Dr. Albert F. (Dentist)
I have been going to the Dahn Center for about a year. I am a teaching assistant and am presently attending the Dahn Yoga workshop, which is supplemented by all day sessions with Oh and daily practice. In short, I am into this much farther than I thought I would be. I have always been a seeker, even if I did not always know what I was seeking.
When I came to the Dahn Yoga Center my health had deteriorated to the point were it scared me. I was significantly overweight, out of shape, had developed Diabetes (about 6 years before), and my blood chemistry had changed. Triglycerides were though the roof, blood pressure was up, and I was not controlling my blood sugar. I WAS DEVELOPING A THING CALLED SYNDROME X WHICH MAKES YOU PRONE TO HEART ATTACKS. To make a long story short of the eight predisposing factors to having a heart attack I had seven of them. I was thinking of taking up smoking so I would have a complete set.
Well, since coming to the Dahn Yoga Center I have lost 54 pounds, went from being listed as significantly out of shape to good shape as measured by a tread mill test. The thing that impressed me about that was I do not run. I do my Dahn Yoga practice only. I do ride my bike sometimes. I also could have stayed on the test longer but I had no sense of competition. They had what they needed from the test and I had no compulsion to see how far I could go. My blood sugar is 115 as of this morning and under control, my triglycerides and cholesterol are within normal limits and my blood pressure is 119/ 63 as of this morning.
I still take Diabetes medication (about half of what I was taking) but the difference being my blood sugar is under control and before even with twice the medication it was not under control. I have no delusions about curing my diabetes because once you have it, you have it and the best you can do is control it. I will always wonder how long I would have put off having diabetes if I had started Dahn Yoga practice before I got it. I guess none of us can will ourselves to have a better past than we had. We can only do things in the present to give us a better future.
Being a Dentist is a stressful job or so I am told. I think that and the sedentary life style I was leading were the main causes of my problems. There was a study some years ago by a group of Psychiatrists stating that Dentists had the highest rate of suicide of any of the professions. A follow-up study done by Dentists proved that Psychiatrists had the highest rate of suicide. Using the “watcher” philosophy as a living mediation has allowed me to remove much of the stress from my life. I have not dropped out of society.
As a matter of fact, I get more done with less of the emotional strain I had before. I also find that I make better decisions.
I will be the first to tell you that all of this change was hard work, but important if my body was to heal itself. I was so involved with my own stress and health problems I could not even think of helping someone else. But in healing my body I realized that I had something to offer in helping others. I am reminded of an old Indian poem.
I slept and dreamed of a world of pure joy.
I awoke and found a world of pure service.
I served and in my service found joy.
-from “Pathway to Healing”
