Dahn Yoga takes root in the US

Columbia University News(NY), April 3rd, 2002

Soothing music played in the background, as eight harassed New Yorkers lay flat on a yellow-papered floor, breathing deeply. “Exhale … inhale … exhale…” intoned their instructor, as they tried to empty their bodies and souls of the day’s stresses. Lying motionless with eyes closed, the students appeared to embody tranquility. But their outer calm hid their passion within for Dahnhak.

Having tried yoga, aerobics and jogging, thousands of Americans are turning to a Korean healing approach that goes back over 5,000 years. Long popular in Korea, where nearly every urban neighborhood counts a Dahnhak center, the philosophy has been picking up American adherents over the past decade.

-by Soyoung Ho

Ancient discipline is latest trend

Dahn means “energy, vitality and the origin of life” and hak means “study, philosophy and theory.” The aim of the practice is to create spiritual enlightenment in the individual through physical and mental discipline.
Work on the body begins with the meridian energy channels throughout the body, connected to seven energy centers known as Dahn-Jons (called chakras in other disciplines). Exercises are designed to breathe in fresh Ki (cosmic) energy through the meridians and exhale stale, spent energy through the fingers and toes.

Says Ilchi Lee, in his book, Dahnhak (Dahn Yoga): The Way To Perfect Health: “The purpose of Dahnhak is to give individuals the opportunity to realize their own personal power. “Through experiencing Ki-energy, the true source of life, they discover how Ki-energy works in their bodies and how they can utilize it for optimal health.” Lee, founder of Dahn Yoga, reintroduced the ancient but largely forgotten practice in the land of its birth, starting with classes in public parks in South Korea in the early ’80s.

Neale Donald Walsch, author of the best-selling Conversations With God books, recommends Dahn Yoga in his latest book, Friendship With God. “Once you feel this energy, you can use it to not only attain physical heath, but to connect yourself to the universal energy and achieve a spiritual awakening in which this sense of Oneness is imprinted into every single cell of your being.” he writes.

The most important Dahn-Jon is in the abdomen, just below the belly button, and great attention is paid to “warming and softening” that area with exercise and massage.

An initial half-hour of physical exercise, incorporating stretching and movements from yoga and Tai Chi that are gentle enough for even the most out-of-shape novitiate, is followed by a period of guided meditation and relaxation, including a series of breathing postures called Hang Gong. Then comes what’s called the Ji-Gam exercise, which brings awareness of Ki-energy through direct experience.

The first time I tried this exercise, I was amazed by the results. Sitting in a half-lotus position with my hand palm up on my knees and eyes closed, I was instructed to concentrate on my hands and lift them, moving the palms together, chest high. Focusing attention on my hands, I noticed a warm and tingling sensation. When I moved my hands slowly apart, I felt what I can only describe as a bubble of energy between them that I’ve discovered with practice. I can make bigger or smaller with the movement of my hands. The energy feels quite tangible, confirming for this beginner, at least, that the Ki energy does indeed exist.

“Once I have mastery over my body and mind, I can find out who I am and what the ultimate purpose of my life is,” says Venus Yoon, director of the four Toronto centers. “I think all masters have the same vision. We see all living creatures in the universe connected as one.”The moment we are aware of the energy is the moment we find our true selves. “Little by little, we can understand true happiness, true peace and true love… from the inside, not the outside – and we learn to love ourselves and respect ourselves and others.” Yoon says Dahn Yoga is “very easy to approach. Everyone can do it. We can adjust for age and level of fitness.”

-by Victoria Stevens

For Wellness

Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO), February 1999
Published 2008-07-15

Last week Dennison’s after-school program initiated a seven-week dahn-hak series for 46 six-to 8-year olds. “What we want for the children is resiliency, self-control and self-discipline,” Urioste says. “We really want to see what kind of a positive impact this will have on their self-esteem, their well-being, their happiness, and obviously we want to see if this will have any effect on their achievement.”During Wednesday’s class, the instructors held the children’s attention for the entire hour. They placed the students in a circle and ran them through different poses intended to develop eye-hand coordination. Sitting, standing and moving, the children worked on flexibility and balance. They stood face to face and mirrored each other’s movements. “They loved putting their little fists out into the air like a salute,” Urioste says. “They liked doing the same thing with their feet.” The result was exactly what Urioste had hoped for. “Why they left the gym, they weren’t running-they were walking,” she says. “They were a lot more calm because they were releasing stress from their bodies.”

According to dahn philosophy, the guiding force of life is the body’s energy, or Ki. Illnesses or injuries happen when the body’s ki is blocked. Dahn Yoga instructors use meditation, dance and other movement to keep the body’s ki flowing. They also are skilled in acupressure therapy, using touch to release tension in various body parts. Koreans practice Dahn Yoga on a daily basis. A typical class lasts an hour, beginning with a 20-minute warm-up including breathing and stretching exercises and ending with deep meditation.

Hanne Strong of Crestone has traveled the world as a writer and companion to her husband, Maurice, undersecretary general of the United Nations. A year and a half ago she went to Korea to investigate dahn-hak, now she practices it daily and was instrumental in bringing the center to Denver. The origins of yoga and tai chi trace back to dahn-hak, she explains. “I decided it’s the best thing I would ever come across in preventive health and self-care, which is the name of the game in health care. You can’t afford to get sick,” she says.

The system works to establish and maintain the body’s harmony with nature, says Mee Baek of the Dahn Yoga center in Denver. People lose their natural harmony through everyday stress. “Most important for relaxation are harmony, concentration and movement,” Baek says. “By using simple movements, we make a connection between body and mind.” There are nine levels of dahn-hak. Students of all abilities, even pregnant women, can participate together, modifying their movements according to their expertise. Success hinges on the student’s ability to relax. “If they don’t relax their body, they can’t relax their mind,” Baek says.

The system may be useful as a preventive, but it is not a cure-all, says Dr. Milt hammerly, medical director of complementary and alternative medicine for Centura Health in Denver. The philosophy of dahn-hak “sounds compatible with the theories of Chinese medicine and ayurvedic (Indian) medicine in terms of energy balance and flow,” he says. Hammerly likes the idea that dahn-hak enhances the body’s energy through exercise and movement, but he says it shouldn’t take the place of conventional medicine. “I certainly wouldn’t call it a panacea that will be the cure to everything,” he says.

The studios at the Dahn Yoga Center are simply appointed. The floors are covered with a spongy “red earth” floor that Koreans consider healthful. Students and instructors are shoeless. They wear the roomy white jackets and pants of the uniform or their own loose clothing. Strong says she sees the results of Dahn Yoga in her body and her life: “This develops the mental and the spiritual and the physical. It gets your heart rate in tiptop shape, and everything is limber.”

Korean program for both mind and body

Red Rock News (AZ), August 12, 1998

Karen Cox learned about the classes through a friend. “I was in a car accident, and I had a stiff back. I have nine pins in my pelvic area, and I got clearance from my doctor to do anything but run. Now I feel more of a calmness and flexibility. My migraines that I had for the past three years are almost completely gone,” Cox said.

“Instead of taking medication for my headaches, they taught me postures I can do, and within minutes I feel better. It’s really amazing,” Cox said. Cox said that it has helped her in family relationships as well as given her more energy which she needs to play her bassoon and saxophone in the quintets she plays in. “Seventy percent of illness are stress related diseases. The Dahn Yoga method is a stress buster,” Sohn said.

-by Kelly Paren