A letter to CNN #8: FATHER OF TWO SUPPORTS DAHN YOGA

Dear Janelle Rodriguez, Richard Davis, Shirley Powell and Jonathan Klein

I am writing this letter in response to your article on CNN.com and the airing of the show by Campbell Brown about Dahn Yoga being a cult. I appreciate your will to report on controversial issues and respect CNN as a responsible news source.

I am a 46 year old lead analyst-programmer and work for a major financial corporation. I am a father of two girls, age 13 and 15.

I joined Dahn Yoga in February of 2009, because a friend had suggested it to me. I was what you can call a couch potato. Overweight, depressed and frustrated. With the help of the always friendly and helpful instructors, I overcame initial resistance to physical exercise.
Within the first 4 months after joining, I had lost 30 pounds of weight, was physically in the best shape of my life, simply by attending regular yoga classes and completing exercises at home every day. The weight loss though was really only a side effect for me, as I had overcome my depressions and frustrations and gained a new, much more positive outlook on life. I can directly attribute this change of life to the teachings and training of Dahn Yoga.
I have completed various workshops that are offered by the center. I have also completed two major training courses lasting 6 and 9 days at the Mago Retreat Center in Sedona. In those training courses as well as in the regular classes that I attend at their centers, I have gained invaluable life lessons, received many tools to help me cope with life in ways I had never thought are possible. I am physically fit, mentally stable and discovered my own spirituality. I have found inner peace and quiet that help me cope with my stressful life.
All the instructors and helpers I have met are not just friendly and always helpful and available, they are good and strong people that believe they can make a difference in a persons life. I have never been coerced or pressured into making any decisions about attending training or paying any kind of fees.

Warmest regards
Stefan Baumgart