Dahn hak Yog Learn Walk Through Exercise
Healthy body! Happy heart! Power Brain! Yup!” The jump that accompanies it fills me with joy.
My Dahnhak story began in April 2002, when I first came to the Westmont Center in Westmont, Illinois. Previously, I had tried Hatha yoga and other types of exercise, but without positive results. I was unable to follow along due to Multiple Sclerosis (MS), for which I had been diagnosed in July of 1991. I suffered minimal disability from the disease until October 2001, when my MS went from relapsing remitting (attacks with 99% recovery) to secondary progressive, where there is little recovery and the disabilities keeps adding up. It was all very frightening. I needed to lose weight (I weighed 230 pounds) and increase my flexibility. I also needed a stronger upper body so I would be able to take care of myself from a wheelchair.
Dahn Hak Yoga
My MS has been a physical roller coaster. My left leg became mysteriously paralyzed. I had numb spots all over my body, and so much unexplained dizziness and unsteadiness that I thought I was going crazy. (One doctor actually hinted that insanity was a possible cause for the dizziness.) These problems always seemed to improve within a few weeks. During this time period, I became even more unfocused and easily upset. At one point, I got so dizzy and unbalanced that I could barely walk and became physically ill. An MRI scan showed many active lesions. In layman’s terms, that means that I had inflammation in my brain where my nerves were damaged by my own body’s immune system. I was given intravenous steroids and was told to go home and learn to live with the disease. According to the doctor, MS is incurable and usually progressive. I knew that I had to do my best and just go on with my life. I kept on trying my best but the two months of recovery time were trying. I was glad that my children were basically grown, but I was saddened to have problems that interfered with my active lifestyle. I never stopped moving entirely, but I slowed down with each MS attack.
I had problems with walking soon after my diagnosis. My balance and equilibrium slowly became worse. One frustrating symptom was the numbness I experienced in the bottom of my feet. The numbness caused many different problems and was surprisingly painful—at times it was so painful that I didn’t want to walk. I also had the odd sensation that rocks were embedded in the soles of my feet. When the MS was active, I felt that I had hot coals embedded in my feet. I frequently checked my feet to make sure that I didn’t have stones in them. At times, it was excruciatingly painful just to touch my feet to the ground. Unfortunately, my job as a pharmacy technician entailed many painful hours on my feet.
After a few years of walking funny (like I was drunk), I gave in and bought a cane, which I only used when my balance was bad (I bought a funky cane so at least I would feel elegant). By 2002, I was using the cane about 50% of the time. Tremors also made it hard for me to make the detailed handicrafts I enjoyed. It was hard to give them up.
When I began Dahnhak, I had problems with my balance and dizziness during classes. During special trainings such as Shim-sung (which was held during a hot summer, and heat always exacerbated my MS), everyone was so kind to me. If I had trouble with my balance, someone would make sure that I was safe. It was frustrating to have to learn to do things differently. I had to relearn walking. Since my balance was bad, I had to walk with a broad base, basically with my feet apart. I brought my cane with me when I started Dahn Healer School (DHS) in February 2003. I almost gave up because it was so hard for me to keep up with the others in my
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