Dahn Yoga Hawaii Member’s blog

Benefits: Helps intestinal function and releases tension from the abdomen. Allows more circulation to the lower abdomen.
1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees bent slightly.

 Position your hands in the shape of a triangle with your thumbs on your belly button.
2. Push your abdomen out, making your belly round.
3. Pull in your abdomen deeply, keeping your shoulders relaxed. Breathe naturally.

   Continue to push out and  pull in. Repeat 50 times.

from the book “Power brain Kids” by Ilchi Lee

Here are some other widespread myths related to the brain and age:

Myth: Seri ous brai n decline is inevi table.

Yes, changes in brain structure and chemistry do occur with age. But they do not have to lead to a steep decline in mental ability. Writing in Newsweek, Gene Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., founding director of the Center on Aging, Health, and Humanities at George Washington University Medical Center, says that in his work designing games to improve the mental function of aging men and women, he has found that the brain’s left and right hemispheres (the left is responsible for linear, logical thinking; the right, for creativity and intuition) actually become better integrated as we age, leading to greater creative potential.

Cohen writes that it is becoming clear that with the proper lifestyle and challenges, the brain can in many respects become stronger with age.

Myth: I am getting dumber beca use my brai n ce lls are dying.
It is true that brain cells die as we age. Brain cells die and new cells are born throughout our lives. But for many years people have assumed that, barring excessive drinking during college, brain cells cash in their chips at a higher rate as we get into the retirement years. But as it turns out, that is not true either. It appears that we lose brain cells at a consistent rate throughout life, owing to causes that range from stress and nutritional deficiencies to environmental toxins. Also, some neuroscientists now believe that brain cell death may be a part of the brain’s learning process. The loss of some  cells paves the way for new connections to develop as we learn, part of the sculpting of the brain that occurs when the brain remains active and constantly learning.
Myth: The adult brai n cannot form new connections.

For many years, brain scientists were certain that the brain could not make new nerve cells to replace lost ones. But in the mid-1990s, researchers began to see evidence that indeed the brain can produce new nerve cells in some areas of the brain related to memory–a process called neurogenesis. This phenomenon is particularly responsive to regular physical exercise, meaning that working out is not just good for your heart, bones, and muscles, but good for your mind as well. Studies based on the work of Columbia University neurologist Scott Small and Salk Institute neurobiologist Fred Gage suggest that regular exercise delivers more oxygen-rich blood to the brain, as well as a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF . These factors and others appear to improve memory, learning, and other brain functions.

from the book “in Full Bloom” by Ilchi Lee

Sedona Mago Retreat celebrates its 10th anniversary with 300 guests

Sedona, AZ – June 5, 2008 - Sedona Mago Retreat Center held its all-day 10th Anniversary Festival, highlighted by Ilchi Lee’s “Brain Education for Successful Aging” lecture, May 25, 2008.

More than 300 people from Sedona and the Verde Valley joined this open-house celebration on the 160-acre site surrounded by Coconino National Forest.

What would Sedona look like if a city had not grown up next to its breathtakingly beautiful scenery?

The answer to many of the first-time guests at the Festival is Mago Retreat. Mago is a variation of the name that several Asian cultures give to Mother Earth.

With its unique beauty and vortex-energy Mago Retreat has created an ideal environment for the renewal, training, and healing, attracting people from around the world, in its first decade. Its natural setting features mountains, rolling hills, red rocks, gardens, a lake, and abundant plantings. In harmony with nature and based on green criteria, its facilities include meeting rooms, guest rooms, dining hall, meditation areas, pool-spa, horse stables, and water management system.

Many guests went on the guided walking tour of the healing garden, with its pathway between the rainwater-filled lake and colorful flowers and fragrant herbs. The guests lunched at the dining hall, enjoying an international vegetarian buffet.

 At the packed Mago Hall, the Festival’s entertainment consisted of performances with roots in Korea’s culture. The performances included a high-energy dance, two demonstrations by DahnMuDo (self-empowerment martial art) masters, and the traditional fan dance.

Opening the official 10th Anniversary ceremony, Tara Kim, Mago Retreat’s General Manager, explained, “Mago Retreat essentially exists to interact with and serve the local Sedona-Verde Valley community, as well as the global community of cultures.” She invited organizations and groups to look to Mago Retreat for a welcoming place for holding their programs, meetings and events.

The audience watched a video prepared specifically for the Mago Retreat 10th Anniversary, showing how the center has dramatically evolved since 1998.

Cottonwood Mayor Diane Joens gave a congratulatory speech, stating her admiration for Mago Retreat’s 10 years of accomplishments in creating an international retreat center neighboring her city. Messages sent to Mago Retreat by distinguished people – including the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea S.J. Kim and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano – were acknowledged.

As the founder of Mago Retreat, Ilchi Lee (www.ilchi.com) presented the main lecture of the day. He is founder and president of the International Brain Education Association and Korea Institute of Brain Science (a NGO granted consultative status with the United Nations). Of his 30 books, the latest is In Full Bloom: A Brain Education Guide for Successful Aging, coauthored with Dr. Jessie Jones.

In his lecture on “Brain Education for Successful Aging,“ Lee explained how the brain can remain fit long after 50 in order to produce physical health, mental functioning, and inner peace. He described how to shift one’s brain state from negative to positive. To be able to do this, he demonstrated several simple yet profound exercises – muscle resistance, longevity walking, and brain wave vibration.

