I would not have been at May YEHA camp if Puran Nim had not called me last Tuesday night (one week ago exactly) and told me that he found me a good flight deal. (He even offered to buy me my ticket, and I could pay him back.) Not letting any thoughts get in my way, I booked my flight with him on the phone. I was excited at the time, but as the week progressed, and I reminded myself that this would be my fourth weekend in a row out of Chicago, I wasn't feeling 100%. Even when I got there I still questioned my decision a little. (I was hoping to see more familiar faces from last camp!) As training began all of those thoughts disappeared. The theme song for camp, Life Uncommon by Jewel, was a perfect choice for me as was the theme of loving yourself. (This is something I struggle with constantly.) Saturday's morning training consisted of stations. My group, the Soul Warriors, began at the hop shim ("one mind") station. Master Danielle began by asking why we have not yet achieved world peace. The answer is... We do not all have the same mindset or intentions. Therefore, there are too many goals that are trying to be reached. At the station each person received a sword to be held in one hand. On the count of three each person steps to the left, dropping their sword and catching the one on the left with the same hand. It sounds easy, but it took our group 20 mins to accomplish our vision of 5 in a row. Everyone has different ideas, and not every one's mind focuses on the task at hand. After a few short minutes I trusted the people to my left and right and did not worry about swords dropping. We got in a rhythm. I don't remember the comments that I made, but afterwords Danielle told me that I was a good leader. Positive feedback always makes me feel good. Next, I did some DahnMuDo with a mountainous backdrop, followed by two different meditations. In the first one, Master Aaron led us out of our bodies and into the body of an eagle and a mountain lion. When I approached a "grizzly bear with a message," as the mountain lion, the bear told me to live in peace. It may sound crazy to some of you who don't meditate, but it came without any thoughts.
In the afternoon we did a training with Master Blue Ocean in which we danced for about three hours straight. Then, we focused on loving ourselves. I was surprised at how focused I was dancing for that long: my mind did not wander; I just danced. The night training was more difficult for me a we were supposed to connect with Mother Earth and all that she does for us. I don't disagree at all but did not feel as connected as I wish I would have. Regardless... I kept choosing to push myself. During the morning DahnMuDo training the trainer said, "Every moment is a new choice. Choose." I couldn't agree more. Each of us has the power to make our own decisions. Another quote I heard from camp goes something like this, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Live in the present."
Sunday's first training consisted of DahnMuDo from the creator himself. He was so funny. He encouraged us to be sleek and smooth, not worrying about perfection (not my usual approach). We stretched a lot, which felt good. When we had to hold a position with our neck and feet just slightly above the ground, I wanted to drop my neck so bad, but he reminded us all that The pain and difficulty is usually forgotten later. I can relate to that: I tend to remember the things I do not do/accomplish.
The afternoon consisted of informational speeches and videos about Dahn Yoga, YEHA, opportunities, upcoming events, etc. At first I thought it would be boring, but I left that afternoon feeling so inspired. I will probably be speaking to a lot of you personally, but did you know:
Every day, 50,000 die due to poverty–related causes. That amounts to 18 million people per year.
Every day, more than 3,000 children die of hunger and easily preventable diseases.
Every day, some 1.2 billion people do not have access to safe water sources.
Every day, more than 1.3 billion people live on less than $1.
Every day, our planet is warming at a rate faster than at any time in the last 10,000 years.
Every human being on this Earth is affected by these problems.
Every day, more than 3,000 children die of hunger and easily preventable diseases.
Every day, some 1.2 billion people do not have access to safe water sources.
Every day, more than 1.3 billion people live on less than $1.
Every day, our planet is warming at a rate faster than at any time in the last 10,000 years.
Every human being on this Earth is affected by these problems.
For these reasons, Dahn Yoga began the "One Dollar Enlightenment Project," which asks people to donate $1/month. The $1 you donate will be used to support Education, Health and Environmental projects around the world congruent with the Millennium Development Goals mandated by the United Nations. One of the first targeted projects will be supporting the United Nations' effort to combat the global AIDS pandemic, especially the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Primary prevention, testing, counseling, and better integration of care, treatment and support are key to combating MTCT. Ilchi Lee, the founder of Dahn Yoga, set a vision of 100,000,000 Earth Citizens. The Chicago region has a goal of 1,000 by Labor Day. Please help me with this cause, and I will add you to our count. (http://www.ibrea.org/Earth_Citizen/One_Dollar_Project/)
For some other awesome videos (You know you like to procrastinate.) check out what's happening 40 years to the day of Woodstock (http://www.brainartfestival.com/). I tentatively bought a ticket already.
My current vision includes being more dedicated to my yoga practice, finishing school, becoming a Master and/or Brain Management Consultant and working towards creating an entire health center with both preventative and curative health care options: acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, nutrition, psychology, general MD/DO, etc.
Our last night included dancing, skits, a closed eye walk and a bonfire. The skits were awesome this camp. We had some really stiff competition, but Chicago ended up taking first place. We were all going CrAzY!! Then, we were all supposed to trust the person ahead of us as we were lead to a huge bonfire. There we had a beautiful meditation training under the stars and looked into the eyes of our fellow YEHA members to see that each of us is the same person. We all feel the same emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, etc., regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, age and so on. There were hugs all around, and it was a great last night.
I skipped breakfast and slept in a little on Monday. Then we gathered at the Ilchi Lee Museum for a hike up one of the mountains. There we did another amazing meditation surrounded by mountains. We were all supposed to come up with a standard for ourselves to shout to the mountains. A lot of people yelled love. While I think love is important, that's not the message I was receiving. After awhile, I got it... UNCOMMON. Just like the theme song, I want to/need to lead a life uncommon. I've been struggling with this for a little while now: knowing the person that I once was and also recognizing the changes. Sometimes I feel like I am being pulled in two different directions. So even though most people don't say I Love You often, I am going to say it more often. Everyone needs to be loved and to hear that they are loved. When other people are going out at night, I might be home working towards my vision. My decisions are my decisions. My thoughts are my thoughts. I cannot care what others think of them.
Everyone had the opportunity to share their experiences, and that was so incredibly touching. I cried a lot. Before leaving I received a couple of comments from others that stuck with me. 1. "I am so powerful." 2. "I have good energy and am good at gathering people together." Through my trainings I have been able to learn a lot about myself. For example, I don't like too much consistency/redundancy. I have a harder time telling men that I love them. (I think I have always thought of the phrase as only applying to friends, family and significant others.) I don't always take compliments well. The easy way does not make me feel the best. I know there is more that I have learned, but those are some of the things sticking out right now. I feel like I could go on and on talking about my experience and this great organization, but I think it's time to wrap it up. Please feel free to ask me more questions.
If you want to learn a little more about YEHA and the organization, check out www.youngearthhuman.com.
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