Bowing is both an aerobic and strengthening exercise, with all of the benefits of each. It stretches and moves all major joints and muscles, keeping them limber and even reducing pain at times.

 

As a moving meditation, bowing makes it easier to calm and clear your mind and emotions, and it improves your focus and your outlook on life. It even builds your dahnjon and creates the healthy energy circulation that’s one of the goals of every Dahn Yoga exercise. All it takes is a cushion for your knees, some clothes you can move and sweat in, and 7.1 square feet of space. In effect, it’s the perfect exercise.

 

But that’s not really why bowing is truly an amazing practice. It’s amazing because through bowing, “you become one with everything that exists, you find the true meaning of being,” as Zen master and author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind Shunryu Suzuki has written. Bowing is not just an exercise, but a physical expression of our true inner self that’s waiting to come out.

 

That’s why bowing is often taught in the follow-up classes to Shimsung training, the Dahn Yoga workshop that helps introduce you to (or remind you of) the part of you that is pure and unchanging. Through your focus and by repeatedly lowering yourself to the ground when you bow, your ego becomes humble and your true nature is polished until it radiates brightly. Your heart opens, and love, compassion, gratitude, and forgiveness come pouring out.

 

Chungsuk Lee, who has been a Dahn Yoga practitioner for over 20 years, expressed the profound nature of bowing best when he said: “When I do bows, I experience my body, mind, and energy become reborn naturally. When I do bows, I cast my desires, attachments, emotions, and all other distractions into the void. When I empty myself fully, the energy of the universe enters my body and my purer energies emerge. In this pure state, I can see clearly what I really want, and I realize that I already have the power I need within me.”

 

But anyone can experience the power of bowing. According to Kathy Hallock Dowoonim, “The very first time I experienced bowing I felt like I had found an old friend. My body felt like waves in an ocean, rising and falling to rhythm, connecting heaven and earth through my body.” She continued, “Every day, it is still the same comforting, cleansing, joyful experience.”

 

More important than perfect technique or finishing a certain number of bows, having the right mindset is key. Creating an intention before you begin and having a humble, accepting, and sincere attitude lend meaning and power to your movement, and your movement brings those qualities to life.

 

At the heart of bowing is consistent effort over time. Bowing is a “just do it” exercise that requires consistency and discipline regardless of physical, mental, or emotional states. It’s a practice of conquering your ego and continually re-creating yourself through choice—of tapping into your infinite potential through surrender to life.