 As Lee put it, a good brain operating system involves believing in God or the Creator, loving the Earth, and respecting one’s brain and soul. Realizing and applying these concepts through the brain wave vibration can generate hope and a can-do spirit to achieve one’s dreams. Beyond any personal success, one of life’s most valuable achievements is creating hope for others.

Lee contended that the brain is the source of our individual problems (depression and obsessiveness) and collective problems (terrorism and global warming). Most people want more and more, and deny that they cannot take it with them when they die. The source of solutions can be found in the brainstem, which is our path of return to a divine state or God. This is called Chunwa in Korean.

Lee affirmed that the hope for humanity in these troubled times is the better use of our brains. The start of this path is realizing that the gateway at the top of our head (brain) is the basis of our hope for growing our soul, and thus eternal life. This is the ultimate requirement of aging successfully.

For more about the Sedona Mago Retreat Center, visit www.sedonamagoretreat.org.

http://www.sedona.biz/sedona-mago-retreat-festival0208.htm

A performance by Master Namji Kim, who is also here in Hawaii to conduct DMD School over the next week.    

A few of us have talked about Oprah’s new online class with author/spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle, in which they discuss Eckhart Tolle’s book, “A New Earth.”  It’s another way to talk about what we study as Dahn Healers.  Enjoy!

In addition to the videos below, click on “Videos!” on the left side of the page (under “calendars”) for videos with some familiar faces.  Enjoy!

The story of Ilchi Lee

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The Secret of Brain Wave Vibration 

At least for me, one of the greatest things that Dahn yoga has done is increase my mental and physical focus.  The following article from Yoga Journal helps explain my experience.

Yoga Journal (yogajournal.com)

Using Your Head

Call it what you want-feeling the flow, being in the zone, athletic nirvana-but the often elusive feeling of effortlessness is the goal of every athlete, regardless of the sport. “You do your best when you just let the performance flow out of you,” says Dr. Alan Goldberg, a sports psychologist, director of Competitive Advantage in Amherst, Massachusetts, and consultant to many University of Connecticut teams.

In this mental state, you don’t think or analyze or strategize or ponder; you just trust that you’ve done everything you needed to do to prepare, and you let your body take over. Yoga can help get you into that optimal mental zone and prepare you for competition.

Thom Birch, a former All-American 10,000-meter runner at the University of Houston, turned professional after graduation. At age 30 and the height of his career, he tore his Achilles tendon so severely his surgeon recommended retirement.

Not yet willing to give up, Birch turned to yoga to keep competing. “It was the glue of my training,” he remembers.

Prior to races, Birch would run six or seven miles, followed by an hour of Ashtanga Yoga practice. Then he’d do some wind sprints and finish with meditation, during which he visualized an optimal performance. “Yoga was my biggest mental tool to get me focused and into the zone,” he says. “You hear athletes say, ‘I just didn’t have a good day today.’ That’s usually because they’re distracted, which makes them unable to perform.”

Birch’s career peaked at age 36, when he won the 1986 National Cross Country Championship. “At the end, there were eight of us in a pack with half a mile to go. I out-kicked people 10 years younger than me,” he remembers. “What won the race was my ability to stay focused.” Today, Birch is a yoga teacher and co-owner of The Hard & the Soft Astanga Yoga Institute in New York City and East Hampton, New York, and works with young athletes, teaching them Ashtanga Yoga and breathing techniques. “The results are tremendous,” he says. “Not only are injuries fewer, but the nervousness and lack of focus before a race are greatly reduced too.”

In Focus

The first step toward improving your mental game is staying focused and avoiding negative self-talk. There’s a litany of things you shouldn’t focus on while competing, beginning with the uncontrollable, such as the weather, the draw, poor officiating, or bad sportsmanship. You waste time and energy by giving any thought to them. Ditto for thinking twice about your opponent: “Ninety-nine out of 100 people who focus on their opponents self-destruct,” says Goldberg. Reliving bad calls or botched passes is also unhelpful, as is thinking about winning in general.

“Focus specifically on what you have to do to win, not just on winning,” says Goldberg. Swimmers may need to break down a 400-meter race stroke by stroke; golfers may need to approach 18 holes as a series of swings; lacrosse players may need to think only of zeroing in on clean passes during a game.

Yoga is the perfect preparation for developing this focus; while doing yoga, you may focus on anything from your to-do list to your growling stomach, but until you focus on the breath and the details of the poses, establishing the link between the body and mind, your practice will not improve.

Consciously inhaling and exhaling will not only let you root each asana deeper, but “if you can control the breath, you can control the mind,” says Dina Dillon, an instructor at New York City’s Jivamukti Yoga Center.

Even if you’re able to keep your mind focused, be careful to fill it with positive, self-affirming thoughts. Any definitive statement that contains the words “I” followed by “must,” “have to,” or “never” should immediately be eliminated. Again, regular yoga practice can encourage self-acceptance and confidence.

Just as you might prepare yourself for your asana practice by focusing on the breath, you can breathe your way into a competition. Other pregame rituals, such as repeating a mantra in your head or doing a three-minute Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog), will help establish your concentration. Dillon recommends yoga to relieve precompetition tension and improve mental focus. “People used to think you had a good head for sports or you didn’t, but that’s not the case,” says Goldberg.

Learning how to concentrate correctly is well worth it, as my glory days journal entry can attest: I could go on forever about the race, but suffice it to say, this is why I row, why I take stroke after stroke after monotonous stroke.

Dimity McDowell is a Brooklyn, New York-based freelance writer.

http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/199?page=1