Yoga is a very popular form of physical exercise and meditation. The perfect combination of physical and mental well-being.
There have been rumblings for quite some time about the Dahn Yoga chain, founded by a man called Ilchi Lee. The yoga chain bases it's programs on the physical techniques of yoga, along with Brain Education and other steps for total mind and body wellness.
The chain was featured on WeTV's The Secret Lives of Women : Cults, where one of it's former employees talked about the yoga chain being a cult, disguising itself as an organization based on physical and mental wellness.
And a new lawsuit has emerged, with claims that employees "are unknowingly subjected to an intensive program of psychological manipulation, indoctrination and various techniques of coercive thought reform designed to induce them to become Ilchi Lee's disciples and devote themselves to serving him and his 'vision.' "
In other words, the lawsuit claims that money is extorted from it's employees and absolute and unquestioning devotion is demanded for it's founder, Ilchi Lee.
Plaintiffs say that they were coerced into taking out student loans to give to the yoga chain and one plaintiff, Jade Harrelson claims she was sexually assaulted by Lee when working for the yoga chain in Korea.
In an interview she gave CNN, she said ""In my mind, there was no possible way I could have physically or verbally resisted him." "To say no to him was to say no to his soul. I became numb, and so what happened, happened not at my consent."
The lawsuit also claims that employees were forced to train so hard that it left them physically exhausted and mentally distressed. Plaintiff Liza Miller told CNN about being made to do "bow exercises" that entailed difficult knee bends with arms raised completely over the head. "...which took about 10 hours, and we didn't eat or drink during that time."
"People were screaming, people were throwing up, people were running away," Miller said. "People were rolling around, moaning, crying, wailing -- there was a lot of emotional distress. We were taught that because of this bow training, we were cleaning what was blocking us, to connect to our soul."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/05/yoga.lawsuit.lee/
Dahn Yoga denies all charges and refers to the plaintiffs as ""disgruntled former employees." who did not understand common business practice and "have misinterpreted natural business cycles, natural business goals, as some type of undue pressure."
Dahn Yoga has thousands of members who enjoy the benefits of it's techniques. Members have been vocally supportive on blogs and in chat rooms or responding to stories of the lawsuits. Dahn Yoga currently has about one thousand studios worldwide and more than 120 of them in the U.S.
For more about Dahn Yoga, click here : http://www.dahnyoga.com/
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Have you experienced the techniques of Dahn Yoga or joined the organization or one similar? Did you benefit from the experience?
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Add a Comment5 Comments
bowing is not the worse of dahn. on the list of negatives that they do, bowing is not on that list. However, their psychological manipulation is.
April 28, 2012 - 7:13pmThis Comment
I think it's sad that many people who have stopped working for Dahn Yoga think it's inevitable that everyone else will as well. I've seen those comments a lot and I think that's so wrong on so many levels.
January 22, 2010 - 10:35pmThis Comment
If only the bow training was the worst thing about Dahn Yoga! I never had any problem with the bow training. The real issue is how manipulative Ilchi Lee is to take advantage of wonderful ideals of healing the earth and spiritual growth to disguise the fact that he uses people to make him rich. I was one of those passionate, well-meaning masters who believed I was fostering health and enlightenment. While some members may never be exposed to the corrupt true inner workings of the Dahn organization, inevitably the masters who all post on these boards will some day come to realize that all their good intentions and endless efforts have merely fed one man's greed. And that's truly sad.
January 13, 2010 - 7:20pmThis Comment
I did the "bow training" with Liza Miller and five others. We did 3,000 bows, and no one besides the seven of us was in the room to check whether we did them all. We each counted on our own and went at our own pace. We took breaks and drank water and went to the bathroom when we needed too. Some people actually stopped and received healing (basically energy healing and massage) from instructors who were nearby, and then went back and finished bowing. But they didn't have to continue if they didn't want to. Supportive instructors and fellow Dahn Yoga members had soup and fruit ready for us when we finished, along with advice about how to take care of our bodies afterward. For me, it was a beautiful and invigorating experience. I'm sorry that Liza no longer feels the same, and that the general public only has her opinion of the exercise to understand it from, since she was on CNN.
Dahn Yoga has prepared a website to share their side of the story if anyone is interested: http://dahnyogavoice.com
January 9, 2010 - 6:00pmThis Comment
There is something really funny came out of reading this article. To quote: “One of the exercises, known as "bow training," involved deep knee bends to the floor to a prone position and back up again, with hands raised high over their heads. Miller, who has joined the lawsuit, says once she had to do 3,000 of the exercises -- "Which took about 10 hours, and we didn't eat or drink during that time."”
My first thought is...why wouldn't you just stop. How many people exercise for 10 hours? Did this man hold a gun to their heads and force them to complete the exercise regime?
I have joined several exercise programs over the years and none of them felt like a cult or were portrayed to be civil servants to an underlying “red tape” for the company. They all cost money to join and sometimes are pretty expensive but this seems pretty far fetched. I think 'disgruntled workers' would be the best headline here instead of Yoga Cult.
January 9, 2010 - 10:40amThis Comment