Archive by category 'Yoga Meditation'

Yoga Meditation

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1
Apr 11

Cherry Blossoms for Japan

The pink and white petals of hundreds of cheery trees will blossom this week along the tidal basin of Washington DC, transforming the country’s great monuments and Presidential memorials into a landscape signifying peace, friendship, grace and human dignity.  Directly across the planet, Japan, the country that gifted us these amazing trees, finds itself devastated by the horrific disaster of natural and man-made destruction and nuclear threat.

 

Prayer

Prayer

This week in Dahn Yoga centers, we continually pray ardently for Japan. For those who have died and those still struggling to help however they can… for the families that lost their loved ones, left behind to pick up the pieces of their homes, salvage what they can of their lives and bury their loved ones. Let us take a moment right now to breathe deeply and say a prayer, or 100 million prayers…

 

Let each breath we take help relieve the suffering felt around the world.

It may feel difficult to know how we can help or even make sense of this catastrophe. The spirit of the Earth Human Movement and the purpose of Dahn Yoga centers give hope that even by extending your hand, breathing with a friend who is in pain and giving people tools to live strongly and fully is a great step in making sense of the sufferings in our world and doing something about it.

Towards this end the Washington DC region Dahn Yoga center is hosting a YEHA family and friends Dahn Qi-gong event this Saturday, March 26th from 3 to 5p.m.  Our very own Laura Castagnino, who performed Qi-gong at the 2009 Brain Art Festival in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, will lead us.  Qi-gong, a form of energy martial art, will renew our strength, calm our emotions and brighten our spirits.

Throughout this Saturday’s YEHA spring kick-off we will pray for our beautiful Earth-Human family across the seas in Japan and here in our very own cities, neighborhoods and households. As we walk, meditate and practice this Saturday.  the delicate and tender cherry blossoms will serve as a constant reminder of our continual movement towards peace on earth.

 

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8
Mar 11

Shim Sung Guide Debut

Shim Sung Graduates (Center: Workshop Guide, Kim Root)

Shim Sung Graduates (Center: Workshop Guide, Kim Root)

Ten years ago, Kim Root took Shim Sung training, Dahn Yoga’s most popular workshop, and that weekend she vowed that someday she would lead the weekend workshop.  This past February she had her chance. A Dahn Yoga instructor for over ten years now, Kim owns two BBCs (Body and Brain Centers) in Falls Church, VA and Beltsville, MD. I recently caught up with her during a busy workday to learn of her impressions about taking on this important and powerful role.

During the session, Kim prayed strongly for guidance. “I was surprised,” she said, “because I felt that I could flow by trusting my true nature and simply do what was needed and required.” It was a chance for her to go inside herself, and despite the challenge she repeated over and over to herself, “Yes, I can do it!” Her greatest wish was to help the participants recognize their brilliant inner radiance, their True Self.

Participants experienced tremendous growth during their weekend workshop. They were determined to find their center and on the second day of games didn’t fight to hold onto their old beliefs about themselves. Rather they made bold statements such as, “I am a loving and peaceful person!”

Kim explained that the guide is responsible for holding the pulse and movement of the whole weekend. This person is responsible for helping to guide and grow the members attending the workshop.  Referring to the work of the Dahn Yoga instructors, Kim said, “there is magic in what we do. It’s really for us as Ilchi Lee’s students to grow ourselves and also guide practitioners. The students allow me the space to grow just by being there. I am so deeply appreciative for this opportunity to work and expand my capacity to help others.”

“I am in awe of the Shim Sung process. What the practitioners put into the workshop is what they get out of it. Those that expected something ended up with less and those who kept working on themselves changed the most. Their growth was up to them.  I am so proud of our members and all the staff.”

 

 

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3
Jan 11

Dahn Yoga Meditation and Benefits of Brain Vibration

Because I could not sleep well at night, I was always tired during the day. I had all sorts of medications. I also suffered from severe back pain caused by the renal failure, and it was difficult for me to go on with my training. I felt like my body was falling asleep and felt coldness throughout my body. When I went to a hospital to get a checkup, they told me that I had six benign tumors. The doctor told me that I had to have the largest ones surgically removed.

Benefits of Brain Wave Vibration

Because I was in such bad shape, I decided to take private healing sessions, which focused on Brain Wave Vibration as a healing method.

