By Janelle Walker For The Courier-News December 29, 2012 9:20PM

Danae Molitor (center) teaches area children a few basic individual and group yoga moves Friday at the Rakow Branch of Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin. 12/28/12 | Janelle Walker~For Sun-Times Media

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Updated: December 30, 2012 2:55AM

ELGIN Yoga, according to 9-year-old Graham Hunt, is exercise that calms you down.

More than 40 Elgin-area school children got some calming time Friday during the first-ever kids yoga session at Gail Borden Public Librarys Rakow Branch.

Every month, we brainstorm for programs we can bring to Rakow, said Anne Bedard, a branch assistant. Yoga for kids seemed like a good activity for the winter break, she said. Kids, too, need to de-stress for the holiday.

Children can get some of the same benefits from yoga as their parents, said Danae Molitor. She teaches yoga at The Centre of Elgin and has offered a kids yoga class there for the last several years in addition to the adult classes. Bedard reached out to Molitor and asked her to bring a class to the library.

Molitor ran the children through some basic yoga poses in the Rakow childrens area, helping them stretch their bodies and strengthen their cores. During the Friday class, she stuck to animal poses such as cat, cow, stork and the ever-famous downward dog. Some visualization relaxing on a raft on a sunny day helped round out the 45-minute class.

For small children, the yoga exercises can help them focus and become more aware of their bodies and breathing, Molitor said.

Original post:
Library offers a little yoga for little ones