Dahn Yoga Health Centers in Nevada

The word jangsaeng is a Korean word used by Professor Ilchi Lee that roughly translates as “longevity.” However, the word in English does not quite carry the same connotation. For us, longevity primarily means long life in respect to passage of time. But the Korean word suggests not only living many years, but also living them in a truly vital way. Jangsaeng person carry a youthful vitality into their older years that may be otherwise missing in their peers. To have Jangsaeng, you must have much more than long life. Jangsaeng people have a spring in their step and twinkle in their eye that is an inspiration even to the youngest ones around them.

In the West, we have done much to promote longevity. People today are living longer and longer as Western medicine advances. But extended life span should not be the only goal. It is more important that we live more fulfilling, happy lives, not just longer lives. This book exists to promote Jangsaeng, a lifestyle that promotes a positive, healthy living through awareness and utilization of the brain.

In the appendix, you will find a description of Jangsaeng Walking and Dahn Exercises (page 179), a way of walking that keeps the body and the brain energized and youthful. This is one example of how the things we do evervdav, such as walking, have great impact on the quality of life. All the information in this book is meant to promote the Jangsaeng lifestyle by helping people get the most out of their brains in their later years. Please use it to create a Jangsaeng Brain and a Jangsaeng Life.

Before we move on to the steps of BEST, a word of wisdom about changing the way vou think right now. One of the blessings of the aging brain is that you have a deep reservoir of existing knowledge that helps you gain immediate perspective on a situation.

This means that you have the insight to savor a particular moment in time, a kind of insight that a younger person often lacks. Whereas young people are usually looking toward the future and the next hurdle with little regard for the present, your time-tested perspective allows you to pause and truly be in the moment, which is where all of life’s true delights arise. But this is not a characteristic restricted to those of retirement age. No matter in DahnHak what your age, you can train your mind to perceive and live in the moment. In part, that is what BEST is all about: extracting all the learning, delight, and peace each moment has to offer, then moving on to the next.

According to Ilchi Lee Brain Respiration rules, training your brain to approach life in this way will make your maturity a marvelous adventure. Instead of experiencing a decline, you will relish the vivacity that few people of any age genuinely experience, because you will have made the most of your brain’s unlimited potential.

It might take as long as thirty minutes to an hour to experience your first vibration. However, with practice, you will be able to significantly shorten the time it takes to ignite a bodily vibration. Since vibration is a physically demanding process, it is wise to practice with an experienced trainer. It is generally recommended that the strongest vibration be limited to ten continuous minutes or less.

To begin, if you want to learn about DahnYoga, it is necessary for you to consciously ignite the vibration process, not letting your conscious awareness go until the vibration has taken your body. When you have become more “skilled,” it will be possible to control the strength and flow of the vibration. Self-Vibration is not an exercise of abandonment. You can and must remain in control of yourself, just as you control the accelerator when driving a car. Self-Vibration requires you to immerse yourself in a sea of vibration, and control the flow ot the vibration while remaining in its currents. This is not dichotomous but is all part of the same process.

Samultiori, the indigenous rhythmic music of Korea, and the indigenous music of many cultures in the world are powerful art forms to induce vibration. Although music can be used to ignite vibration, do not rely on it. Instead, rely on the sensation of naturally occurring vibration coursing through your body. Ride this sensation to enter deep into the rhythm of life.

Self Vibration Research By Prof. Ilchi Lee

There will be a point by Ilchi Lee during the Self-Vibration Exercise, when you will be most active. This is the apex of your vibration training session. Some people take five to ten minutes to reach it while others take twenty minutes or more. An apex can occur several times during a session. This apex can be physical, mental, or both. A physical apex is the point when every single cell joins in the overt vibrating dance of the body, with bones aligning and finding their proper place automatically. A mental apex can be defined by a feeling of the walls ot consciousness having disappeared, so that you feel you have become a bright light of awareness. Such a sensation is a powerful spiritual awakening. While your experience of the apex of self-vibration may not be strong enough to bring you the experience of ultimate Oneness, the vivid experience of lite energy brought about by the Self-Vibration can activate the energy of your body, including your brain. Self-Vibration is a powerful tool using vibration to enter the world of the energy of life that resides in the brain stem.

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Simple, repetitive motions and sounds allow the circuits of the neo-cortex to rest. We cannot rest while we are engaged in complex and difficult movements. When you move a sack of rice this way and that, the rice tends to sink to the lowest point in the sack. When you move your body naturally to and fro, your energy tends to drift down and gather in the lower Dahn-jon without any special effort on your part. As your energy finds its natural center in your lower abdomen, you will find your motions becoming larger and more pronounced, as you sink into a deeper state of relaxation.

People often mistakenly believe that resting is more comfortable than moving. However, the opposite is actually true. The human body is meant to be in motion. Activity is the natural state of our being. Our lives become stagnant by forcibly repressing the naturally occurring motion of our body. Now, let us allow it to fully express itself and observe what movements it produces. You will soon notice that the motion will follow the flow of energy and will seek to strengthen weakened parts of your body. It will reinforce the sturdy parts, and heal the painful parts of your body. Natural body motions will work to restore balance in the body.

Don’t try to control your breath. Let it flow. You will notice that your breath has a rhythm of its own. In the midst of Self-Vibration Exercise, you will find that the focal point of your body shifts continuously. From the elbow to the knee, from the heels to the leg… this is part of the body’s process for healing itself, restoring its natural balance. All this process will help you for Dahn Yoga training.