I experienced the benefits of Brain Wave Vibration right away. In the early stages, I felt like something was shifting in my body. I felt like my body really wanted to get better, and somehow the vibrations were helping unleash some¬thing from deep inside.

With each session, I became stronger and stronger. Now I am virtually pain free for the first time in a long time, and I am able to walk and enjoy my life as normal. Whenever I feel pain, all I have to do is take ten minutes to feel the rhythm of my own body. It has shifted my whole outlook on the experience of stress and pain in my body and has given me a real sense of control over these things. I think of Brain Wave Vibration as my “balancer.” Even other people have noticed how much calmer and centered I am. All in all, Brain Wave Vibration has been an awesome experience for me.

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28
Dec 10

Dahn yoga poses expressions of life

All expressions of life are already special by definition. Every flower is beautiful. The specialness of life is absolute and not subject to a relative comparison. The beauty of a rose cannot be judged inferior nor superior to the beauty of a butterfly. They are both beautiful and special. Then why do we insist on standing out by comparing ourselves to others? What is the basic compelling force behind the drive to become special? It is the craving for attention that comes from the need for recognition. Turned inside out, it is the twisted expression of an ego with an inferiority complex.

One of the most serious symptoms of this “Chosen Syndrome” is the mistaken belief that God has especially chosen one. This problem becomes most serious and dangerous when a group or nation, sharing a common heritage, believes that it is the chosen of God. It is dangerous because such a belief can easily justify the conquest of other people’s lands, property, and way of life. The God of such a chosen people does not represent a universal truth, but is a twisted manifestation of the collective ego of a group or nation. Unfortunately, most of the gods that humanity worships today have had their start in such a fashion, choosing one people over another and ensuring the success of the chosen at the suffering and expense of the other. Our gods are gods of superiority.

From an anthropological point of view, the Chosen Syndrome would be considered a natural phenomenon. Since our gods are originally all nationalistic or ethnocentric gods, whom would they single out to be special other than the people whose collective ego the gods represent in the first place?

If we base politics and economics upon this minimum, then politics become Earth-Politics and economics becomes Earth-Economics. When this minimum becomes the ruling policy of the land, we will no longer need the system of karma and reincarnation introduced solely for the purpose of us paying off our debts.

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27
Dec 10

Dahn Yoga Poses vs Brain Wave Vibration

After the surgery, someone recommended Brain Wave Vibration to me, so I started the training as a member at a Dahn Yoga Center. The first day, I learned Dahn-jon Clapping (Abdominal Vibration) and practiced Brain Wave Vibration for about twenty minutes. I was skeptical at first, but I put my mind on the vibration and practiced hard.

I was very tired on the way back to the temple on the first day. But that night, I didn’t wake up even once all night. Amazingly, I had solved my six years of night polyuria in only one night. I felt completely refreshed and full of energy. I couldn’t believe it.

It is not only my body that has improved through Brain Wave Vibration. I finally gained an answer for the koan that I was trying to understand for so long. I felt like some part of my brain was opening up and connecting with something. I started feeling true joy.

Buddhist training method

Buddhist monastic life is devoted to the contemplation of spiritual ideals. But as this nun’s story shows, you must first have a healthy body to have a healthy spirit.

I have devoted myself to Koan meditation training at a small temple that was left to me by my grandfather. Koan is a Buddhist training method intended to help one gain realization, a method I practiced for a long time.

About six years ago, I got night polyuria, a condition that causes one to urinate frequently during the night. It is caused by kidney failure. I would have to go to the bathroom at least four, and as many as seven, times per night.

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9
Sep 10

Learn. Walk. Give. Celebrate UN International Day of Peace with us.

Enjoy Free Classes from Sept. 20-25 in recognition of the UN International Day of Peace

Dahn Yoga Celebrates International Day of Peace in Washington DC

Dahn Yoga Celebrates the International Day of Peace in Washington DC

As the national capital area becomes immersed in what promises to be a divisive, contentious mid-term election season, the ten Dahn Yoga centers in the Washington, DC area will focus positive energy on creating peace through sponsoring Earth Citizens for Peace.

Earth Citizens for Peace, September 20-25, is six days of activities to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace, an annual global observance on Sept. 21st.  The celebration’s activities invite Washingtonians to “Learn. Walk. Give.”

