Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 494
The Yoga Class
Hello Everyone
Emily saw her mum reading a leaflet this week and asked her what she was doing.
Her mum told her that she was thinking of joining a class this September.
Emily said that grown ups don’t go to school and her mum told her that people of any age can go to a class to learn something and she was thinking of joining a class to learn yoga.
Emily asked her mum what yoga was, and her mum told her it was a form of exercise.
She said that yoga originated in lndia thousands of years ago and was a tried and tested method of working the whole body to increase strength and flexibility.
lt stimulated your joints.
lt gave you a feeling of well-being.
lt gave you energy as well as calmness.
Yoga was a system of fitness that helped the health of the mind as well as the body.
lt got you into good shape because it toned your body and it improved your posture too – that means you will stand up straighter.
You use deep breathing through your nose to put oxygen into your blood and that is a good thing.
Emily’s mum said that Yoga was not competitive, which meant that everyone in the class would just do the best they could do at each session to improve their own health. Over time they would get stronger and more flexible.
She said that yoga was what you could call progressive – that means you can start off not being able to do it very well and over time you could become better with lots of practice.
Each person would be able to bend further and further into the yoga positions the teacher was showing them without straining. They would improve with time.
lt was something you could do at any age, and she wanted to start doing it.
The class would give her a chance to meet other people and take her mind away of her everyday life for a while.
lt was a strange thing, but when you were thinking about how to get into a position, you did not think about anything else – and that gave your brain a rest – it was like your brain was a taking little holiday.
Sometimes people keep thinking about the same thing over and over.
The same thoughts keep circling in your head!
Yoga is a natural way of getting rid of tension.
lt helps with concentration and focus.
lt makes you more mellow.
Emily asked if she could come as well, and was very disappointed when her mum said she couldn’t because the class was only for grown-ups. lt was a sociable thing to do as well as a learning experience.
Her mum said that she needed to go shopping because the leaflet said that you had to wear loose, exercise clothing and she needed to buy some.
She also needed to buy a yoga mat because you did not want to lie on a hard floor to do yoga – you needed some padding underneath you.
While she was shopping, she would buy a yoga DVD.
Then during the week, between classes, she would practise her yoga and that would give Emily a chance to join in with her at home.
Doing a bit of yoga every day was a good thing. lf you did it before you went to bed it could help you sleep because it loosened up your body and got rid of some of your tensions. Once you were relaxed, sleep should come more easily.
The leaflet said that you should not eat a heavy meal just before exercising. You should do yoga at least a couple of hours after a meal, so they could find time at the weekend to have a session together.
lt takes a lot of study to become a yoga teacher.
Emily’s mum would go to classes and listen to her teacher and then have some practice during the week.
Emily could join in then and see if she liked it. Getting into the yoga habit is a good habit for life and can make you stronger and more flexible for when you get older.
Emily thought she would like to give it a try.
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Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: Have you noticed how the clock in the school canteen is always running slow?
Bob: Yes, that is because it is always going back four seconds!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
Stretching like a cat is good for your body
Calmness is good for your soul
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
In recent years, Bill, Bob, Emily and Henry have been busily collecting tree seeds to grow in pots.
They grow them in their own gardens and they grow them in Auntie Alice’s garden too because there is far more space there.
It is their contribution towards the trillion trees scientists say we need to plant to help with the problem of climate change.
They use recycled items to use as pots to keep the cost down.
They use recycled items from their own kitchen and they collect them from neighbours’ houses too.
This spring, they had more baby trees than ever growing all over the place and Auntie Alice said that they should really find homes for them all.
The children said that they could be planted all over Rocky Bay, but Auntie Alice said that they had already planted hundreds of them around the place.
She had had another idea that she wanted to try.
She went to the owners of the Rocky Bay Campsite.
This is situated behind the golf course near Sandy Cove, and asked them if she could set up a stall there.
The camp site owners lent her a table and Captain Jack loaded trays of small saplings into his car.
Auntie Alice set up a big sign by the table so that the campers would know there were trees for sale.
The children helped collect the money. They gave away little slips of paper with care instructions on too because they wanted their little trees to be taken care of in their new homes. The saplings would need lots of water in the first two years after planting and maybe protection from rabbits and deer.
Auntie Alice and the children did not charge an exact price for the trees; instead they asked for donations to the Rocky Bay Animal Rescue Centre.
All the trees were sold and would be taken home with the holiday makers as lovely souvenirs of Rocky Bay.
Trees in pots can be planted out in the ground at any time of year.
Auntie Alice and her willing helpers will set up a stall a couple of times again before the end of August so that they can sell the trees to different holiday makers as they come to the campsite.
The trees will be taken far and wide to find new homes.
And now some other good news that will warm everybody’s heart. I do try to make this blog as uplifting as possible.
You may remember the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree just by Hadrian’s Wall that made so many people so unhappy last year – and at a loss to know how some people can be so spiteful for no reason.
All that seemed left of it were memories and beautiful pictures on screen and in photographs.
But just recently, twelve new shoots started to grow around the base of the trunk! They are only tiny at the moment, but there is definitely signs of new life in the grass.
So there is now hope that the tree will live on.
Fencing and netting are being put in place to try to prevent anyone or anything harming the shoots and giving them the best chance to thrive.
One stem may take over, or the tree may live on in a bushier form.
It was planted 150 years ago, as a landscape feature in a dip by Hadrian’s Wall, and was to become the site of marriage proposals, scatterings of ashes and many different celebrations.
After featuring in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, it became world famous.
It was thought it might take two or three years before there were any signs of regrowth, but after just under a year, the tree is fighting back.
Isn’t nature wonderful!
Also, seedlings taken last autumn continue to grow and are being taken care of by The National Trust.
They should be ready to plant out in a couple of years.
We wish them luck!
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Quick Quiz
What do these idioms mean?
- When the cats away the mice will play
- To let the cat out of the bag
- Like a cat on hot bricks
- To pussyfoot around
- To put the cat amongst the pigeons
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE AN EXERClSE OUTFlT FOR A 12” DOLL
This outfit can be used for yoga, jogging, dance classes or working out in the gym.
SHORTS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and pink dk yarn cast on 15 stitches
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Knit 10 rows of stocking stitch
Cast off 2 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 8 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 4 rows of garter stitch
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
With right sides together using over-sew stitching sew up front and back seams then sew the inside legs
Thread a drawstring around the waist using a length of pink yarn 30cm long
VEST (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and pink dk yarn cast on 27 stitches
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Knit 6 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 2 rows of garter stitch
Cast off
STRAPS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and pink dk yarn cast on 3 stitches
Knit 18 rows of garter stitch
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
- Using over-sew stitching and with right sides together sew up side seams
- Attach the shoulder straps
- Secure all ends and neaten
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- When the cats away the mice will play – without authority, some people will not obey rules
- To let the cat out of the bag – to tell a secret
- Like a cat on hot bricks – to fidget or be nervous
- To pussyfoot around – to not come directly to the point or do what you are supposed to be doing
- To put the cat amongst the pigeons – to cause major disruption
