Things have been a bit quiet here for the last few months and that's mainly because all my time has been spent with a new arrival into my life - little baby Ella Aoibhín McPhillips.

The first time I heard the word Hygge (pronounced ‘hue-gah’) was when I was in Copenhagen about 10 years ago.

For anyone who regularly attends my classes you will know that I nearly always have music playing in the background at some stage during the practise.  Every yoga teacher has their own opinions on whether music belongs in a yoga class or not

There’s nothing like the brutal honesty of a 5 year old when you are looking for an opinion on something.  Over the years my nephew’s passionately enthusiastic or wildly disgusted reactions have been a keen influence on my creative experiments, mostly of the baked variety.

Over the past few months Marie Kondo’s best-selling book “The life-changing magic of tidying up” has caused quite a stir, driving many people to reassess the piles of clutter they have have stashed around their house which have buried old backstreet boys cds, dodgy handmade halloween costumes and out of date perfume bottles (I confess to all of the above).  

I'm always on the lookout for sweet tasting treats to help me through the afternoon slump, that are on the healthier side and actually taste good, otherwise really what is the point?!  I had the privilege last year of working with the goddess of guilt-free treats herself Susan Jane White on her incredible book The Virtuous Tart and was amazed by the variety of ingredients she uses to create her “saintly” delights.   In her own words it’s about “turning those pesky sugar cravings into a nutritional hit… and taking the hell out of healthy”.  Sounds good to me!