Body & Brain yoga as an energy exercise started from a public park when the founder Ilchi Lee started to teach exercise, in 1980, for a single person whose half body was paralyzed due to stroke. Beginning from the single person, many people benefited from the exercise including better health, more energy, and positive attitude toward life.
The principles behind the practice and exercise that he taught originated from 9,000 year-old Korean traditional practice for spiritual awakening and self-realization called Sun Do (Tao). Sun Do originated from the ancient Korean people in Northeast Asia. It was practiced as part of popular culture during the Dahngun era, from 2333-108 B.C., and then disappeared into the mountains where it continued to be practiced in secret by Sun Do masters for centuries. From a modern perspective, Sun Do may be considered similar to other types of yoga, tai chi, meditation, or martial arts. Body & Brain yoga includes most of the elements of these body and mind practices.
Body & Brain yoga, first introduced in Korea as Dahnhak Seonwon (Vital Energy Arts Center), grew steadily in Korea throughout the 80’s and 90’s. In the mid 90’s, Ilchi Lee retired from management of Dahn Centers and went on to pioneer ways to use Qi energy (Ki) to maximize the potential of the brain. Dahnhak had spread to the U.S. in 1991, at the invitation of a Korean businessman living in Philadelphia. Centers grew steadily over the years, and eventually added a franchise system in 2008.
