In celebration of St Patrick’s Day may I present you with a Yogini family favourite… the potato cake!

The making of the potato cake is something of a random art. There is no recipe because the quantities can vary so. I use this mostly when I have mashed potato to use up, but you can peel, boil and mash a bunch of potatoes to make this up specially – please be aware that “a bunch” is the most accurate measurement you’re going to get today!

So have your mashed potato in a bowl and mash it up with butter/vegan margarine and salt and pepper to your own tastes (if you want to fancy this up you can add mustard or grated apple or chopped chives at this point). Then start to add some plain flour, a little bit at a time slowly kneading it into the potato until the texture gets a little like breadcrumbs. Add the tiniest bit of soy milk at this stage and it will start to form a dough.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface until it is about half an inch thick then use a cookie cutter to cut rounds out. Put the rounds under the grill until they just start to go golden brown (keep an eye on them they burn easily!). Traditionally they are fried on a griddle with a little oil but I think this makes them too greasy.

They are lovely served with a little butter or vegan margerine with soup or salad or can also be part of a traditional Irish breakfast with eggs, bacon and sausages (if you like that sort of thing).

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

So how is your Spring into Yoga Challenge going? I’m really starting to allow myself to let go in Janu Sirsasana and Baddhu Konasana, probably more than I ever have done before. It just goes to show that sometimes you just have to streamline your practice and concentrate on weak spots and just observe what happens. Of course, now I’m aware of some progress in these two asanas, it’s time to start thinking about my nemesis posture – dhanurasana. But maybe more on that next week!

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Yesterday I looked at a very physical aspect of yoga, so today I thought I’d look at one of the ways yoga helps us emotionally. The other day Diane at the Everything Yoga Blog posted about using yoga to diffuse anger, so here is a practice to let go of frustration, anger and other negative emotions to help us stay calm and focussed.

All of us have a breaking point, when frustration takes over and we just want to scream. Even yoga teachers! Some of you may even have experienced frustration in a yoga class when somebody has taken what you believe to be “your” space in the studio. Persistent irritations and frustrations can lead to more serious stress. The trick is to deal with it as soon as you are aware of it, and to deal with it healthily.

When you reach your limit, be it at work or at home, rather than take it out on those around you try to let it go. It only takes a few minutes!

First try to find somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed – the copy room or the ladies bathroom (although I should point out that I did once have a male boss whose work he deemed so urgent as to follow me into the ladies), take a seat if you can and take a few deep breaths. Slowly become aware of your posture, release your shoulders, straighten your spine, open your chest.

As you begin to notice your breath slow down and lengthen start to imagine the breath moving through the body.

As you inhale, imagine the breath moving from the soles of the feet to the top of the head. As you exhale imagine the breath moving from the top of the head to the soles of the feet.

When you are ready start to visualise yourself letting go of all the tension stress and tiredness with each exhale, and with each inhale feel as though you are drawing in vitality and energy.

After a few minutes you should feel calmer, more relaxed and able to face the rest of the day! After a few practices, you will find you are able to do this practice anytime anywhere, letting go healthily.

Before I begin, a little disclaimer. I think anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time knows that I don’t think of yoga as a “fitness pursuit” in the way that step aerobics, body pump or kickboxing is.  There are so many more layers to it which over time begin to peel off slowly like onion skin.  I practice yoga for these other benefits, the ability to breath fully and properly, to strengthen and calm my mind, to help my body work with chronic pain.  The list goes on.

That all being said, yoga is a pretty good form of all round exercise and many people who come to yoga classes do come, initially at least, to stretch and strengthen their bodies.  Admittedly you do have to be doing some pretty powerful yoga such as Astanga or Bikram to be getting a really good cardio workout, but when it comes to strength and length, yoga has it all.

I cycle a lot.  Miles and miles each week, so on the whole I get most of my cardio workouts done just getting from A to B!  But I don’t always get in as much strength training as I would like.  To counteract this, I sometimes add a few “booty camp” type moves into my yoga practice, just to mix things up a bit, to vary my practice and to focus on particular muscle groups.  Yoga is all about the connection between body, breath and spirit and as long as any strength exercises we slip into our yoga are practiced with this same sense of mindfulness I don’t think we’re deviating from the essence of our yoga.

So I thought I’d share a few of these “add ons” with you today.

For Arms/Upper Body
Box Press Ups (can be added in during any cat/cow sequence): In tabletop position bend at the elbows lowering the chest down. Elbows come out to the side (unlike chaturanga variations), trying to keep the spine straight and not bringing the chest any lower than about 5cm from the ground. Exhale as you lower, inhale as you lift. Repeat 5-10 times
Opposite arms and legs (also tones legs and abdominals): Again from tabletop position, inhale stretching the right arm out in front of you and the left leg out behind you trying to make a straight line. Exhale back to all fours. Repeat to the other side and then repeat the whole sequence 3 times to each side.

For Abdominals
(All can be added during supine postures such as twists and leg raises)
Eagle leg crunch: Lying on the floor, knees bent, feet hip width apart, cross the right thigh over the left, hooking the right foot behind the calf if you can. Lift the arms off the floor, palms down fingers pointing towards the legs. As you exhale draw the legs in towards the abdomen, lift the shoulders and stretch the arms away. Inhale slowly back down. Repeat 5 times on this side and then change the cross of the legs and repeat 5 more times.
Side lifts: Lying on the floor with the knees bent, feet on the floor hip width apart, allow the legs to fall to the right so you are in a lying twist. Arms in the same position as before exhale draw the navel in towards the spine and lift the head and shoulders off the floor (keep the chin slightly tucked in), inhale release. Repeat 5 times to one side and then change the direction of the twist and repeat 5 more times.
The trick with these abdominal exercises is to work with the long slow rhythm of the breath rather than the quick repeitions of crunches that are often taught in gyms. They can also be practiced with the arms crossed across the chest if you prefer. I shy away from placing the hands at the back of the head for ab curls because it tempts us to pull on the neck.

For the legs:
Well really I think the legs are pretty much catered for once you’ve done all those Warriors, Triangles, Cresent Moons, squats and standing balances. But if you still want something more try some side leg lifts.
Lie on the side making sure the hips are stacked on top of each other. Stretch the lower arm along the floor and rest the side of the head here. The top arm can come onto the floor in front of you for balance (or to work on abdominal strength rest the top arm on the top thigh, but make sure you can do this without toppling forwards). As you inhale raise the top leg. This one isn’t about height, it’s about alignment and length. Feel you are stretching the foot away and only lift the leg a few centimetres up, keeping those hips level. As you exhale lower. Repeat 5-10 times on each side.

Remember, if anything doesn’t feel right for your body, don’t do it.

I sometimes wonder if posting a video would be easier!