Dear Will:

I’m currently a student and teaching assistant on full scholarship at the University of Southern California completing my doctoral degree in music composition. I’m also a working musician and record producer in Los Angeles, so my schedule is incredibly active these days. I’ve been a longtime reader of Rolling Stone and value the no nonsense investigative approach always championed by your writers and editors, but I did not see it in your article on Dahn Yoga.

I have been a member of Dahn Yoga for a year now, and I’m writing to let you know that my experience there has been positive and supportive in every way. After two years working as a full-time student, teacher, and record producer my health was beginning to suffer. I was fortunate enough to discover Dahn Yoga last February and began attending early morning classes immediately. The positive effects of the yoga training I received quickly turned my health condition around–I lost weight, improved my energy, and generally felt better.

Having also trained in the martial arts for years, I can tell you that Dahn yoga is beautiful blend of Eastern and Western thought and technologies. The people I have met who run the Pasadena center have been nothing short of loving, caring, respectful and well-mannered at all times. As for the organization being a cult, nothing could be farther from the truth! There are no pictures of Illchi Lee or any other figurehead in the center, no altars, no tithing–just highly effective yoga training. If this were a cult or anything close to it, I would most certainly have nothing to do with it. I felt compelled to express my support for Dahn Yoga because of the clean, gentle and loving way they do business. I had hoped that you would maintain your excellent track record for great reporting by seeing how people like me enjoy the practice and by doing a thorough investigation of the facts concerning the unfortunate legal matter that has brought Dahn Yoga to your attention.  Instead, it seems that you simply focused on the sensational accusations contained in the lawsuit and added even more sensational charges. You would be doing a great service to all of us who have benefited from Dahn Yoga as well as the reputation of your magazine if you had provided a balanced representation of the organization.

Thank you so much,
Ivor Francis