The yoga side of life

When I'm not baking, eating cake, blogging, parenting or working I like to pop on some stretchy clothes, burn some essential oils and try to switch my head off by doing some yoga.

It isn't a new thing for me, I've practised it on and off since university, but in the last twelve months yoga has become a way of life and an essential part of my day to day routine.

This new obsession started last year when I was very stressed and run down. I needed to start making some changes in my life and devote some time and energy to rescuing my sanity and yoga was one of the things I turned to. I dragged myself out of the house one dark, cold Wednesday night and into my local yoga class run by White Lotus Yoga. It was the first step (or stretch) to finding myself again and just taking that hour a week to do something mentally relaxing and physically stimulating made the world of difference to me. I'm not usually one for making new year's resolutions but this year I did; to make yoga a part of my life on a more permanent basis.

The first part of my plan was to go on a yoga retreat. I say retreat, I mean holiday. I spent a long time looking for yoga breaks where you don't have to do too much strenuous exercise and could still eat and drink in the sunshine and found exactly what I was looking for through Sunflower Retreats who run week long yoga holidays in the beautiful hilltown of Casperia in Italy.

Our teacher was Katharine West from Four Seasons Yoga in Somerset. Katharine was the perfect teacher for me. Patient, fun, wise and a little bit mad, she is a passionate advocate of scaravelli yoga (which works on the natural positioning of the spine) and a beautiful person inside and out. I learnt so much and for the first time in my life felt like I was actually 'doing' yoga properly rather than just manoeuvring my not too bendy body into uncomfortable positions. I practised meditation, learnt breathing techniques that now rescue me from stress on a daily basis and made some great friends in an inspirational setting. Best of all, the food we ate was amazing. The Sunflower team promote ethical tourism and encourage guests to visit local restaurants and sample the local produce which we were all too happy to do. Pizza, pasta, gelato, truffles, cheese, tomatoes, antipasti, it was all so delicious. I did feel slightly guilty when the in-team therapist detected an imbalance in my digestive system during my reflexology session but decided it was worth it!

The up shot of it all is that I came home and, much to my husband's bewilderment, started drinking more green tea, chanting with chakra beads and dragging a back packing yogi chocolatier from New Zealand with me.

Was it life changing? I hope so. I'm still me, but I'm a better version of me with an escape valve that I can tap into whenever I need to in order to keep me that way, and a commitment to taking proactive steps to becoming a more fulfilled person. I've decided it's a journey I want to take further both for me and, hopefully, for more people like me, who need to find a way to make that space in their life. So I've now signed up with Seasonal Yoga Teacher Training and will be starting their course next year. I may not be the most flexible or spiritual person out there, but I'm a true convert to the yogic way of life and can't wait to take it to the next level.

Namaste.

Good food and good friends

This weekend the BBC Good Food Show came to town and my pre-Christmas healthy eating, less drinking, money saving regime went out the window.

My son and I set off on Friday morning for the shows opening. We were there in time to see the King and Queen of baking, Paul Holywood and Mary Berry, cut the ribbon and then we spent a fun couple of hours tasting treats, pressing apples with the commonwealth orchard team and decorating cupcakes with Truly Scrumptious Designer cakes. Jamie even exchanged a thumbs up with the silver fox himself, whilst Mummy just blushed. I wonder when the restraining order will come through the post?

On Saturday I had a day of scrubbing my kitchen in a bid to start preparations for a visit from the environmental health team so I can get my granola empire off the ground. Then it was time to head over to Edinburgh for a rare night on the town with two of my best pals from university. We spent the evening drinking dodgy cocktails, doing dodgy dancing and discussing plans to escape the stresses of dodgy jobs, DIY and dating. Are there any women out there in their 30s who are entirely happy with their lot? I'm not sure, but I know there is nothing like the support of your friends to keep your feet on the ground and your self belief and ambitions up in the clouds.

After a monster bacon sarnie the next morning, it was back to Glasgow for the child free version of the Good Food Show. It was mobbed but we managed to eat and drink our way round it and try some amazing produce. My bags were stuffed with sausages and beef from Macbeth's butchers, venison from the Seriously Good Venison Company, giant raspberry meringues from Whole Foods, Giffnock and a couple of other treats that have to remain under wraps until Christmas. Marie and Alex, my partners in foodieness for the day, helped me stuff my stomach with bubbly, turkey rolls, cheese and beer and Luvians ice cream, before I rolled home to cook my dinner!

What a dinner it was - tiny tender venison fillet steaks in a red wine, juniper and chocolate sauce with home grown roasted veggies. Delicious.

My diet and bank balance may have been ruined but my spirits had been restored and at the end of the day, I know which is more important.

The Fife life

We've just spent a week in Fife having fun in the chilly autumn sun (and flash floods) whilst enjoying some of my favourite food haunts. It's more years then I care to remember since I lived in this part of the world but it's still one of my favourite places to visit. The fishing villages in the east neuk are so pretty and it's the perfect place for kids and dogs to play on windswept beaches whilst everyone stuffs their faces.

First stop of the week was Anstruther for mandatory fish & chips from the award winning fish bar. I could take or leave fish and chips before I ate them here, this week I had to fight the urge to visit daily. I know they always taste better by the sea, but there is no denying these people know how to make a good fish supper.

Next up was a visit to Fisher & Donaldson in St Andrews for their amazing fudge donuts. Smothered in sticky, smokey icing and stuffed with creme patisserie they are the kind of cakes that make life worth living, especially when you eat them on the west sands with the the sun shining on your face and the tang of sea salt on the air.

St Andrews has always been a lovely place to visit but it's filled up with even more cute cafes and tasty delhis over the years and you could very easily spend a whole week happily moving from one scone to another. We stocked up on some cheese from Mellis's, fresh fish and huge scallops from Kerrachers and enjoyed every last stomach stretching morsel.

Finally, special mention has to go to the Ardrossan farm shop which was stocked with an amazing range of local produce. We cooked up a roast of free range chicken, spicy chorizo, home grown tomatoes and tatties and raised a glass to a great holiday with beautiful friends and family in a very special part of the world. Apparently, it's quite good if you like golf too.