Each center will offer free classes devoted to developing inner peace from September 20th-25th.  The week will culminate on Saturday, Sept. 25 with a Walk for Peace from its downtown Washington center, 700 14th St. NW.  Volunteer guides will lead small groups from the center for a 30-minute walk to the National Mall, discovering along the way little-known peace markers that are part of the national capital landscape. Walks will depart continuously from noon until 5 p.m.

Registration for the walk is a donation of $12. Proceeds benefit the UNICEF Campaign to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (MTCT) through Dahn Yoga’s associated foundation, IBREA. The MTCT campaign is beneficiary of IBREA’s Earth Citizen and One Dollar campaigns to support education, health and environmental projects like MTCT that are mandated by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

For class schedule, center locations, and walk details, go to http://www.dahnyoga.com/Washington-DC.  Or call us at 202-393-2440.

For more details about our event, please read on below:

Learn.  Free classes each day at all ten centers will be open to the public and will feature breathing, stretching, meditation, and partner exercises inspired by Ilchi Lee’s Peaceology, Human Technology, Brain Wave Vibration, and other texts and teachings.  For most of the summer, DC region’s Dahn Masters and BMCs have focused their weekly practice sessions on these exercises to prepare their hearts, minds and bodies for peace-making.  The center’s décor during the week will include peace flower garlands hand-crafted by BMC volunteers.

Dahn Yoga Center staff practice the art of peace flower making

Dahn Yoga Staff preparing peace flowers for the United Nations International Day of Peace

Walk.  On Saturday, Sept. 25, beginning at Noon, the downtown DC Dahn center will host a Walk for Peace. Dahn volunteers will guide small groups from the center, which is just two blocks from the White House, to the National Mall.  The 30-minute walk is an opportunity to discover several little-known peace markers that are part of the national capital landscape. On the Mall, walkers will be led in an Earth ji-gam meditation at a beautiful spot near the Washington monument.  In planning the walk, Dahn volunteers were surprised and delighted to see along the planned route The Extra Mile sidewalk monument and a bronze peace medallion in Pershing Park.  Each offered messages of hope for peace in places as unexpected as a memorial to a World War I general.  Finding these previously unnoticed inspirations reminds all that when we choose peace, it will occur no matter how unlikely the circumstances

Give.  Registration for the walk is a donation of $12 – one dollar a day for month – to IBREA’s Earth Citizens movement which benefits the United Nations and its Millennium Development Goals agenda. Proceeds will help combat the global AIDS pandemic through UNICEF’s campaign to prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). This UN project provides prevention, testing, counseling and better integration of care, treatment and support to stop MTCT.  Our effort will add to the more than $42,000 given by Earth Citizens in the U.S. to-date for MTCT.  Every participant will give a little and will help a lot.  DC region members are encouraging friends and family to join the Earth Citizens movement during September, even if they do not walk.

Part of the DC region’s vision for 2010 is to raise 1,000 Earth Citizens and our goal is to get more than half way there in September.  Would you like to help?   Go to the IBREA web site and click on Donate Now.  Fill in all required information. At “Center,” choose Washington DC from the drop-down box.  You will receive a receipt for your tax-deductible donation by e-mail.  Then, let us know you chose to support our effort by leaving a comment in this blog post.





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31
Aug 10

Two Minute Tips: An Exercise For Pregnant Women

Sarah Orr Yun and her husband are both Dahn Yoga Instructors and together they run a franchise studio in Aurora, Colorado.  Naturally, after the birth of her first child, Sarah decided to offer a class for pregnant woman, based on her experience of using Dahn Yoga exercises for her own pregnancy.   Here is a two minute tip she shared, with one of the students from her class acting as a model.

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26
Aug 10

Two Minute Tips: Relief from Sciatic Pain

Do you ever feel tight hip joints or sciatic pain? Earlene from Colorado is back by popular demand with a Two Minute Tip to show you a stretch you can try to get some relief.

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23
Aug 10

Three featured Dahn Yoga Center owners in the Greater DC Metro Area

Head Dahn Yoga Instructor of the Rockville Center

Ba Ha is the head trainer at the Rockville Dahn Yoga Center

Recently I read an article about two women in Kingswood, Texas who were Dahn Yoga members for 5 years when they suddenly faced the closing of their local center due to tough economic times.   When faced with the possibility, they realized how deeply they had grown to appreciate and love the practice.  With nothing but faith in themselves and chunjikiun (universal energy), they took a huge plunge and decided to turn the center

Kim Root owns 2 Dahn Yoga centers

Kim Root, owner of 2 Dahn Yoga Franchise Studios

into a franchise and run it as co-owners.  You can read more about it at http://www.dahnyoga.com/what_is_new.

