Bringing Essence Of A Healthy Mind: Mohali Cafe Amalgamates Delicious Food With Mental Well-Being

Mental health has been given much-deserved importance in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic made the world realize the same, most devastatingly. With anxiety, stress and burnout cases on a steady rise, people are being asked to focus on their well-being that also involves giving them a breather. The constantly-racing mind is nothing but detrimental to our overall progress.

The South Asian or 'desi' community is notorious for disregarding mental health altogether. However, many individuals and groups are raising awareness about the same in various innovative ways. They incorporated the process with mundane things to foster a healthy understanding of the topic. An example of this is a cafe in Chandigarh's Mohali that stands out for this very reason. Called 'Your Sugar Daddy', it perfectly combines delicious food and beverage with mental well-being by creating a safe space to share their feelings in a judgment-free environment.

Food And Therapy At A Place

Located in the Mohali area, the cafe's founder is a 21-year-old girl named Angel D' Souza. She is a psychology graduate from the University of British Columbia in Canada and is currently online. She aims to start a conversation about mental health and combine it perfectly with food. "The cafe will cater to mental health in a variety of ways, in ways that it will not project mental health as a stigma," she told The Logical Indian.

The cafe is set to introduce various kinds of workshops to facilitate mental well-being. D'Souza explains, "To spread awareness, we will organize mental health workshops, and creative therapy sessions such as puppy therapy, art therapy, music therapy and so on, that will encourage all types of people from different age groups to join.. Amalgamating all of this with food would be a great idea because food is one of the things that brings people together."

'Your Sugar Daddy' is a pet-friendly cafe as well. It has been proved countless times that domesticated animals play an integral role in battling issues such as depression, anxiety, etc. With 'puppy therapy', customers will get to interact with adorable puppies for a stipulated period. Along with this, 'art therapy' will involve them busting out their artistic skills as a stressbuster.

Along with her love for psychology, Angel is a food enthusiast as well. With the cafe's inception, she has combined two of her absolute favourite things. "Being a food enthusiast, I researched more upon food and explored a variety of cuisines which were vastly different. However, some of them got close to my heart, and I decided to explore more, so I started cooking them. Thus, I have incorporated a variety of cuisines that are under the weekly menu, which bifurcates the cuisines according to weekdays," she adds while speaking with The Logical Indian. The menu consists of thematic cakes and cupcakes and delicious cuisines such as Indian, Mexican, Korean, etc.

While customers wait for their food, they will be asked to indulge in cognitive-based activities. Depending on their comfort level, the customers will interact with others around them to promote healthy and wholesome conversations between them.

Healthy Mind Is Essential

For Angel, psychology is an important subject. "Psychology is not a subject for me; it's a way of life. It's everywhere, all the stories, movies, every person's life on this planet, their personality, their existence cannot be understood without Psychology. We need it, everyone needs it, and I'm certainly ready to become someone who can provide it to everyone," says D'Souza. She also adds that her experience as a student and researcher in the subject enables her to understand humans better. She wants to use this ability in the best way possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic left all of us highly vulnerable. Many people had issues with their mental health, which they ignored earlier. The deadly virus forced us to tweak our lifestyles dramatically. Therefore, now it has become essential to have a healthy mind to lead a holistic lifestyle. In light of this, Angel D'Souza believes that the country has a long way to go.

"Yes, of course, it is still a stigma, especially in a country like India, there are a billion minds out here, but most of them don't know how to take care of their' mind.' I would say that taking care of one's body would be slightly more accessible, but if the mind is alright, the body will be too. However, people, these days don't understand this. This venture will try its best to overcome the mental health stigmas and taboos created by 150-year-old beings by spreading awareness," she explains her cafe's significance to The Logical Indian.

Angel D'Souza firmly believes in manifesting a healthy mind. A healthy mind consists of positive thoughts and mindset that makes us feel good. She adds, "Everyone should have a psychologist, whether or not they have problems; this is because everyone needs someone to listen to them without an intention to correct them but an intention to question their own decisions depending on what's right or wrong for them."

Calling the Mohali area 'a small world' in itself, D'Souza assures that this establishment will make a huge difference. Cafes like 'Your Sugar Daddy' is getting a lot of love online. With a thriving social media presence, it is making significant attempts to address mental health issues and give people in the city an excellent opportunity to open up and speak their heart out; no holds barred. Establishments like these deserve a lot of success. Using creative ways, it wants to give a place to conversations surrounding mental health that are extremely necessary.

"Our Tricity which is the epitome of 'a small world' really needs something wholesome, a place that has exciting activities, something fresh apart from food, clothes, movies etc. This is a place where you will learn, eat, enjoy and heal. This will be a fantastic experience for all of us and may also help people share their experiences when they know how normal it is to discuss mental health.

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