Newbridge yoga teacher's new adventure story book helps children with anxiety and worries

A children’s yoga teacher from Newbridge has published a new story book for youngsters to help them deal with anxiety and change in their lives.

Sarah Cahill was inspired during lockdown by her two daughters, Lucy (9) and Ellen (7), to write Elsey’s Arabian Adventure.

The magical tale tells the story of two sisters — the Elsey of the title and her little sister Nellie — who discover a Celtic stone down the back of their garden that whisks them off to a foreign land. They have to perform a task to help somebody along the way — and on their journey the girls experience the people and culture of Dubai, learn some new words, experience unfamiliar food and visit different places.

The character Elsey’s name is a ‘mash’ of Sarah’s two daughters’ — and the story’s heroines also have their characteristics and interests. The Cahill girls feature in some of the pictures used to illustrate the book.

The story is set in Dubai, as Lucy loves horses and that country has a strong equestrian tradition.

“The horse in the story is called Marhaban, which means ‘welcome’ in Arabic. They visit a souk and the girls wear a hijab,” said Sarah. The book also includes a child-friendly glossary of the Arabic words and what they mean.

In creating the ‘Arabian Adventure’, Sarah drew on her own experience of travel in Lebanon. Her father, retired Lt Col John Molloy and her mother Nilo, lived there for several years during his work with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission.

Sarah and her husband Brian moved from Monasterevin back to her native Newbridge in recent years — and it was the girls’ reaction to the change that sparked the idea for her story. “You really think that kids don’t mind that stuff too much — but, small as they were, Lucy was very put out about the move.”

The themes of Elsey’s Arabian Adventure tackle change and anxiety, and give children the tools to deal with unexpected events which may be occurring in their lives.

Sarah herself is a qualified Montessori teacher and has formerly worked as a Special Needs Assistant. She now runs the Play Like Apes children’s yoga and movement classes in Kildare town — although the classes are currently on hold due to lockdown restrictions.

During the Covid-19 restrictions this year, Sarah also completed a play therapy course. “Kids can really open up to you during the yoga class so I wanted to equip myself to be better able to answer or support them. You really do get so many different things going on with kids. They genuinely do have their own little concerns and worries, especially around Covid-19.

“We’re always saying to kids ‘be happy’ — but I wanted to address anxiety and say it’s fine not to be OK as well.” The book includes some yoga breathing techniques to help children cope when they are stressed or anxious. It also teaches them expressions such as ‘many hands make light work’ to teach about cooperation; and dealing with the ‘closest crocodile to the boat’ to help them deal with their worries and fears.

Sarah has further adventures planned in a series of books for Elsey and her little sister — including a trip to Africa and a Yoga adventure on Zoom.

Order a book

If you would like to order a copy of Elsey’s Arabian Adventure (€10), which has been self-published, or if you have queries about upcoming children’s yoga classes, please contact Sarah via the Play Like Apes Facebook page or Instagram, or at 087 6992876.