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.
Posts Tagged: Virginia
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.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
23
Aug 10
Three featured Dahn Yoga Center owners in the Greater DC Metro Area
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, 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 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/
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
12
Aug 10
A great local resource for a great local story
Danielle & Renee Gaudette
Being around Dahn Yoga Centers for the past 10 years, I know that there are so many amazing stories to be told. Interesting stories about real people changing their lives and doing courageous things. I love this blog for that reason- it gives the stories a place to be told. They are not necessarily stories that the Washington Post would be interested in, but they need to be told none-the-less.
I felt that way about the story of Danielle Gaudette, the regional manager of the Dahn Yoga Centers in Massachusetts and her sister, Renee, both of whom work in Arlington, MA. I was planning to write the story for the local blog up there, but than found an amazing on-line local site called yourarlington.com, which allows people from Arlington to create an on-line newspaper for Arlington. How great! I wish every small town had a source like that. Thanks goes out to Bob Sprague, the editor. The story is posted there instead.
Do you know of any sites like this in the DC metro area? Lets find them and get the stories happening in your center out there!
Click here to visit yourarlington.com and read about them. I hope you visit and support this great local resource. Enjoy!
Don’t miss the next post, coming up Monday, a short clip that will guide you through a soothing tea meditation.
~Genia Sullivan, contributor, dahnyogadcmetro.com
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
9
Aug 10
Amazing Woman in Our Midst!
Caroline Grabner from the Dahn Yoga Center in Bethesda, MD shares her story with Dahn TV about overcoming cancer, then helping others through the journey as a volunteer instructor.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
6
Aug 10
Off the Mat. Introducing a new series on Dahn TV
In ‘Off the Mat’, Dahn TV covers stories of Dahn Yoga practitioners pursuing training out of the classroom. This first episode takes a trip to Korea, with folks from all over the country, including two of our own members from the DC area.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
3
Aug 10
If not me, then who, if not now, then when? (Part II)
Mike & Beth in front of Roots to Wings Yoga and Healing Center Last week in Part I ‘Pre-yoga Daze’, Mike Houlihan shared the beginning of the journey that lead him and his wife to take over management of the highly successful ‘Roots to Wings’ Yoga Studio, a hybrid Hatha and Dahn Yoga studio, where over 130 graduated from the Shim Sung ‘Finding True Self’ Workshop in two years. 
At the end of part I, Mike had just started taking Yoga Classes at Roots to Wings.
Around the time that I was discovering yoga for the first time, Wendy Hall, owner and teacher at Roots to Wings Yoga and Healing Center was discovering Dahn Yoga for the first time. She had recently taken the Shim Sung (Finding True Self) workshop offered by Dahn Yoga, and immediately felt the practice offered her the next step in her growth. She set about practicing and taking private sessions with Chun Shim Park, a Dahn Yoga trainer, and was soon experimenting how to incorporate the ‘energy body’ practices she was learning into her Hatha Yoga classes. She started having us do Sleeping Tiger for about 5 minutes at the end of some classes and gradually, I began to feel energy in my Dahn Jon. I started practicing harder. Wendy also encouraged others to take the Shim Sung workshop and Beth, my wife, travelled to Boston to participate. She immediately started bugging me to go. I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, but was loving yoga and if I could dedicate two days to doing it that’d be fine. With this mind, I eventually signed up. Fortunately, by the time I had an opportunity to go, Shim Sung actually came to Roots to Wings, thanks to the hard work of Wendy and Chun Shim nim. (nim is a term of respect in Korean, often used at the end of a person’s name/title).
By the time Shim Sung rolled around, I was feeling pretty healthy. I’d lost about 20 pounds, was calmer some of the time, and could see the benefits of regular yoga and energy practice. However, I was still unprepared for Shim Sung. I was unable to see the connection between my thoughts and my physical and spiritual bodies. I didn’t appreciate the interconnection of the three bodies. Shim Sung was like getting a new set of glasses to look at myself through. I began to see more clearly who I was and how I’d been limiting myself. I often tell people that I’d experienced the rapture of being alive on my wedding day and during the birth of our four children; a moment where time really stood still. I experienced the rapture again in Shim Sung. However, the weekend also scared me, because I realized how sick my body really was. At the end, I did not want it to be over. I walked up to Chun Shim nim with a pleading look in my eyes, saying “Help!” She compassionately pushed a couple of meridian points on me. ‘You need to heal’ she said. Deep down inside, I knew she was right. I needed more help.
That was the beginning of the journey that brought me here, to this point in my life, ready to teach others in the same way that Wendy and Chun Shim nim taught me. This
journey has started, but hasn’t stopped yet. I don’t have the words to describe how sincerely grateful I am to have had the opportunity to be guided by Chun Shim nim. It has been the opportunity of many lifetimes. She helped me save my life by helping me see in myself what is inside all of us and helped me develop the confidence to be who I truly am.
