Dahn Yoga Advice

Anger is a powerful emotion that is necessary for self protection of human beings. Anger allows one to vent out the frustrations and also keep off a threat to personal space. Almost every animal has a way to vent out anger or ward off an aggression. For most animals including a snake, chameleon or elephant, anger is express when the personal space is violated or threatened. Such animals will be docile and friendly until they really feel threatened. The level of aggression or anger expression is greater when what may be considered the most valuable for the animal is threatened.

It is said that a human being is a psychological being. Broken in two, this means that a human brain functions as both psycho and logical. The right side of the brain is said to process the psycho functions which are emotional such as anger. The left side of the brain is said to processes the logical functions. In anger, the right part of the brain that controls the psycho events is what would be active.

Anger can either be demonstrated by violent actions or withdrawal. The reaction varies from one individual to another.

There are several anger trigger factors. These may vary from one individual to another and may also be dependent on the culture of a people. There are behaviors that may be considered as being provocation in one community yet it may be welcome in another. Anger trigger factors may include disappointments, being broke, losing a job, lack of forgiveness among others.

Similarly, the personalities of individuals including anger and its management may be determined by the expectations of the community. For example, in most Eastern or African culture, women are expected to be docile and not even express their anger, whereas men are expected to show their anger including being physically violent.

Dahn Yoga is an organization with women as a large majority of its members, instructors, managers and executives and takes violence against women seriously, especially sexual assault. Therefore anger in itself is not a problem. The problem lies in lack of management of anger. This lack of management of the anger could be due to the fear to address the underlying causes of anger. The prime underlying cause is the lack of addressing of the

Children often lack the words needed to verbalize the stress they feel, and their physical and emotional symptoms may be very different from an adult’s, Physically, children manifest stomachaches and headaches in response to stress, or they may have trouble sleeping. Emotionally, they may be prone to outbursts about seemingly petty things, situations unrelated to the actual cause of stress. Also, you may find that they have become very suddenly shy or introverted.

As with so many human problems, communication offers many solutions for stress. Make it clear to your children that they can talk to you about any problem freely and openly. No matter how small a problem may seem to your adult ears, listen with openness and acceptance. A child may hide a problem if he or she feels it will disappoint you. So demonstrate to your child that your love is unconditional, and that you are honored to help your child in this way. Make it clear that no problem is too small or too embarrassing to be dealt with honestly and sincerely.

Adults sometimes mistakenly think that kids have no experience of stress and tension. This is far from the truth. Kids are under a lot of pressure to compete in school, to maintain a desirable status with their peers, and to live up to parental expectations. To top it off, family situations are often unstable, leaving them with little sense of foundation and centeredness. Doctors report that the incidence of serious anxiety disorders is on the rise, and that now as many as 10 percent of children suffer from these problems.

It is a mistake to wait until adulthood to begin teaching stress management. By this time, negative habits may be very deeply ingrained. As a parent, you might think of yourself as your child’s stress-management coach. Very naturally, your child will look to you for ways to cope with the many difficult issues that are part of life.

So, first become a good role model to your children. The ways you choose to handle stress in your own life are likely to be mimicked by your children. If you need to, change the ways you react to stress and find ways to release stress, such as breathing and meditation. If you ‘incorporate these things into your daily life, your children will consider them a nomad and natural part of life.

These simple drawing activities provide a couple of very valuable benefits. First, they increase hand-eye coordination, and second, they create a meditative rhythm that helps to soothe and calm the brain waves. Don’t forget to switch hands to develop the non-dominant side of the brain.

Infinity Drawing:

This exercise can be used as a calming meditation and to help children focus more clearly.

01. Illustrate to the child what a “lazy eight” infinity symbol looks like.

02. Draw the infinity symbol with a crayon. Preferably, use large paper so the child’s whole arm can move, not just the wrist. Keep tracing the symbol for several minutes until the movement is smooth and balanced.

03. Now, switch hands and keep tracing. If you like, switch crayon color. Continue until the movement is smooth and relaxed. Optionally, try drawing the infinity with eyes closed.

The following exercises help create better communication between left and right sides of the brain by using the left and right hands at the same time. These can be difficult at first, so be patient and practice regularly.

Tap and Sweep:

01. Tap your right fist on the right side of your chest while your left hand sweeps up and down on the left side.

02. Now switch sides, your right hand sweeping and your left fist tapping.

03. See how fast you can switch back and forth

Itsy Bitsy Brainy:

01. Put your thumbs and index fingers together, as in the game “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Your right index finger should be on your left thumb, and your left index finger on your right thumb.

02. Now, separate the bottom thumb and finger and swing them up over the top thumb and finger, touching them together again. Repeat this action, continuing to “walk” up 5 times.