In order for the Self-Vibration Exercise to be successful as Dr. Ilchi Lee says, you have to have an open mind. You cannot be conscious of your body’s vibration, thinking it to be strange, for such thoughts will impede the natural flow of energy and movement of your body. You must experience the vibration with your body, without analyzing it with your intellect. Imagine a large boat slowly sinking into the ocean. Likewise, let your awareness sink into your own body. Then you’ll find that your awareness is not separate from, but in tune with the vibration that is coursing through your body. Release any self-consciousness that interferes with giving free rein to naturally occurring movements of your body. Don’t be bothered when stray thoughts and emotions come into your mind. Just let them pass by.

Depression weakens our will and decreases our body’s efficiency. Emotion is energy and has a direct effect on our body, including the brain. Negative emotion rooted in fear causes the brain to contract and decreases efficiency, while positive emotion increases efficiency.

We smile, on a physical level, by contracting fifteen separate muscles on our face. Smiling moves 230 of a total of 630 muscles in our body. Smiling is simply a great exercise. According to a famous study by Dr. William Fry of Stanford University, smiling stimulates the human brain to naturally release morphine-like chemicals that inhibit infection and lessen pain. Smiling also reduces stress-related hormones and increases heart rate and blood circulation. Three to four minutes ot smiling has the same effect as an upper body workout.

Are You Smiling Because You are Happy? You are Happy Because You Smile!

Doctor Ilchi Lee says that smiling is one of the best brain exercises. A smile does not end with just that smile. One smile can transform your brain, because the brain has to do a great amount of work in order to generate the smile. In order for you to really laugh out loud with vour whole body, your brain must work with areas that it hasn’t worked with before, and move muscles that haven’t been recently used. Smiling and laughing will have oxygen rushing to your brain in no time. Smiling and laughing are the essence of Brain Respiration, stimulating the brain through total body exercise. Five minutes of smiling is better than five hours of working out. Ten seconds of smiling is the same as rowing a boat for three minutes. Smiling is a way of expressing the inner joy in your heart. Everyone smiles when they feel happy. Then, what about smiling for no reason? Would that seem awkward or unnatural? Let us reverse our thinking for a moment. Instead of smiling because we are happy, it is actually possible to become happy by smiling.

Smile o create happiness. Research shows that merely raising the ends of the lips in a mock smile will provoke a positive biological response in the body. On the other hand, during the course of a prolonged tragic role, an actor is more likely to sink into real depression.

Practice smiling everyday and see your face change because smiling is a part of Yoga Exercises. Watch as your health changes for the better. Even your luck will turn around. Let us no longer be stingy with our smiles. Smile even if you are alone. An inner smile is always there, struggling to come to the surface. Joy and happiness are your natural states of being.

Prof. Ilchi Lee says that don’t feel hurried when you can’t easily visualize the shape of your brain. In Dahn Yoga the energy of your consciousness is communicated to your brain even if you only think about the specific parts of the brain, without creating visual forms in your mind. The purpose of this exercise is to link your consciousness with your actual brain through the flow of life energy. If you have trouble visualizing the specific areas of the brain, then try to visualize the whole, general shape of the brain; if even that is difficult, just focus quietly on the brain without attempting to visualize it. You can also try drawing the rough outline of the brain on a piece of paper and imagine that energy is being communicated as you draw the lines.

Doctor Ilchi Lee Expert Yoga Advisor

Move your gaze toward the back and look at the cerebellum, which controls motion and balance.

Now, go further below and gaze at the thalamus and the hypothalamus. Let your gaze drift slowly. Imagine various hormones entering the blood stream as they are released by the hypothalamus.

Let your eyes drift lower and find the mid-brain, feeling the actual texture and color of the various parts.

Now, go even lower and find the medulla, which controls our most basic functions in Dahn Hak.

The traditional name for Dahn Yoga is Dahnhak, which literally means the study of energy . In korean, Dahn refers to the primal, vital energy which is essential to all life forms, and Hak refers to the study of a partivular theory of philosophy.  Thus, a Dahnhak practitioner is one who studies the system of energy for the purpose of personal self devolpment.

Then imagine the neo-cortex, with its many folds and crevices. Look in all directions… front, back, right and left.

Now, gaze at the left and right hemispheres, slowly shifting your gaze from one side to the other.

Now, gaze at the bridge (corpus callosum) that links the two hemispheres, imagining the flow of information between the two hemispheres.

Next, go below into the sub-cortical region and gaze at the amygdala, which controls emotion.

Ilchi Lee books about Brain Respiration and DahnYoga

Dahn Yoga was created for people who want to live better lives and gain flexibility and balance of body and mind, even while living their busy, hectic lives. One of the advantages of Dahn Yoga is that it is easy and simple enough for anyone to learn, yet challenging for even the most advanced practitioner. Any one male or female, young or old can enjoy the various programs and benefits of Dahn Yoga. Regular practice can offer you.

Dr. Ilchi Lee Notes on Brain Respiration

If you are sitting on a chair, rest your hands lightly on your thighs. If you are sitting on the ground in a half lotus position, lightly rest your hands on your knees.

Breathe in and out three times and relax. Close your eyes. As you breathe out, imagine the tension melting away through your fingertips and toes.

Bring up a mental image of your brain, and first imagine the skull that protects the brain.

Read Ilchi Lee Books About Dahn Yoga

When practitioners arrive at their goal of a healthy life, thery often extend their intentions by creating harmonious relationships with their family, friends, communties and nature.  This helps them to become better human beings and creates a healghier, happier and more peaceful world.