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City Drops "Brain Education" School Program Run By Yoga Cult
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 9, 2009
Modified Nov 9, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 9, 2009
Modified Nov 9, 2009
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Less than a week after it was revealed that the Department of Education paid $374,000 for a hypnotherapist consultant, it's being reported that the city has paid $400,000 for 44 schools to participate in the "PowerBrain Education" program, run by a yoga group that's being sued by former members. What's next, hiring some Breatharians to consult on the lunch program?
The Brain Education (BE) for Enhanced Learning classes lead kids through physical and breathing exercises intended to help them concentrate and unleash their PowerBrain! The Post visited one class in the Bronx last week, and watched as elementary students spent 25 minutes saying things like, "I love your Power Brain face," and rapping along to songs with lyrics like "I love my thalamus." This so-called "brain revolution" is being led by "pioneering Brain Philosopher" Seung Huen Ilchi Lee, the man at the top of the Dahn Yoga network, which operates 130 health centers and two training retreats across the country.
Some people who've been involved with Dahn Yoga describe it as a cult, and one former Dahn employee claimed Lee sexually assaulted her (she later settled out of court). And in 2005, the group was sued by the family of Julia Siverls, a 41-year-old CUNY professor who collapsed and died during an endurance hike at the group's Sedona, Arizona retreat. According to the lawsuit, which was also settled out of court, Siverls had been drugged and forced to hike in desert heat with 40 pounds of rocks in her backpack and with little water. Lawyer Terry Brostowin tells the Post, "If my child was [participating in Power Brain], I would pull them out in about two minutes. I would be very scared."
Sure, to the untrained eye, the video below may seem to depict children wasting time engaging in ridiculous hokey-pokey games at taxpayer expense, but what you're actually watching is the powerful education of "humanity's greatest asset... the one we all possess—the brain itself." Nevertheless, once the Post started asking questions, the Education Department abruptly pulled the plug on BrainPower, so everything's back to normal.
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dahn yoga
nyc
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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