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There are four major kinds of exercise that older people should engage in to keep their brains stimulated and their bodies vigorous and active. You should include the following in your routine for maximum brain health:

1. AEROBIC Exercise
Also called cardio, aerobic exercise gets the heart pumping, which helps oxygen and nutrients to flow throughout the body.

2. RESISTANCE TRAINING
Also known as strength training, this type of exercise requires the body’s muscles to move against an opposing force or resistance, whether you are lifting your own weight with push-ups or sit-ups, or using free weights, resistance bands, or weight machines. Over time, resistance training can not only reverse most age-related muscle loss, but can also lower the risk of diabetes, hypertension, and osteoporosis, and it improves posture, balance, and the overall function of the organs.

3.FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
Although some age-related change in flexibility in inevitable, much of the decline can be countered through daily flexibility exercise. Exercises that stretch the muscles help to reduce muscle pain and injury, and to improve muscle function, mobility(for example, bending to pick up something, reaching overhead, or washing your back), and posture. In addition to the more traditional flexibility exercises, other ways to improve your joints’ range of motion include participating in challenging activities, such as tai chi, Pilates, yoga, and martial arts.

4.BALANCE AND MOBILITY TRAINING
Balance and mobility training is a critical component of exercise program that is often ignored. Falls are the leading cause of injury for people sixty-five and over. Our brain education program helps to address some of the sensory, cognitive, and motor components associated with dynamic balance and mobility.

From In Full Bloom by Ilchi Lee

As you get older, it is as important that you have a dream for your life as it was when you were young. You may have a better chance of achieving it, now that the basics needs of life-Financial security, starting a career, raising a family, etc.-are no longer of primary importance to you. So, before you close this book up and put it back on the shelf, make sure that you have developed a vision for yourself. Make a plan for who you want to be one, five, or ten years from now. This does not have to mean starting a new career or ten years from now. This does not have to mean starting a new career or taking on some huge project (but that is okay, too). More importantly, it means becoming the kind of person you really want to be in terms of character and your interaction with the world around you. If you have ever thought to yourself, ” I want to leave the world a better place than I found it,” now is the time to act on that desire.

To find your vision, find what really fills you with a sense of joy and contentment. For most, this will probably involve contributing something of value to your community or the world. Don’t be afraid to set your goal high and to dream big.

Breath

For most people, it is common for their minds to jump from one idea to the next. They believe that they have no control over what they think or how they feel. They have given up the power to control their mind. To create positive energy, they have to have positive ideas and positive emotions. That means they have to be able to control their minds and make them think positively. Taking back the control of the mind and its thoughts is very simple. The key is the breath. Learning to take control of the breath enables practitioners to control their mind and themselves. When this happens, they are able to become masters of themselves.

Every breath carries the same inhalation of life and exhalation of death. But the breath carries something more that life or death. It contains something in-between and exhalation of death. But the breath carries something more than life or death. It contains something in-between and beyond these concepts. Breath is natural, simple, easy, universal and priceless. To begin to understand the breath, a person must experience the breath as both autonomous and controllable. Since the breath is connected to both the autonomous system and the conscious mind, it is the bridge between the body and mind. With practice, the breath becomes the gateway to deeper layers of consciousness. Concentrating on inhalation and exhalation permits the Jin-Ki to enter the body and with that comes the realization that there is an invisible connection between the body and universe.

from dahnyoga book by ilchi lee

Knowledge of Ki-energy is extremely beneficial prior to beginning the Dahn-Jon Breathing exercises. Ki-energy flows through the human body in three different ways:

Won-Ki, Jong-Ki and Jin-Ki. “Won” means “innate,” “Jong” means “stamina or strength,” and “Jin” means “true or genuine.”

1) Won-Ki : The first type of Ki-energy is inherited energy Human beings receive this energy at birth from their parents.
2) Jong-Ki : The second type of Ki-energy is acquired energy from nourishment. This energy source is replenished through diet and respiration.
3) Jin-Ki : The third type of Ki-energy is received through relaxed concentration.