03. Switch direction and begin to walk the fingers down.

04. Now, begin to walk up again, but this time switch to the middle finger. Walk up and down 5 times, just as before.

05. Continue the same action, switching between fingers. When you reach the pinkie, reverse and work back to the index finger.

A truly flexible brain is one that is open and ready to learn and does not avoid the difficult or unusual. The activities in this lesson may be difficult and frustrating at first, but the process of mastering them will build brain” connections that facilitate learning and understanding in many areas of life.

As you probably already know, the brain consists of two sides, the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. One side or the other tends to be dominant, which accounts for left-and right-handedness. In fact, we not only tend to have a dominant hand, out also nave a dominant eye and foot. (See The Dominance Factor by Carla Hannaford to help determine dominance for yourself or your children.) This is a normal and natural thing, but it can leave the non-dominant side undeveloped and truncate the ability of the left and right sides to communicate. In other words, the brain may be left imbalanced in its development. So try some of these exercises to create more interaction between both sides of your child’s brain.

Joan Robinson
Started Dahn yoga at Bethesda center in December 2005
Female (Separated/soon divorced)

Thanks.

Good Morning!

Thank you for your extraordinary leadership and teaching!

I have been taking classes for only two months, and in that very short time I am amazed (and very pleased!)  to discover that the classes have already:
(i) helped to improve my short-term memory recall and, (ii) helped me to overcome a life-long problem with IBS.  I started Dahn Yoga classwork to help to improve my flexibility and to get started with a regular exercise program – little did I know that the  program would help me in so many other ways (including losing weight).

Thank You Master Mihwa and, Thank you Dr. Ilchi Lee!

Bill

Suzanne

I came to the Dahn yoga center to find a healthy way to deal with stress.  Through my experience I found much more than I ever could have hoped for.  I love the physical benefits that I have gotten with toning and strengthening as well as improving my flexibility.  I have more energy and have learned how to tap into the energy source deep inside of me to give me the power to handle everything in my life.  The mind and spirit strengthening has given me an outlet to explore my soul and take a holistic approach to wellness.  There is no aspect of life that goes untouched through the practice of Dahn Yoga by Ilchi Lee.  If you give it 100% it will not disappoint you and will exceed your expectations.  The community I have found in my experience has brought a new level of joy into my life as well.  I know this is a path that I will be on for life and am thankful every day to have discovered it.

Joanna

When I first came to the Leesburg Dahn Yoga Center I was experiencing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a high glucose level and had become obese.  All of this was from the side effects of being treated with two rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and a mastectomy with reconstructive surgery.  I am happy to say that I am a five year breast cancer survivor.

I came to the Leesburg Dahn Yoga Center searching for a new path that would aid my body in healing.  I had tried Hatha yoga two years ago but my body was not ready at that time.  It was extremely difficult to not be able to do the things that I used to enjoy.  The only course of action I had was to rest my body and let it heal.  I began to seek alternative healing methods that utilized energy in healing the body.  I also began to eat and drink organic foods and beverages.  My doctor told me that I needed to change my lifestyle in order to become healthy and not suffer from heart disease.  I decided at that time that I did not survive cancer so that I would die from heart disease!

I have always sought a spiritual path and have read many books concerning spirituality, chakras, and different disciplines that utilize energy work for healing purposes.  Previously I had studied karate for five years and had worked my way up to a brown belt.  I loved the discipline and forms and longed to find a practice that would be similar but without physical contact.

Inside, I knew it was time to seek a practice that would help me physically and spiritually.  Yoga seemed like a viable alternative.  One day while I was window shopping, I came across a Dahn Yoga flier.  Perfect, I thought!  I immediately called and set up an appointment to have an energy check up.  To my amazement the Master found the areas of my body that I was experiencing difficulty with.  The acupuncturist, chiropractor and medical doctors did not find the areas that were bothering me, but this Master did.  I was sold.  It was recommended that I attend class three times a week and I was given homework which included Dahn-jon tapping and intestine exercises, Ilchi Lee.

I have been practicing Dahn yoga for ten months now and have attended many workshops and classes.  The healing my body has experienced during this time has been remarkable.  My glucose level is back to normal and my blood pressure has come done significantly.  In fact my doctor is talking about taking me off my medicine in the near future!  My cholesterol level has lowered but still needs to go down a little more.  Oh, and I no longer suffer from insomnia!  My flexibility has increased and I can almost stretch like I did before my surgery.

Dahn yoga has become a way of life for me and I can’t wait to attend healer school in October.  Until then I have a lot more training to continue to do so that I can loose weight and gain an increased energy level.  I am confident that I will return to a healthy and fit body through Dahn yoga.