Sep 29 2007
Asthma
Joanne Steller
Marketing Consultant
When I began my Dahn training at age 56, I could not have foreseen the incredible change for the better it has helped me create in all aspects of my life. Even the basic yoga exercises were difficult for me at first. I had little stamina and had even less discipline to stay active physically. I came to realize that the stiffness and lack of flexibility I routinely experienced physically was an apt reflection of my state of mind as well. The Dahn method of experiential learning helped me overcome the barriers I had been putting in my own path when trying new things I have never done before. My thoughts like “not at my age” or “I’ll never be able to that,” have become “I can do it,” and “I’m going to keep doing it as long as I live.” Through regular class participation and by attending increasingly more advance workshops over the past three years, I have felt and seen many benefits. I am stronger and in better physical condition today than I was in my 30s. I have asthma but the bouts of respiratory difficulty, discomfort and illness have abated, even at the height of allergy season and without the daily medication that often felt worse than the disease. One of the best health benefits of this training has been learning about the physical manifestations of stress. In Dahn, we learn to relieve and release stress; one can literally feel stress melting away to calm relaxation through the yoga exercises, meditation, and healing activities that are part of the program’s Brain Education System Training (BEST). The basic sensibility and profound impact of this learning on my own circumstances has inspired me to teach, and I am leading classes at the Dahn Center and in my community with increasing frequency. My life vision too has a new, improved lens that has helped me see ways to create stronger, better relationships with my husband of 34 years, my two adult daughters, my extended family, friends, and colleagues. Dahn training also has provided me with excellent tools for my professional life. As I travel throughout North America as a marketing consultant in the performing arts, I find myself practicing and benefiting from Dahn principles in everything from the counsel and coaching I provide clients to the process of using America’s stress-filled air transportation system. Of all the many self-help programs I have tried over the years, this is the only training that has inspired and taught me to keep going. I have, and that has made a huge difference in me and has awakened me to the difference I can make in the lives of others.