From Dahnhak book by Ilchi Lee

Ki-energy is another name for cosmic energy. It is the energy that circulates throughout the universe. As the poets have written, all human beings are made up of stardust and cosmic energy. This is the connecting thread that helps human beings understand that all beings in the cosmos exist as one. As many religious and spiritual traditions have tried to impart, all living beings residing on earth are individual components of the oneness of the universal Ki-energy. The concept of Oneness changes for practitioners from an intellectual concept to one of knowing, through actual experience, that Ki-energy moves throughout the body.

It is overwhelming for human beings to imagine the immense power of the energy circulating through the vast universe. When people are connected with that universal energy, the Ki-energy in their bodies actively circulates like the movement of the solar system.

To connect and interact with this energy is very easy: breathe. Everyone inhales and exhales whether or not they are conscious of this activity. Through the Dahnhak breathing exercises, practitioners become aware of inhaling as the taking in of universal Ki-energy and exhaling as the releasing of used, dissipated energy back into the universe. This energy-focused respiration is called “Dahn-Jon Breathing.”

from dahn hak book by ilchi lee

“Ki” is the Korean word for cosmic vitality that is the true essence of every creation in the cosmos. Most people begin their understanding of Ki by experiencing it as bio-energy or the vital life force in the body. Ki is the connection between the physical body and conscious mind. When practitioners learn to control the Ki in their bodies, they begin to understand that they have control over their bodies. In the orient, people have known about Ki for thousands of years. Oriental medicine, such as acupuncture or acupressure, utilizes the knowledge of Ki-energy by healing people through correcting the distorted energy flow in their body.

from dahnhak book by ilchi lee

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 , the true source of life, they discover how Ki-energy works in their bodies and how they can utilize it for optimal health.

During Dahnhak Practice, practitioners learn to communicate with their bodies. They discover that they can become the real masters of their bodies with the ability to control and regulate their bodily functions. By stimulating the Ki-energy circulation, the body’s natural healing power is activated. When their bodies are recharged with fresh Ki-energy, the practitioners can lead themselves back to optimum health, naturally healing most physical and mental diseases.

When practitioners arrive at their goal of a healthy life, they usually extend their intentions towards creating harmonious relationships with their family, friends, acquaintances and nature. This new holistically healthy life style by practitioners contributes to leading the rest of the world into a new culture supporting happier and healthier human beings.

Dahnhak is a holistic health program that teaches people how to utilize Ki-energy. “Dahn” means “engery, vitality, and origin of life,” and “hak” means “study, philosophy and theory.”

This program supports healthy ways of living and encourages the desire to seek Human Perfection. The philosophy of Dahnhak is based on the belief that human perfectibility is attainable, irrespective of sex, age or race. The Dahnhak program gives people an intergrated method to discover for themselves their relationship to their body, their mind, and finally to ultimate reality, their “True self.”

It was a still, starry night.
One shining star suddenly came into me and whispered.
It is your eyes that are watching the stars shining over there,
and it is your ears, not you,
that hear the raindrops
flowing down the window.
I used to think I was watching the stars
and I was hearing the raindrops.
Now I see once more with awakened eyes
and I hear once again with opened ears,
to realize I am the shining star,
and I am the raindrop.
The bright star sparkled once again
to show me that I am
neigher the shining star nor the raindrop.
I found out who I am and everything became clear.
Words fail to say the unspeakable and indescribable.
Starts are still shining on the sky through the window
and raindrops are still falling in the same way.

by Ilchi lee

How happy I feel on the way to my self!
I’m on the happy road to find the self.
If you go astray leaving the self,
You will have aching feet
before going Ten Miles.

What a joy I’m having on the way to my spirit!
I’m on the happy road to meet the spirit.
If you go astray leaving the spirit,
You will have aching feet before
reaching the Tenth Village.

I am happy on teh way to Our self.
I’m on the happy road to join our self.
If you go astray leaving our self in yourself,
Your aching feet will fail you
far away from the city of ten.

* The word “Ten” in Korean means perfection and enlightenment.

From Dahnhak book by ilchi lee