I don't find it terribly oppressive and, when I do, I just don't do it. It's a choice. Sometimes I find it relaxing. To get into my kitchen and make a nice sauce or something to unwind. When you've done something quite cerebral.
Cooking is sensuous, too.
Your novel is quite sensual. It's important to me. It's important to actually write a novel that's about people, which not all novels are. Some novels are just about voices or a landscape. But I've got people in mine.