Body & Brain Arlington

Teacher was amazing, loved the colors in the room and the positive energy, along with the tea time after the vibration yoga class!

On a recent visit to my cousin I had the pleasure of visiting this studio. The atmosphere was inviting, and the center manager Arthur had an infectious warmth and humor to him that made the class all the more enjoyable. You can expect the great class you get from all Dahn Yoga locations, a good stretch, time to relax, and simple yet powerful meditation. Stop by and check it out soon!

I chuckle when I see descriptions of Dahn being a cult and people should be wary. This practice helps to bring awareness to our bodies, minds, and habits. It helps clear negativity and brings a sense of peace. It offers stretching, dance, martial arts, spirituality in the sense of connecting with the larger universe, and energy work. To me, Dahn works to bring love, acceptance and well-​being for all people and the earth. I can drag my exhausted self into a Dahn class after a long day, with negative thoughts. They are always welcoming and motivating. Every time, I leave feeling energized with a sense of peace of mind and body. I am definitely a devoted member of this practice!

Good vibe. Nice and relaxed atmosphere

I don’t think this a poor establishment or anything, but you need to know that this is NOT yoga before investing any time and money into it. This is stretching and some meditation, with a LOT of body tapping. You literally, bang on your chest and abdomen with your hands to release energy. The staff was nice and the place is clean and welcoming, but this is just not for me.

Not my thing. Not yoga — more like tai chi with the beating on your belly. People were friendly. If you prefer a more meditation focused, fire in the belly kind of workout, looks like an excellent destination. But I was looking for more mainstream yoga, which I feel is implied by the word «YOGA» on their façade but is not actually one of the services they offer.

Ever wonder how a cult can have such a high rating? They pressure Unilocal to take down negative reviews. Unilocal,I’m ashamed of you for kowtowing to these cultists and enforcing your policies in an entirely inconsistent fashion. Your mother and I will be discussing your allowance after we send you to bed early.
How do I know this? I’ve had exactly four reviews taken down from Unilocal… all four from this place.
I didn’t want to get too specific in the first one, so they took that one down because it lacked «a firsthand perspective.»
The second one, I happened to mention that CNN did an expose on them and outed them as a cult. Same justification, and that Jeffery dude sent me an unsolicited personal message that I felt was vaguely threatening underneath its saccharine veneer.
Third one, I happened to mention that I knew someone who was raped by their leader. Even though I disclaimed that, yes, it wasn’t me who was raped, that one got flagged as «contains secondhand information.» Whoops, SO sorry.
So just in case you read any of those previous reviews, the jury will please disregard any of that nasty, unreliable information. Just pretend it never happened. No interesting anecdotes, no passing jokes, none of those witty remarks that make reviews fun to read and therefore make people like this site. Just the facts, ma’am. About why Dahn is a cult and a bad place to do yoga.
First of all, the clases really are horrible, and what they do isn’t even yoga. The non-​yoga isn’t at all physically engaging if you have any degree of fitness — you basically move around a little bit, breathe heavily for a while, and move around a little bit again. They talk about «aura» and «energy» all the time and it’s really distracting, especially since those aren’t real things and they talk about them as if they are. And if you keep going, you risk becoming indoctrinated into a cult: the staff will ask if you want to «advance» and lavishly praise how «committed» certain people are to the organization… and we all know what that means in cult shorthand.
Bottom line: do yourself a favor and give your money to one of the many other excellent, locally-​owned, and non-​cult yoga places nearby. If you actually are looking to join a cult, pick Scientology instead. At least there you’ll have some serious networking opportunities
(Okay, sorry, I couldn’t resist. So sue me. And knowing Scientology and Dahn, one of them probably will.)

I have been taking yoga classes at the Arlington Center for over a year. I have been diagnosed with early onset parkinson’s disease. The classes help me relax the tightened right side and keep me mobile. They also help with my outlook and mindset, reminding me that my body is mine, not me. This helps me avoid defining myself by a diagnosis and helps me realize that I can take control and improve the situation. The staff are extremely caring and supportive, as are the members. I highly recommend Arlington Dahn Yoga Center.

