Dahn Yoga Center blog

It is also clear that even the kinds of thoughts we have can greatly affect our physical health. Ilchi Lee says the effect of the mind on the body was demonstrated by scientists more than a hundred years ago. In one experiment, scientists showed fake flowers to highly allergic people. Almost invariably, the subjects, not knowing that the flowers were fake, had allergic reactions when seeing the flowers. And for centuries physicians have noted the placebo effect, in which a patient’s beliefs about a given medicine may create as much healing as the medicine itself. According to the Ask Ilchi Lee section in his website, It stands to reason then that all sorts of negative thoughts and beliefs may have a detrimental effect on the body and that positive thoughts may assist in the healing process.

Once Ilchi Lee had a student who was a video arcade owner. He had a quick temper and found himself constantly irritated with the kids in his arcade. This anger spilled over into every part of his life. His body became very tense, and eventually blisters appeared all over his skin. Worried about his health, he came to a Dahn Yoga center and began practicing Brain Wave Vibration along with the regular Dahn Yoga class.

After only ten sessions, the blisters disappeared and his mind-set totally changed. He not only got along better with his young patrons, but he suddenly felt motivated to teach kids Brain Education techniques he learned from the Dahn Yoga center in a special after-school program. This Dahn Yoga member learned to reverse his negative brain waves, and the effect on him and those around him was almost miraculous.

From Brain Wave Vibration by Ilchi Lee

When we breathe fully and deeply, the belly, lower rib cage, and lower back expand on inhalation, thus pushing the diaphragm down deeper into the abdomen. The same structures retract on exhalation. In deep abdominal breathing, these rhythmic movements help to detoxify our inner organs, promote blood flow and peristalsis, and pump fluid more efficiently through our lymphatic system.

Awakening the energy: When you experience tightness in the chest, you would naturally want to relieve it by patting the chest with your hands. If you sense coldness in your hands, you would automatically rub the hands together to circulate blood for accelerating warmth. The meridian exercises utilize natural body movements.

When certain energy pathways or points are blocked, you pat them, open them, and get relief. The five methods described here, which could be practiced anywhere with ease, are the warm-up sequence prior to doing the Dahn Yoga, created by Ilchi Lee, meridian exercises and abdominal breathing. Twenty minutes of daily exercise will enhance your good health immensely.

Dahn Yoga patting exercise: Stand with your legs shoulder width apart. Begin by patting your chest with both hands. Move them back and forth across the chest, stimulating all the acupressure points on your upper chest. Increase the strength of the patting until it almost becomes a slapping movement. Extend your left arm in front of you with the palm facing up. Pat the arm with your right hand, beginning at the left shoulder, and then move down the inside of your left arm, along the wrist, palm, and fingertips. Then clap your hands then times.

Benefits: Accumulates heat energy in the lower abdomen and aids digestion.

Tips: Breathe normally and comfortably. Exaggerate the distending and contracting abdominal movements.

1. Sit in half-lotus position. Place your fingers in a triangle around your lower abdomen. As you inhale, distend your abdomen as much as possible. As you exhale, contract your abdomen as much as you can. Perform 200 times.

Body with bend and twist

Benefits: Eases swelling and bloating, facilitates weight loss, regulates appetite, releases excess fat from abdomen and thighs, helps to control diabetes, and realigns lumbar vertebrae and sacrum.

It’s been a little while… where were we when we left off? I don’t remember. I haven’t been to a Dahn Yoga class in a little while, but I was at a Dahn center the other day. There was a workshop followup session in progress, so I couldn’t go into the training room, but it was pleasant to just hang out and relax. How often you do get a chance to do that? (Relax, that is, no matter where you are.) I would wager a guess that it’s not often. This world of ours is moving faster and faster, and we don’t always manage ourselves well in the face of all this pressure to speed. Often the universe hands us the cosmic equivalent of a speeding ticket — perhaps a minor illness that forces us to stay at home for a week, or a missed train that forces us to wait an hour on a lonely train platform in the middle of beautiful countryside. I suggest being your own enforcer. The universe has enough work to do. Stop and smell those roses.

I just learned a new stretch that really helped my hip joints. First put your feet a little wider than shoulders width, and lean down toward the ground. Now shift your weight to one leg, and push back into that hip joint. Feel it?

This morning I sat in the thin sunshine, contemplating the new day. Morning feels so different from evening, and that’s not even considering the classic night vs. day comparison! What part of the day do you like best?