Dahn Yoga Controversy
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.
(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.
Hi. I stumbled into your blog some time ago and noticed this post. You might check out:
http://www.sacredenergyarts.com/
This studio is just off Main St. on the Santa Monica/Venice border. The gentleman running this place, Matthew Cohen, also teaches at Exhale just down the street. I can’t vouch for his classes, but he does teach yoga, chi gong and various flavors of martial arts! Wouldn’t hurt to give him a call. I do different classes at the studio and had checked out his website and various flyers he had posted. Right next to the Novel Cafe.
Take care,
-Dee
PS scary stuff about the Dahn group. Of course the HHH people get a bad rap sometimes too, and I love Kundalini yoga and all my Sikh friends!
Thanks for the link, Dee, that is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Too bad his site doesn’t come up in the search engines easily. I actually know exactly where it is – I remember running into it a year or two ago but wasn’t looking for the Tai Chi / QiGong – just noticed it more as a place to do yoga – and so had completely forgotten about it. I will definitely check it out!