It’s not been the easiest of weeks to accentuate the positive. Turns out I’m not due for a free upgrade on my phone until July so I have had to buy a cheap as chips pay as you go phone, which does what phones do as opposed to what computers do. Also it looks like a toy. I know, I know that I shouldn’t be so attached to things like phones….

I finally got a cable to plug my laptop into but now the battery doesn’t seem to be charging. Is it possible that the cable chewing cat blew the battery when chewing through the cable? How is he still alive after all these electric shocks? Maybe he needs electricity to live like that character in the X-Files?

And then we don’t have a landline. This is the cable chewer again. The universe is clearly trying to get me to disconnect….

And on top of that the old health issues have been rearing their ugly heads this week.

So onto the tilt list.

* The cats. Cable chewer and all. It is a great lesson in unconditional love to still treat both cats equally despite the fact that he is naughty and she is not. It helps that he’s cute as buttons of course!

* My bike. Considering what a cheap piece of rubbish it is it gets me miles and miles and miles very quickly. Imagine what I’ll be able to do when I get a proper road bike. (Any of you who read Caitlin and Jenna’s blogs will know that they did a 100 mile bike race last Sunday and I have been super inspired. Clearly I am not aiming for 100 miles straight off. I think I’ll start with 25 ).

* Equally my body. Despite the plethora of non-working and broken parts of it, it still fairs me pretty well what with all those miles on the bike every day. And the Yoga it heals itself with.

* Himself for putting up with me when I’m whinging (probably one of my most unattractive qualities).

*  Taking photos.  Himself, who is one of the best untrained photographers I’ve come across, has been teaching me how to “see” photographs.  This is a brilliant way of just being in the moment, being mindful of your surroundings.  The other day I found myself snapping pictures of wild flowers by the side of the main road.  I didn’t realise how absorbed I’d become until I realised everyone in the traffic jam was staring, perplexed…. (see purple flower picture above).

Well it’s Humpday again and there is still no sign of my laptop cable.  Plus I dropped my mobile phone… well I dropped it down the loo (don’t ask) last night and it no longer works.  It is as though the gods are giving me a swift lesson in non-attachment!  Mercifully I am due a phone upgrade, so I see a trip to the shops in my future.

Anyway, on with the recipe.

This is one of those old morphed recipes and I can’t remember where it came from in the first place.  All I had to change to veganise it was to turn the milk into soy milk and the butter into margarine.  There weren’t any eggs in the recipe in the first place, I’m guessing it originally dates back to food rationing after World War 2.

You’re going to need some treacle (molasses would work too I guess)

Put three big dessertspoonfuls in a pan along with 2oz/55g vegan margarine and 7floz/200ml soy milk and heat it up over a low heat until it melts.

Meanwhile in a bowl mix together4oz/115g mixed dried fruit and 2oz/55g ground almonds

with 12oz/340g plain flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and 3oz/85g dark brown sugar.

Then mix the melty treacle mix in with the dry mix

and put the whole lot in a lined loaf tin.  Bake at 325*F/175*C/Gas Mark 3 for an hour and it should look like this.

Have a great Wednesday!

Missed part 1?  Read it here.

The first limb of yoga according to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is made up of the five yamas.  These are often translated as moral restraints similar to the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament.

I don’t like this view particularly.  The words “restraint” and “commandment” smack of rules and dogma to me.  I went to Catholic school and at Catholic school there is one great big thing that is cultivated alongside education.  Guilt.  I cannot tell you the number of times I was told I would burn in hell  (don’t get too excited, all of the crimes were petty – apparently one burns in hell for running with scissors though, so think on!).

I don’t think guilt helps anyone and I think if we try too hard to live the five Yamas as rules at all times we end up beating ourselves up if we find we’ve broken one.  So I prefer to think of them as guidelines.  Things to consider when moving through life.

The Ten Commandments are kind of black and white.  You must do this or else!  The Yamas veer towards shades of grey, and life is all about shades of grey, about doing the best that you can in a given situation.

The Yamas are also up to individual interpretation allowing us to choose our own path.  I want to be able to make my own decisions about life.  Yes, I will look to others and to texts and stories for advice, but ultimately I want to decide what to do by myself, not be told by an ancient set of rules.  And if other people interpret them differently, well that’s OK too.  I don’t for a minute assume that because I think something is right, it is right for everyone.

So let me give you a little Suburban Yogini soundbite for each Yama, my intepretation, no rules, no dogma.

1.  Ahimsa (non-harming) – Be kind to myself, I deserve it.  Because until I truly love myself, how can I love another?

2.  Satya (truthfulness) – Speak my own truth and be honest with myself.  Respect every individual perspective and angle of vision.

3.  Asteya (non-stealing) -   Learn to differentiate between what I want and what I need.  Don’t drain myself in jobs I hate or waste money on things I don’t need.  Be aware of stealing another’s time or energy and always remember there is enough of everything (including time, even if it doesn’t always feel like it).

4.  Brahmacarya – Now this is a tricky one!  Often translated as celibacy or sexual abstinance, I believe it to be more about moderation.  This is another example of individual choice.   It is not about the nature of the sexual relationship but the attitude towards it – being conscious and present.  And of course, trying to be non-judgemental of others’ choices and others’ reactions to the sexualised world around me.

5. Aparigraha (greedlessness) – Let go and trust.  Loosen my hold on situations that are bad for me.   Don’t hold on too tight to those I love, let them be free.  Notice when I am being self-centred and open up my heart instead.

Ultimately as your practice of yoga deepens you will find you are living your life according to your interpretations of the Yamas each and every day and you will find that they are not so hard to live by after all.

But these are my interpretations and they are rather simplified – blog posts are not meant to be thousands of words long after all!  Please do go out there, read up on them, come to your own conclusions and share! I would love to hear what you think!