Yoga teachers from Kenya visit Englewood after school program

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Yoga is a way to promote peace, health and strength to children in one of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods, and Thursday instructors from Kenya led class.

The after school program at IGrow's Peace House in Englewood was jammed Thursday. Yogis from Kenya led their charges through the timeless poses that promote health, self-awareness and strength, just as they do in Nairobi.

Victoria Wangare and Margaret Njeri are touring the U.S. as part of the Africa Yoga Project's effort to bring the ancient practice to struggling communities worldwide. They've partnered with IGrow, an Englewood nonprofit whose growing Peace House and garden form an oasis in one of the city's toughest neighborhoods.

Quinton Mables, the co-executive director of IGrow, visited Kenya on a yoga retreat last March, spending a month mesmerized at the practice's power. Those lessons are now taking hold in Englewood.

From Chicago, the Africa Yoga Project will move on to Evanston Friday, and then eventually south to Nashville. The yogis will have their parkas, but they'll highlight the warmth and energy yoga bestows on the people who try it and the communities that embrace it.