We have several equally inspiring stories of our own here in the Greater DC Metro Area.  Meet Kim Root, Ba Ha, and Cindy Forry.  Kim is the owner of TWO Dahn Yoga franchises, one in Beltsville, MD, and the other in Falls Church, VA.  She became one of the first franchisee owners in the US when she bought the Beltsville Center over four years ago.  The Beltsville Center is the oldest Dahn Yoga Studio in the DC Metro Area.  She enjoyed the experience so much that she jumped at the chance to own a second studio when Falls Church opened up for purchase.  She is inspired by the stories of how Dahn Yoga spread in Korea, and dreams of multiplying this number even more. 

Cindy is the assistant dahn yoga instructor in rockville, md

Cindy Forry

 Ba Ha and Cindy run the Rockville, MD center.   Ba Ha started teaching Dahn Yoga from her house.  She comes from a long line of energy healers and doctors from her ethnic Chinese family, and has degrees in biology and medical technology.  She is combining her instrinsic healing abilities with new-found business acumen to run the Rockville Center.   Cindy was inspired to help others find their own keys to health after a career in the health insurance industry, and is working as an assistant to Ba.  She is also a certified Dahn Yoga franchisee owner.

These women took a challenge and turned it into a (successful!) healing opportunity not only for themselves, but for their whole communities.  You can read more about them, and the centers they run, at their center’s websites. 

http://www.dahnyoga.com/studio/staff/Falls-church

http://www.dahnyoga.com/studio/staff/rockville

http://www.dahnyoga.com/beltsville/

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17
Aug 10

Shim Sung: The Gift of Finding True Self

I recently got the chance to experience finding my true self…for the second time! I worked as staff for the August Shim Sung training. Taking Shim Sung: Finding True Self is one of the most important and profound workshops developed by Ilci Lee. Shim Sung is by most accounts a once in a lifetime opportunity. You are given the chance to peel off your “layers” of a lifetime of piling up emotions, preconceptions, and habits in order to find your truest nature or core. Shim Sung is not something to know intellectually, but to experience deeply with your mind, body, and spirit.

Shim Sung is held over a weekend, so it requires you to carve out a bit of time just devoted to yourself. I had thought of helping with Shim Sung a long time and was finally able to coordinate my work and personal schedule. But as we learn in Dahn yoga, if you choose it, it will happen. Having completed Shim Sung 2 years ago, I know the deep experience and insights I gained. My desire has been to help others find health, happiness and peace, and to help them find their true selves. I wanted other people to experience the awakening that I had.

I was assigned as “inside staff,” which was a surprise gift. I was part of a devoted staff who worked tirelessly to provide support, encouragement, love, and a safe environment for the members. As staff, I had and felt a sense of responsibility to help protect and encourage members as layers of their “false selves” were peeled away. And peeling away layers can be a challenging and scary process for people as they confront their egos. It can be difficult as we face things that are new, scary, or challenge our sense how we should be.

I was given an amazing gift by being able to participate in the exercises and unexpectedly be someone’s partner. I really believe the universe gives you what you need, and I think she and I both gained a lot in our experience together. I got to look at layers that have been built up since my first Shim Sung! I got to look at my own preconceptions of my limits, my habits, and my preconceptions and how that is holding me back from what I really want in my life. My experience was deepened because I knew the benefits of giving 100%. When I didn’t give 100% it affected not just me, but the whole group. It wasn’t just me growing, but all of us—staff and members—were all connected.

Staffing Shim Sung was deeply rewarding and a healing process for me. It served as a reminder to be diligent in protecting my true self and to give 100%. When I can identify what I want, and fully direct my intentions toward that goal, then I can achieve anything. The doubts and worries don’t come from my true nature. So I can choose what voice to listen to. My inner true self voice is pure and unwavering. But that newly found true self needs training and encouragement and growth. So, Shim Sung is a beginning, but not an ending. So take the opportunity to experience Shim Sung. I look forward to helping more people experience Shim Sung and for me to continue to learn and grow.

Betsy Sievers is an advanced practitioner and part time instructor at the Gaithersburg Dahn Yoga Center

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