I found Dahn Yoga this past February when I was experiencing two flares in five months of Lupus (which I have had since I was 16). I needed to put a focus back in my life and experiencing Dahn Yoga has helped me to realize the power that our bodies do possess. The classes have helped me to filter out the negative «self talk», like the person that I am and in this way I am able to be present to the people around me. Dahn Yoga not only teaches you to love your self but also everything around you. The instructors that I have had have been fantastic. There is no judgement. It has helped me to look inside of myself and is helping me discover «my true self». I come away from class feeling free and having a better sense of purpose. For me, the exercises and meditation is a spiritual experience. I am realizing the only critic in my life is me. Dahn Yoga is truly a wonderful experience, another way to help yourself.
Anne A.

The «yoga» performed here is not yoga.
The studio will try to induct you into their cult-​like organization.
They have a USB device that plugs into their computer, you put your hands on it and it will tell you the color of your aura.

I took Dahn Yoga in another state and LOVED it! No, it isnt typical yoga. I’m not sure it should be called yoga really. The stuff that Heather B. is talking about really gets the circulation going and it unclogs your lymph glands. This is a HEALING yoga. not some cardio kind of yoga or Nike trendy yoga… this is akin to Qi Qong and Tai Chi… it incorporates breath work a lot more diligently and circulation and it pays attention to your actual energy field and balance. Maybe that sounds New-​Agey, and maybe one has to experience it to know what I mean.
If you stick with it, the effects are amazing. I’m a pretty healthy person but this made me feel really fantastic and I walked around feeling comfortable all day. no aches and pains. very fluid and relaxes all the time. I felt like I did when I was a kid and movement was comfortable and free.
The effects last too. There was a friend of mine who was in a bad car accident and injured her back. She was always on pain pills and steroids and was told that would be her life from then on. She took the Dahn yoga with me and the change I saw in her was remarkable. You would never guess today what she had been through. She is sooo flexible and she lost weight and she doesnt need to take pills anymore. We went hiking a few weekends ago! I know that sounds like an ad or something. but it’s totally true. She’s the one that got me into Dahn in the first place.
It isn’t cheap and thats a bummer, I have to admit. It’s one of the reasons I have a hard time staying consistant with it. But if you really want a different experience than all the other run of the mill yogas, try Dahn. I’ve experienced other yoga classes. one in Davis Sq a few years ago and another in Harvard Sq. and the yoga teachers were really kind of overweight and they didn’t really keep on eye on people to make sure they didn’t injure themselves. I’m also not a big fan of yoga teachers that are kind of stuck up. Yoga Pretense, if ya know what I mean.

There is only one other yoga class I really felt buzzed for days and the teacher was attentive, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and that was Forrest Yoga with Bill at Cambridge Athletic Club. I can’t believe how invigorated I felt! He is really super good. If you can’t afford Dahn, try that. I think it’s only $ 10 bucks a class and the classes aren’t crowded so it’s comfortable.

This is one of those places that deserves zero stars. I am warning you off this place. I popped into this place and signed up for unlimited free yoga for a month at the cost of $ 104 (this was over a year ago.) I took the first class and did nothing even vaguely resembling yoga. We were led in a series of breathing exercises and thumping of our chests, bellies, etc. I believe that first day they were doing exercises that were meant to benefit our anus (es). I kid you not. It would be too easy to go off on a tangent here. Anyway, I’ve repressed most of it. Anyway, after my second class I went home and announced to my then boyfriend that I believed I had somehow gotten hooked up with a cult. I was only half kidding. I never went back and did not even care that I was out $ 100, which is not my usual attitude toward my hard earned cash. I frankly had a really bad vibe about this place and never wanted to go in there again.
I mentioned this to a pal on the T later and she said she had also forked over the cash, gone home alarmed and googled the outfit. Turns out they are a cult like organization. They have a sh*tload of locations, many right here in Metro Boston. They find devotees with these yoga deals — they get these poor unsuspecting folks to buy into their b*llshit and then they recruit them to pay thousands of bucks to go on retreats and workshops. Here’s the worst part. A woman from NYC died on one of their retreats from dehydration. Totally preventable.
I am not an alarmist, but I experienced this f’ed up place first hand. All I can say is don’t waste your time or money.
The Voice wrote it up: