When the Kitchen Becomes the Third Space We Need

There’s work. There’s home. And then, if we’re lucky, there’s a third space—the place where we can exhale.

by Alisha M. Smith | Grief to Gratitude Chef

For me, that third space has always been the kitchen. Not the perfectly staged, TV-ready kind of kitchen, but the real one: where the counter is dusted with flour, where a memory can rise like bread in the oven, where joy and grief sit next to each other at the table.

Kitchen Therapy is the name I’ve given it, but the truth is, it’s something our ancestors always knew. That baking, stirring, kneading—these weren’t just chores. They were rituals. They were how we metabolized the weight of the world.

When I lost my baby, I didn’t know where to put my grief. But I found myself putting it into batter, folding it into dough, watching the oven turn raw ingredients into something edible, even beautiful. It taught me that maybe I didn’t have to hold everything all at once. Maybe I could let the cup hold it for me.

That’s why I created the Joyful Baking Club—not just as a membership, but as a third space. A soft landing. A place where you can show up whole, cracked, messy, joyful, grieving—whatever is real.

And it’s also why I host retreats. Because sometimes we need to take these rituals out of our everyday kitchens and into sacred space. Imagine sitting in St. Lucia, the ocean singing behind us, learning not just to bake, but to rest. To remember joy as your birthright. To practice Kitchen Therapy not just as a metaphor, but as a way of life.

Work will still be there. Home will still need you. But you deserve a third space that gives back to you, too.

✨ Join us in the Joyful Baking Club → https://www.skool.com/thehealingtable Learn more about the St. Lucia retreat (coming soon) →https://www.rootsandreturns.com/join-the-waitlist