Wholistic Fitness

NEW �HP� YOGA STUDIO OPENS! � WF STUDENTS ON TOP OF PODIUMS � MY WIFE KICKS ASS AT MR. OLYMPIA PULL UP COMPETITION…and mucho mas

Namaste Noble Warriors!

Wholistic Fitness, Sunrider Herbs, and High Performance Yoga…cracks me over and over again! For 20 years we�ve been so far ahead of mainstream fitness methods that we still only attract karmic angels and spiritual warriors!

Guess that happens when you move at the speed of Enlightenment!

Here a few gems from our treasured Temple of Wholistic Fitness over the last 72 hours…

����New POWERHOUSE GYM YOGA STUDIO OPENS!…FEATURING HIGH PERFORMANCE YOGA!

On Monday night, I led 27 yoga student through a totally fun, inaugural class at our new studio in Chatsworth, CA. We cranked up our CHI so hot and heated that we fogged up the room length wall mirror…i love that! Energy made manifest! that fog on the mirror is precisely the way the heated air of Ujjayi Pranayama melts away our ‘sticky’ and restricted patterns of mind and body! that is why it is sooooo important to learn and commit to the Ujjayi breathing during all HP Yoga classes. the same way we fogged up that mirror last night is the same way the Pran (life force) permeates every cell and every organ system! that same heated breath is like heated pneumatic air that can cut through ANY restriction on your body or in your mind! Ujjayi doesn�t mean �the victorious breath� for nothing!

CHANGE IS GOOD

change always raises some concern. Kathy was getting worked over by everybody’s opinions on this and that yesterday. fortunately, most of our HP yogis demonstrated their equanimity and adaptability to flow with the changes. it is important to recall that a key quality in my work with you over these years has been to ‘be elegant in difficulty’. as the dust of construction continues to settle, i suggest we all put this into our Practice of the Now.

“Steve,

Is the room that class was held in last night the new home for yoga at Powerhouse? It seems as if it is smaller and quite a bit more crowded than the previous class room. The room being long and thin, and with the absence of mirrors, makes it difficult to see what is being taught or to watch your posture. Your thoughts?

Nat

�

Dear HP Yogi Nat –

let me break down your questions:

RE:

Is the room that class was held in last night the new home for yoga at Powerhouse?

� yep, that’s our new studio. although, during our Sage Blessing last night, the image came to me that we were like ancient spiritual warriors gathering in a type of grotto.

i move to refer to our ‘yoga studio’ as “The Grotto”! what do you think?

RE:

It seems as if it is smaller and quite a bit more crowded than the previous class room.

� Looks are deceiving. We had 27 students in there last night, about the same as in the old room! if you’ve ever taken a popular yoga class at a Santa Monica yoga studio, twice that many are packed into the same or smaller size room!

what makes the Grotto appear small is the lowered ceiling and dark floor. in actuality the floor space is equal to or larger than any other yoga specific studio in the Valley. its significantly larger than where i teach in Westwood and to many other Westside studios.

RE:

The room being long and thin, and with the absence of mirrors, makes it difficult to see what is being taught or to watch your posture.

� Most yoga studios are long and thin. I don’t know of many short and thick ones!

The entire front wall is a mirror. Those who enjoy the mirror, should arrive early and get in the front row. Traditional Yoga studios don’t have mirrors anyway and certainly the Yoga Masters didn’t use them! Coming from a gym/fitness background however, I voted to have a mirror in there because I think they are helpful to check your posture during sun salutations. after the flow part of class however, no mirror is needed, since your focus should shift toward Pratyahara or sense withdrawal…drawing your attention deeper into your body/mind, not external things like mirrors.

RE:

Your thoughts?

� my thoughts are that we are very Blessed to have a country and a place in which we can freely gather and do such amazing Practice.

my thoughts are of the Masters who attained Enlightenment (Samadhi) by doing their yoga practices everyday in wet, cold Himalayan caves, and in jungles teeming with insects and snakes, and along muddy rivers under heated, humid temperatures.

my thoughts are that our Grotto is a palace by comparison and i can’t wait to get back in there and dive deeper into myself.

my thoughts are that there is no clanging blue, metal door, no drafts, no heavy bags dangling about, and no dripping vents.

my thoughts include the beautiful lighting in the Grotto, the killer stereo, great floor surface, and the ideal temperature to keep warm and heated throughout the class and into Savasana. i totally felt my body open more willingly in the Grotto than in the airy, drafty old room. the Grotto is much safer to go deeper. it feels very yin to me; very female, very nurturing, very introspective…perfect for asana practice!

my thoughts are that i will soon fall into love with the Grotto!

