The majority of health practices that we teach come from Korea. Some are ancient, others more modern. All of them are practices that Ven. Hyunoong Sunim and Jaguang Sunim have personally experienced and found profoundly beneficial. These are offered to our zen students.

A few examples:

Sasang Constitutional Medicine: Body Landscape Dietary Programs
This is one of the foundational practices which we recommend for anyone on a spiritual path or simply interested in taking optimum care of their health.

Personalized dietary programs are designed very specifically for each individual, to create internal energy balance and improved health for their particular energy makeup. We diagnose your Body Constitution and internal energy landscape using Chinese Five Element natal charts.

The Dietary Program is a lifetime program. It is a tool that you use to understand and maintain good health for your entire life. It removes the mystery of your personal health issues and puts you in control, helping you to deeply understand your body and manage your health.

Sasang Constitutional Medicine, or SCM, was developed in the 1800’s by Lee Jae Ma, a Korean doctor of Chinese medicine. Dr. Lee discovered that different people with the same illness, when given the same medicine, responded in different ways. Some responded well and recovered, while others did not respond or became worse. This lead him to realize that our bodies are not all the same, and what heals one person is not necessarily what heals another. He developed a system in which people are divided into one of four different Body Constitutions. For each constitution there are foods that create internal balance, and foods that destroy that balance and harm one’s health. When you follow a diet designed to balance your specific internal energy makeup, good health is restored and emotions become grounded and well balanced.

This is similar in theory to Ayurveda but both we and our clients have found the Five Element Sasang system, its method of diagnosing a person's Body Constitution, and its food classifications, to be extremely accurate and specific to the individual, with deep, long-term results. Understanding our Body Constitution can help us understand how to maintain our health throughout our life.

For more info or to order online, please see our website www.MyBodyLandscape.com

Taoist Tantien Breathing: Sundo
This is an ancient practice of Taoist hermits, dating back at least 3000 years. Ven. Hyunoong Sunim personally trained for ten years under one of these hermits, Master Chong San, and in 1982 became one of a small group of his original students to receive sanction as a Sundo Dharma Master. The practice combines breathing in the tantien (energy center below the navel) with a series of postures. This is a simple yet powerful practice that transforms body and mind. Due to the sensitive nature of a breathing practice, all instruction must be given in person.

Water Rhythm
Various versions of the Water Rhythm practice have been used in many cultures over the centuries. The Korean Water Rhythm practice separates liquids and solids in one’s diet, and specifies the time of day for each. The purpose of this practice is to synchronize one’s physical energy rhythms with those of the yin/yang, day/night energy rhythms of the universe. It is a simple practice that can be layered onto the Sasang Body Landscape Dietary Program, and is extremely effective in treating more difficult or chronic health conditions.

Other health systems may be recommended according to an individual’s specific situation or health condition.