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Most people who practice yoga regularly have at least a passing acquaintance with the 8 Limbs of Yoga as outlined by Pantanjali in the Yoga Sutras.  I wrote a series of posts on them last year.  The first two limbs are the Yamas and Niyamas - guidelines to live your life by – guidelines which, for the last decade, I have been trying my best to live my life by.

Yama numero uno is Ahimsa, often translated as non-harming or non-violence.  In the yoga world Ahimsa tends to go arm-in-arm with vegetarianism or veganism.  Which is just great, until you realise you might be causing harm to yourself.

Earlier this year when my health was really bad, when I ached all over every day, woke up every morning feeling like I’d been hit by a bus, when I looked too skinny and drawn and had dark circles under my eyes, I went to see a nutritionist.  We talked for a long time about this, that and the other.  And we came to the conclusion that a) I was protein deficient and b) I needed to start thinking about cutting inflammatory foods out of my life (ie diary and wheat).

I have eaten very little dairy for years, on the whole it makes my stomach do things that you don’t really want your stomach to do. No problem, dairy can pretty much go.  Wheat….well I’d had an idea in the back of my mind since the end of last year that I should probably look into how much wheat I eat.  After a few false starts and a long conversation with my lovely friend Svasti, I have been pretty much wheat-free for three months!  And I do feel better; less bloated, less sore, and I really do notice when I (either accidentally or otherwise) do eat wheat. So wheat and dairy.  Gone!

But then there was the protein issue.  For one reason or another I just wasn’t absorbing enough protein from vegetable sources and it wasn’t that I wasn’t eating the right foods, it was just that my body wasn’t doing what it should.  I tried various things, including taking a bunch of digestive enzymes before every meal.

I already ate eggs, but the nutritionist I spoke to thought I should start eating fish (which I have to admit didn’t take much persuading), and maybe some chicken (again it took a lot less persuading than you’d think) and Himself saw the whole thing as a massive excuse to barbecue a lot of different lumps of flesh…..

Ultimately, I have never been vegetarian because I don’t like meat.  I do, I love it.

There I said it.

Ultimately I have always been vegetarian because I don’t want other living beings to die because of me, I don’t want to cause harm, I just want to be guided by Ahimsa.

But as I said, what if you are inadvertently causing yourself harm?

The school of yoga in which I trained teaches that everybody’s body is unique and all of us need different practices and that practice will change as we progress through the cycles of life.  And over the last couple of years I have come to believe that the same is true of diet.  There is no “one diet fits all”.  I know a lot of vegans and raw foodies who are so full of energy it’s a beautiful thing to see but when I eat like that (and I know this is true for others as well), I feel quite the opposite; lethargic and tired.

Over the last few months, as my diet has slowly changed to remove the inflammatory foods and include more organic animal protein (as well as discovering that I don’t digest leafy greens and most raw vegetables very well either), I have started to feel much more like my old self; less tired and much more zingy! I have also noticed my hair, skin and nails are vastly improved.

I spent so long worrying about non-harming towards other living beings I had forgotten about having a non-harming attitude towards myself.  My health has always been a struggle, and I do need to keep on top of it.  I need to be kind to myself and live the life that suits me best, without allowing myself to be made to feel guilty by other’s interpretations of the Yamas or the paths that other people must tread.  If I do not keep on top of my own health, keep myself in top condition, how can I be expected to serve others in my work?

Alistair Shearer, in his interpretation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, asks us to think about Ahimsa as “a dynamic peacefulness that is prepared to meet all situations with a loving openess.  It is the state of living free from fear.”

To live free from fear we must put judgement aside, love ourselves as much as we love others (for how can we truly know love if we do not show it to ourselves) and find the path that suits our own unique body, our own unique mind, our own unique soul.

I am, as always, a work in progress.

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!

Happy Humpday!!  And thanks for all your supportive comments regarding writing more about yogic philosophy.  I really appreciate and hope I can do the topic justice.

Anyway, on with the recipe…..

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Every week we get an organic veg box delivered from Abel and Cole. I love opening it up and finding out what goodies have been sent.

Towards the end of winter it starts to get a bit boring.  Because it’s all relatively locally grown you do end up getting a bit sick of root vegetables.  However, spring has certainly sprung in the vegetable department if not entirely in the weather department (although we’re holding out hope for 23*C today) and this week we got zucchini, asparagus and these beautiful stalks.

Rhubarb.

So I figured it was time to make a rhubarb crumble.  These are so much easier to make than pies becasue you don’t have to faff about making pastry, but they are just as delicious!

First, in your food processor mix together a slice of bread, 4oz (100g) of vegan margerine, a dessertspoonful of caster sugar and 5oz (125g) plain flour, until it looks something like this (the mess is optional, remember to make sure the lid is on tight folks ).

Meanwhile chop up your rhubarb and put it in a pan along with two dessertspoonfuls of caster sugar and a splash of water.  Heat over a medium heat until it starts to simmer and soften.

Then, put the rhubarb mix in the bottom of a pie dish and spoon the crumble mix over the top.

Bake in the oven at 180*C (gas mark 4) for about 20 minutes.

Et voila.

Himself likes it with custard.  I have yet to find a dairy free version of custard so I like it with soy ice cream.

Any fruit works, you can even make savoury ones (although leave the sugar out of the crumble mix if you do, obviously).

Enjoy!