-coach ilg

������ My Yogini Wife Tops The Pull Up Podium!

so last weekend my adorable and very powerful wife, Kathy, was in Las Vegas at the Mr. Olympia contest with fellow HP Yoga Teacher, Karen. as Way would have it, one of the companies was putting on a women�s pull up competition. competitors had to wear one of the companies �weighted vests� and do �real pull ups� not the sissy, undergrip kind. the sales rep guy shook his head with awe as 5�1�, 100 lb and thirty two years old Kathy pulled on the heavy vest and proceeded to out pull up every other bodybuilder woman for that day! She beat girls much younger and �beefier� than her, that�s for sure! leave it to a High Performance Yoga Teacher to beat the �strength athletes� at their own game!

hey, i didn�t call it, �High Performance Yoga� for nothing!

good job, Lovey!

��� BE GOOD TO YOUR BODY THERAPY Book

my little book, BE GOOD TO YOUR BODY THERAPY, just passed the 1,000 sold copies mark for last quarter in….Africa! Austria and Germany are the consistent top buyers of that book, regularly posting sales in excess of 2,000 copies per quarter. In Taiwan? 98!

���ASANA AND ROCK CLIMBING…ALL EDGES ARE THE SAME?

�Just as a yogi seeks the “edge” of the asana, leading is the “edge” of

my current Practice. This has been and continues to be a place of great

learning that wouldn’t have taken place in other arenas. As {Certified WF Online Teacher } Grant Couture says, (and as you say in the Outdoor Athlete) climbing is potent medicine. The fear has a great message. I am trying to understand the language.�

– Sean Madine, Colorado

���MARATHON? NO PROBLEM>>>A WF RACE UPDATE FROM BRYAN HANTMAN

CONGRATULATIONS to Wholistic Fitness Student, Bryan Hantman of Washington D.C who completed the The Baltimore Marathon on October 19. He states in his Race Report: �At mile marker 25 I began to pick up speed. By 26 I was sprinting. The sprint was a big deal. Nothing else mattered in those seconds. It was a chilling realization: I was holding myself back the entire time. Not wanting to ? hurt? myself….I bought into the fear of going too far in the event.�

Bryan said that thing he really learned from this race was, �to REALLY let go.� I think Bryan articulates perfectly the teachings available in my audio tape, FEAR IN FITNESS, and embodies the WF saying,

�Racing is not about winning, it�s about yourself.�

Bryan is a formal online WF Student training under WF Teacher, Joseph Sheader. Again, great Warrior job, Bryan! You honor our Tribe!

���

� The Under eating assignment has not been difficult, seems these Sunrider herbs replenish my system and ward off hunger.�

Student Adams, NM

and now, from the same Scott Adams…we read…

RACE UPDATE:

Congratulations to WF online Student Scott Adams of New Mexico!

Scott finished First Place in the Mens 40-49 category of the 4th Annual Prairie Dog Dash race held at College of the Southwest on Sat. Oct. 19th. Scott cranked the 5K course in a time of 22:46! Scott is a �star� online WF Student and devout Sunrider herb eater training under, wouldn�t you know it, national class runner himself and WF Certified Teacher, Joseph Sheader. Well done…to BOTH of you! Herbs and WF = the top of podium! We�ve been proving that for 20 years!

�

Now, if Student Scott is using HP Yoga and under eating and relying on SUNRIDER herbs, and wins FIRST PLACE in a distance race, wouldn�t you think more people would stop over eating all that junk food and those chemical powders and over training in one sport and start doing yoga? Hmmm. Baffles me, too. For a long, long time it has baffled me!

���� COMING SOON to DIRECT LINES….My Reactions to the NEW SUNRIDER VITASHAKE! ����� ILG ON ANGER �����Plus Student Input, More Race Updates, and a ton of fun!

Keep Your Practice Strong and full of Lightness!

Coach Ilg

founder/Wholistic Fitness & High Performance Yoga