Part III – Fruits of ‘Su Haeng’ Training, Family, and Future
Su Haeng means ‘training to recover your original spirit’. Scores of private sessions and peak experiences later, across staffing multiple Shim Sungs, beyond many Dahn Yoga trainings- Master Healer School, Healing Chakra, Advanced Shim Sung, Tao Masters training, BMC School, and countless hours of practice with Wendy nim and Chun Shim nim, it comes down to this. In the last three and a half years:
- I am lighter, but not just physically. I have gone from 212 to 172 pounds (even though I never thought I could weigh less than 185 at 6 feet tall), but my lightness is different than that.
- My mind is clearer almost all the time, extremely clear some of the time, and less clear very infrequently.
- I am not constrained by upper and lower back pain like I was since my mid 20s.
- My perennial allergies have virtually disappeared. I used to wake up sneezing 30 plus times a night
- My musical tastes have changed completely from hard rock/heavy metal to yoga and healing music. I’ve also started to teach myself to play guitar.
- I have begun to let go of attachments and have realized that I am not Mike the Chief Information Officer, Father, Husband, champion golfer, hockey player blah blah blah. I am much more than that
- I am calmer and more present with my wife, children, friends and co-workers. Getting hooked on emotions is more an exception than the norm.
- I have changed the information I live my life by. I don’t read the paper much. I don’t watch the news. I watch much less TV. I spend my time with people who are healthy for me
- I have re-learned what to eat, how to eat it, and when. I am more conscious of what I put in my body. I have not taken a pill of any kind in almost 4 years (with the exception of 1 course of antibiotics when I had lyme disease after a tick bite). I have not used alcohol in almost 3 years. I have not had refined sugar in 8 months. I don’t drink coffee and I don’t smoke. I do enjoy an occasional pizza and I do eat meat although I do not crave meat like I used to.
- I understand that I am 100% responsible for everything that happens in my life and I accept full responsibility for that
- I understand that I will continue to repeat lessons until I learn them. I am not in control
- I have realized that I am separate from nothing. I trust CJKU.
- I can feel my Dahn Jon (lower energy center) even when I am not doing Yeon Don (still postures to accumulate energy). Not always, but more of the time
- I have the confidence to heal myself and others
- I understand that to better heal myself and others I must teach, share, and practice
- I believe I can make a difference in the world. I am making a difference in the world. I am going to make a difference in the world because I am 100% responsible for doing so.
The teaching team at Roots to Wings, all trained in Dahn Yoga and Hatha Yoga
Wendy Hall, as the founder of Roots to Wings, created the amazing energy field that is here with her own love, compassion, will and determination to make a better world. She brought Dahn Yoga to us and to Roots to Wings. Roots to Wings is a very special place. What has happened here is a testament that Hong ik (‘living in a way that widely benefits all’) is alive and well in America. Wendy Hall’s, now Wendy Hall Sabumnim ‘s,(a dahn yoga master instructor) success at incorporating Dahn Yoga principles with her already successful yoga and healing studio brought her an invite to manage CGI Holistic Fitness in Closter, NJ. She pursued this for her growth and for her vision of world peace, and her absence required us to grow to fill her spot.
My main lesson from BMC (Brain Management Consultant) training was that believing something and living something are two different things. To me the essence of Dahn Yoga is the practice of living consciously. All the great wisdom traditions tell us this and we get it intellectually. Dahn Yoga training has helped me feel this in the fiber of my being. It’s real and tangible. I also believe there are many maps that can we can use to practice living consciously, but as Joseph Campbell said it is best not to confuse the map with the territory, and if you find a map that works, stick with it.
While it was a very difficult decision to leave the corporate world and become a’ full-time’ earth citizen by operating a yoga and healing center, it is something I know I must do to make the most of this chance, this lifetime. I decided to dive in with both feet because I believe in’ Hong Ik’, living beneficially for all, and the power of transformation. If I can change, anybody can. I feel that a life based on healing and helping others is a life well lived and the best lesson we can give our children. The rest is up to Chun Ji Ki Un (Cosmic Energy), and I think I am in good hands.
Mike Houlihan operates Roots to Wings Yoga and Healing Studio in Newburyport, MA, with his wife Beth.
For more information please visit http://www.rootstowings.com.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
24
Jul 10
A Two Minute Tip- Relieve your wrist pain
This week’s Two Minute Tip address is the first part of two short videos that will guide you how to release tension in your upper body joints. If you have wrist pain, from sports or computer work, try this exercise for relief.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
20
Jul 10
Think you’re too out of shape to start yoga? Think again!
