Dahn We Now Our Creepy Yoga?

October 19, 2005 7:45 PM

A new yoga center has opened up in my neighborhood called Dahn Yoga. I went in yesterday to check out the schedule and see what they had to offer. I left with a little bit of a Scientology, kind of creepy new-agey feeling. I've done yoga for years, love me some good Buddhism, etc, but if someone starts to talk to me about altering my brain and altering my chakras in more than a metaphorical way, I'm not thinking it's for me. Anyone had any experience with Dahn Yoga or "brain respiration"? Here are the links I found: * Brain Respiration * Dahn Yoga I'm hoping it's not creepy, because it's a nice space, and the location and schedule are convenient.
posted by abbyladybug to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

do you have to adhere to these philosophies in order to do yoga?

if so - find another centre.

if not, then just ignore these commercial offerings and concentrate on breathing and posture
posted by seawallrunner at 8:07 PM on October 19, 2005

On the spectrum of "Agressive, wants to "help" you, takes a lot of your money" (a 10- Scientology is here) to "Just there to help, authentic tradition of healing" (a 1- trad. medicine, for instance, or non-fundie, non-evangelical Christianity) I'd say Dahn Yoga is about a 5. They don't want to take all your cash or brainwash you, they've got some good ideas and some funny ideas, they are a little aggressive with their marketing, but they're not really a scam. And yeah, you can just go for the yoga. You're suspicious, so they wouldn't get very far with any kind of "recruitment" anyway.
posted by bobot at 8:25 PM on October 19, 2005

Response by poster: I would just like to practice with somewhat like-minded people. Well, not like-minded, just not preachy.
posted by abbyladybug at 8:33 PM on October 19, 2005

Prior AskMe about Brain Respiration.

I'm still disappointed it has nothing to do with autotrephination; that's why I remembered it.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:19 PM on October 19, 2005

Dahn Yoga does not appear to be yoga in the commonly understood sense of the work. It claims to be based on Korean arts and the active component of the classes is Tai Chi. I don't know how cultish they are, but if you're expecting traditional yoga poses and philosophies, you might be disappointed.
posted by rhiannon at 12:38 AM on October 20, 2005

Man, it's crazy how fast they're growing. Seven or eight of those places have opened up in Houston in a year. I think there's something weird about them, too.
posted by pomegranate at 4:03 AM on October 20, 2005

There's a Dahn Yoga across the street from where I work. I went to check it out last year because I thought it would be nice to pop in there for lunchtime classes or right before or after work. But it's not at all a traditional yoga studio. The man who showed me around said that he would "tell me what I needed" as far as a yoga "program." It was all very weird and creepy, and I couldn't wait to get out of there.
posted by smich at 7:19 AM on October 20, 2005

I had a roommate a few years back who got sucked into the Dahn vortex for a little while. It does appear to be moderately cultish on the standard Korean "dear leader" model. It's a community, as much as anything else, but it's a hierarchical community, where beliefs move from the top down and money moves from the bottom up.

All that said, I'd agree with comments from others that it's not one of the more malignant manifestations of this structure.
posted by alms at 8:06 AM on October 20, 2005

Response by poster: I think I might give it a miss. I'm not interested in using energy to fend off lessons they think I need. The point is relaxation, strength-building, increasing flexibility, etc. I'd rather drive a little further and just do "normal" yoga! Thanks, everyone. These are very helpful comments.
posted by abbyladybug at 4:16 PM on October 20, 2005

Response by poster: Check out this news report
posted by abbyladybug at 1:28 PM on February 3, 2006