing book. First it was very detailed. Everything I could possibly want to know about bread was put into this book. Next year with personal. The author wrote it as if she was talking to a friend. After that amazing recipes were included. Then it discussed how you have to use your own creativity and it’s trial and error. Something else included throughout we’re different things on mental health. They then we’re related back to the art of making bread but it was very interesting. Something else that still out to me was at the end of the book some other book you recommended. if we wanted to read more into breadmaking or different topics discussed in the book. Wow
The author also discussed many different topics which I appreciate it. How art relate to everything from stone carvers to sushi shop to painters to poets to everything. This books focus mainly on breadmaking obviously but these lessons can be applied to anything in life creative or not.
I typically do not read self-help book but this one was amazing. I recommend it to anybody who wants to learn more about making bread or who wants to get into creating their own homemade loaves. or to anyone who enjoys seeing how being creative relates to better mental health
Also please keep in mind that I am legally blind so I apologize if there are any spelling grammar and punctuation issues throughout this review

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's important to really think about why you're reading this book, and by association, why you're reading this review. I came across Pauline's book having listened to her talk on the Deliciously Ella Podcast at the back end of 2020 and was instantly intrigued by the narrative.

For me, cooking, in particular baking, has always been a meditative/mindful practice and is something I do to help me switch off and unwind from what is going on around me. However, to this day bread remains one of those things I have yet to make so it was interesting to see what parallels I could draw between my own mindful baking practices and the therapy of baking bread.

I don't think this book will be everyone's cup of tea, and certainly don't expect it just to be a cook book about different breads you can break. Yes there are several recipes dotted throughout the pages but they are more placed to bring the narrative and therapeutic practices to light rather than being the sole focal point of the text. For me, I think I'll come back to this book time and time again and there are already several pages that have been marked to reread and analyse further!

[Jessica Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will start off by saying this book was not at all what I expected it to be. i expected a recipe book, and I was given something else entirely. That said, I did enjoy the combination of wellness and breadmaking, especially the comparison between making bread and life. We are warned that we are going to inevitably mess up bread, jusdt like mess ups in life will happen. But it is okay and it only teaches us.. Some other great features include... recipe for basic bread, sourdough starter, focacia bread, the review of breadmaking and its significance in world cultures, why it is meditative (repetitive motions) , the escape from life, the varieties and other bread book recommendations, the distinction between whole wheat bread v whole grain and other flours, the properties of different ingredients, i.e. what spices are strong enough to transfer flavor to their book.

I also thought the discussion of how to treat oneself was strong. The description of people pleaser was very accurate and I appreciate the advice.

I took this out from the libary as an ebook, but will be buying it for myself so I can have it on hand for reference.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started experimenting with different types of bread making during the pandemic. (Who didn't?!) And, like many people, this past year has been really challenging for me. I purposefully read this slowly, intentionally giving myself time to digest, process and practice the themes. Using this as a guide, i learned a lot about mindfulness, which strategies work for me and the difference it can make in my daily life. For example, i realized while going through the mindfulness kneading exercise that my prior attempts at mindfulness meditations were not successful because I am such a tactile person. Feeling the dough in my hands and using that focus to keep myself in the "zone" did the trick. I used to hate kneading but now I find it grounding and calming, and deeply appreciate the end result even more so. Now i am working on other multi-sensory ways to practice mindfulness, too.
This book isn't going to be the right book for everyone, but if you like to bake bread already and are looking for a new perspective on baking and life, this might be the right book for you.

[Pamela Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been my e-book- read in bed book for the past couple weeks. The author is a practicing therapist/counselor, a mom of 6, and baker of bread - all in Scotland. The book is one part Buddhist mindfulness self help, one part locavore/slow food cooking and baking, and one part recipes and baking tips. It has the feel of Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance but less motorcycles and amnesia and more "how to" on bread baking than there is actual motorcycle maintenance.
There are number of recipes as well as some tips and tricks on baking bread that I found useful. There is also some history of bread baking and the last chapter has some discussion of differant kids of breads that are baked in differant geographical places and in differant cultures.
My one criticism is the transitions from "cook book" part to "mindfulness and self help part" are sometimes awkward and clunky, but on the whole this was a lovely short book- only 185 pages and just what I needed to read in darkest days of winter.

[Chip · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I got this as a gift probably based mostly on the title and that I like baking bread. I was hoping for something where bread/baking/cooking was deeply ingrained in the narrative for the sections being discussed. In practice, I felt like the book wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. The chapters seemed to heavily skew toward a book about baking with loose self help references or a book about self help with loose baking references.

This isn’t my typical genre, so that’s on not the author and me. But overall I felt meh on it.

[Gwendolyn Caithness Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh, this is an ELEGANT book! It's SOOOO VITAL, to understanding that breads ARE LIVING THINGS; it leaves NO DOUBT that, approached from that perspective, an intimate, sensual, respectful, LOVING relationship with breads enhances awareness and care, in other relationships. The book bring one to the fundamentals of functioning that even cave men were most probably more in tune with, than we are, today.

[Marissa Savala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this neat little book in the cookbook section of my local library. I am a therapist and bread maker, so I instantly related with the author! The reading of this book was a little slow and I had to force attention through some sections, for which I would have given it three stars, but the recipes that she added to the end of each chapter brought it up to four stars. All in all this would make a nice staycation read for bread lovers and bakers or a sweet gift for your favorite carbie.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mindful, easy read, that brings hope and nourishment.

"When I see the dark, nut-brown, lightly raise edges of the crust of a homemade loaf of sourdough bread, I can also see authenticity, kindness, beauty, quality, nurturing, nature, creativity, sustainability, care for the environment, slow food, patience, experimental learning, real food, hard work, dedication, perseverance, and simplicity. " Pauline Beaumont

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a sour dough starter last year in lockdown and since then I’ve baked bread every week. This book reinforces the joy of baking bread and offers helpful solutions to reducing stress in your life through baking. I’m now waiting for a new assortment of flours to be delivered so I can experiment with more varieties. A great gift for a new baker.

[Chelsea Rapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't have too much to say about this book. I'm trying to bake more and expand on what I bake. This book dove into baking and therapy and also had several bread recipes in it. I've always looked at baking as a type of therapy for myself, so I liked this book. I even made one of the bread recipes for my book club.

Non-Fiction so no MVP.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you are looking for a cookbook, then pass on - there are only a handful of recipes here for a few basics - French, sourdough, etc. Bread and breadmaking is used as a metaphor throughout for mindfulness and improving one's mental health. Its an interesting lens to look at the act of mindfulness through - but the packaging is a bit deceiving in that you expect one thing but get another.

[Vera Naamani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this book. It was fun and I appreciated them putting the recipes in a separate pdf. I’ve started a sourdough starter, so far it’s not going great though haha. Hopefully I’ll get better at it. It’s a nice and motivational book.

[Kama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short book a lot. Cooking and baking are both my creative outlet and a means of relaxation for me. Also, as someone who works a desk job, I crave tactile experiences. This book really resonated with me.

[Natalie Quast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice book to start the year off with and a reminder that cooking for yourself and others is a fundamental act of love.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book!
Including bread recipes as well.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Might just not have been in the right mindset but it felt a little too repetitive and preachy.