Are you intere
sted in starting yoga but think you are not in good enough shape? So did I., but I learned through experience that that is not true. Now, I am not only a yoga practitioner, but I co-own my own studio. Let me share how (and why!) I did it.
When I was younger, I started working out by jogging, using the gym once in awhile for the stair-climber and weights. Over time, my feet began to hurt too much to continue running; so my physical exercise declined. Soon enough, I was in menopause and seeing the weight gain that sometimes goes along with it. I started having medical issues too- it seemed like every six months, some new diagnosis was coming up. . I also worked (and still do) as a health care analyst, and knew that many of my physical problems were closely related to stress and my unhealthy ways of handling it. Soon, even the unspeakable was upon me: I had to have surgery.
This was the last straw. I knew I had to do something to get back into better physical shape, and decided to have an action plan in place before I went through the operation. During this time, I picked up a brochure for Dahn Yoga (the type of practice that I teach) at a Dunkin Donuts shop (of all places!!). I went for an introductory session thinking that I would just check it out before trying several yoga studios. However, in the end I signed up right there because I knew it was just what I needed.
I had some reservations about whether I could do the exercises. All the images of ‘yoga’ that I had in my head were of young, healthy, fit women and men in tight clothing and complicated postures. However, as I watched the instructor help each person follow the poses up to their own physical condition, I felt relieved and started training regularly.
In short order I realized that I needed not just improved physical health, but also better harmony between my mind and my body. The problem wasn’t that I was ‘washed up’ physically, as I had kept telling myself. The reality was that my head was full of negative ways of thinking, causing me to impose imaginary limits on myself.
Through Dahn Yoga, a whole new way of being has opened up to me. I find I am not only healthier, but also able to focus on what I am doing in each moment and, on what I have dreams and hopes of doing in the future. Yoga helps beyond just conditioning the physical body. It helps condition the mind, to use as a tool for achieving your hopes and dreams. That is why my center, where I teach Dahn Yoga, is called a ‘Body and Brain’ Center.. We need to work continuously on improving both things, at any age! So to all the women out there that think they are not fit enough, or are too old, to start yoga, I hope this article helps you change your mind. If it’s something you want to try, get out there, and do it!
Author Cindy Forry
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
9
Jul 10
Meridians, Acupuncture, Do-In stretching……..what does it all mean?
Do-in, the formal name for the stretching postures practice during a Dahn Yoga class, means, ‘pushing and pulling’ of the meridian channels’. So, what is a meridian 
channel, anyway? We asked an acupuncturist William Kellar, to shed a little light on the subject in this article. He answered some of our questions below.
What is a Meridian Channel?
‘The human body has a lattice of meridians or energy channels that course through it. The meridians are responsible for moving the Qi (pronounced “chee” in Chinese) or Ki (pronounced ‘key’ in Korean) and balancing the Yin and Yang. Meridian theory assumes that disorder within a meridian causes disharmony and pain. For example, a disorder in the Stomach meridian may cause an upper toothache, because the stomach meridian passes through the upper gums.’
With this question answered, another basic one asked to be addressed. What is acupuncture? Why does it seem to help some people? Again, William Kellar:
What is acupuncture?
‘Acupuncture is designed to unblock stagnant Qi in the meridian channels and restore the body’s natural balance. The role of the acupuncturist is to observe all signs and symptoms and to determine what acu-points would best resolve the presenting disharmony(s) when treated. One of the oldest forms of medicine, acupuncture was first practiced in China over 3000 years ago. In modern times, acupuncture has been in the news quite a bit lately. As one of the fastest growing forms of complementary or integrative medicine, more people are learning about and responding to this form of treatment.’
What will I feel during an acupuncture treatment?
One commonly asked question I get is: ‘what do patients feel during an acupuncture treatment?’ Probably the biggest fear people have, getting stuck with a needle, is usually resolved upon the initial insertion. Because each needle is very fine, most people report feeling little or no discomfort. Many feel being in a state of deep relaxation during their session. Modern Western medicine can not explain precisely how acupuncture works. There are many theories, some supported by clinical research. But for over 3000 years, this medical protocol has helped people with a wide range of health conditions. In fact, the World Health Organization recognizes over 40 conditions for which acupuncture can be effective in treating.
Another question I commonly get asked is, what kind of conditions can be treated by acupuncture. The most common conditions I have seen and treated in my seven years a practice are: Stress and anxiety, neck and back pain, arthritis and joint pain, migraine and other headaches, infertility, facial pain and TMJ disorder, insomnia, allergies and sinus problems, and mood disorders.
Have you tried acupuncture or meridian stretching? Did it help you? Share your experience below.
~Dahnyogama.com editorial team
Thanks to William Kellar, M.Ac., Licensed Acupuncturist, for contributing to this article.
Mr. Kellar’s acupuncture clinic is located at 42 Pleasant Street in Arlington, MA.
