New Yoga Classes on Los Angeles Westside

Stephanie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:38:32 +0000

I am happy to announce I am starting new public yoga classes on LA’s westside at the Gateway Portal for Health and Welness. These are all levels classes with a spiritual focus – one is an hour-long class where we focus on our intentions for the upcoming week. The other is a hatha yoga class with meditation. FIRST CLASS IS FREE!

For more information, please see:

http://yogareiki.com/schedule/gateway

PS I will be starting some classes in downtown LA in September…stay tuned!

Dahn Yoga Controversy

Stephanie — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:29:40 +0000

I was searching the Internet in vain for any training offering a combination of yoga and QiGong or Tai Chi. In doing so, I stumbled across Dahn Yoga, which is billed as a form of Korean yoga. In checking out the Dahn Yoga website, I found a few centers close to me, but with costs at around $160+/month, I wasn’t buying. Something felt not quite right about the organization, so I search a little more…

Turns out Forbes has just published an article/expose about Dahn Yoga possibly being a mind-controlling cult. Some of the allegations aren’t pretty:

Shipley, now 25, is one of 27 former Dahn practitioners who filed suit in Arizona in May claiming the group subjected them to psychological manipulation and fraudulently induced them to spend thousands of dollars on Dahn yoga classes and retreats in Sedona, Ariz. and other places. The punishing techniques, they say, included forced isolation from friends and families, exercises like bowing 3,000 times all night long without breaks, disciplining members by sticking their heads in the toilet and making them lick other members’ feet, and having them hold certain poses, like the push-up position, for 20 to 30 minutes at a time. On top of those charges, the suit alleges that Ilchi Lee, the 57-year-old Korean founder of Dahn and its spiritual leader, sexually preyed on young female disciples.

Read the rest here.

(Big surprise – the guru being accused of sex with female disciples, will wonders never cease!)

The only comment (as of this writing) on the Forbes article tries to paint the woman featured as someone with a gripe against the company. I think a far fairer thing to look at are some of the past reviews of Dahn Yoga on places like Citysearch and Yelp. Here’s a postive review on Citysearch:

After a lifetime of bad habits, in 2001 I got severely ill. After not being able to work because of a series of viral infection problems, I looked for a yoga/fitness program that I could really commit to and that would be flexible in meeting my schedule. I found all that and more at the Dahn Center. I’ve been a member for over 5 years. 3 at the Torrance center and now 2 years in Glendale. The masters and other members are some of the most supportive and loving people I’ve known. I’ve now been basically health problem free since I joined. It’s not a traditional yoga, but more like pilates, kundalini and mediation combined together. Make sure to check out Friday’s vibration classes.

Seems like a real review to me and not just a PR person making that one up. But here’s a negative review on Yelp:

RUN!!!!!!!!! RUN AWAY FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had an awful experience. Sooji took me into a small room, performed the “free class” and then COMPLETELY pressured me into a pkg AND healing sessions….OH YEAH, ranging from $2,400 to $5k.

In desperation, I signed up for the healing sessions. ONLY after the fact, I went home to research the place, googling it. After reading all the negative responses about it, I asked for my $$ back. It was SUCH A PROCESS!!!!

Not only did Sooji continue to pressure me into staying, she stated she’s concerned, she’s my “friend” and wants to help me…. THAT set me off. I had to call the headquarters…

DO NOT USE THIS PLACE!!! RUN!!!

Probably like many “cults,” if you go and enjoy the classes without getting sucked into the deeper workings of the place, you may actually get some decent benefits. It’s when you get yourself involved to the point where you’re mortgaging your house to pay for trainings that things start to get bad. It may also be that some local centers truly do have genuine, caring instructors who mean well, even if the organization itself is run as a cynical mind control cult.

Moral of the story – curb your enthusiasm! Don’t put all your eggs into one cult basket.

Rise in Internet Yoga Injuries?

Stephanie — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 05:43:14 +0000

Here’s an interesting news clip on an apparent rise in yoga injuries due to amateurs watching other amateurs teach yoga on the Internet. (Or, alternatively, amateurs trying to attempt the advanced yoga poses they see online.)

The Global Mala Project

Stephanie — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:13:17 +0000

The Global Mala Project is a worldwide collective to support UN International Peace Day. It will be held September 21 and 22, 2007, at cities around the world. The hub is here in Los Angeles, where Shiva Rea is organizing a huge event at the Los Angeles Convention Center that will include a ritual of 108 sun salutations, 108 rounds of mantra, 108 rounds of a kriya, and 108 minutes of meditation, movement, and kirtan.

Proceeds from the Global Mala Project will help support organizations that are working to transform the planet.

Individuals can organize their own “Global Mala” in their own cities and communities. More information is available at:

http://www.globalmala.org

namasteph yoga blog » Yoga News

New Yoga Classes on Los Angeles Westside

Dahn Yoga Controversy

Rise in Internet Yoga Injuries?

The Global Mala Project