Wholistic Fitness

A Pandemonium Of Texture

�All hunger, if examined through meditation, is an instinctual and spiritual hunger for union with the Divine. all humans have a hunger for texture in our lives yet we satiate it wrongly by sensual instead of spiritual attainment.� –

steve ilg

my beautiful friend Tina rates her attraction to food on its texture. she is either attracted or repulsed by food according to texture. caloric and nutrient value of foods matter less to Tina than does its texture. �It can�t be too gushy or too crunchy,� she counsels me, �and it�s got to have a some sort of creamy quality to it.�

i�m the same way. about my workouts.

see, after Tina�s comment, i decided to weigh texture more frequently in my day to day life. it�s a good quality to ruminate on; texture. the texture of our lives. our attractions. our workouts. texture imparts dimension, quality, and feel. it�s what gives depth to anything… from carpet to a kiss. word experts say that texture probably comes from a Latin word, �texere� which means a woven structure like �text� in a book or threads in a jacket (textile). texture (a word which, by the way, has great texture to it) is what largely attracts us to tangible things like clothes, jewelry, and dishes. but to me, texture is also what attracts me to more etheral things like mountain bike trails, road cycling routes, ski trails, yoga styles, and ice and rock climbs.

my thoughts about texture were still with me even this morning as i prepared for my mountain bike ride. so, during this morning�s ride, i chose to view my ride from a perspective of texture. want to come? good. let�s go.

first thing i noticed was air pressure in Grunt�s feet (that�s ilgspeak for my mountain bike, whose name is �Grunt� – and his feet are his tires). texture is very important to mountain biking tires; the air pressure must be appropriate for the terrain. this morning i was going to climb a lot of super steep and technically tricky uphills. this type of riding requires low air pressure; not more than than 32 psi per tire. this imparts a �sticky� texture between rubber and earth. the grip factor is enhanced. the trade off? you go a lot slower on pavement and flat terrain.

second thing was the texture of my warm up. it is important to warm up slowly when doing cardio workouts. you�ve got to lubricate the inner engine with a slow and steady oxygenation of the pulmonary and muscular tissues. i�ve noticed that the older i get, the longer they become. when younger , hell, i could jump out of bed and peg my heart rate to 190 without a flitter of a thought a bout it. not these days. i take my sweet ass time warming up before punching out any high intensity stuff.

third was the texture of dirt. dirt and rocks are the bread and butter of mountain biking and this morning, the texture of Mother Earth was ideal for ultra steep, technical mountain biking. recent rains have transformed slippery, dusty mountain trails into tacky, serpentine pathways upon which mountain bike tires grip perfectly. today in fact, i was able to �clean� an insanely steep headwall that i�ve always fallen off. i mean, if it was any steeper i�d have to outfit Grunt�s tires with crampons. the art of steep climbing on a MTB involves a yoga of four qualities:

�) balance

�) hip and leg power

�) anaerobic cardio fitness

�) mental focus

this morning the key to success occurred in my balance…specifically, my right elbow.

that�s right, my right elbow.

the tackiness of the trail allowed me to relax into a better balance during the intensity of the climbing. because i was relaxed on the hard stuff, i was able to realize i held my right elbow rigidly and it was affected my center of gravity. so, i breathed softness into my right elbow, dropping it lower and found i could effectively use it like a rudder as the near vertical terrain rose sharper and sharper. i swear to Lord Buddha that i rode up this tough section like a computer enhanced Spider Man…i just KNEW i was not going to fall and just enjoyed myself ride right up this thing that used to toss me off my bike like a dog shakes off water. it was great. it was heaven on earth.

i lost count of textural awareness after that. i was too high,now heavily intoxicated by lush and detailed textures everywhere. only images from my workout remain; bronze headed cowbirds swimming through the air beside my bike like Dolphins leaping through waves escorting an ocean ship. a family of California quail squirting across the trail, their unmistakable curving topknots disappearing into the chaparral like comic ghosts. marine layer clouds creeping up coastal canyons before refusing the drier air of the Valley only to curl back into itself like an infant snuggling into a warm crib. i recall the glimmer of dew, the gossip of wrens, the whispers of morning shadows fading, and the soaring glide of my descent down �Natoma trail�.

why would anyone NOT choose to be fit enough to take the sacred pause of a morning workout like this? if only President Bush would ride mountain bikes with me, feel these things, examine the texture of his inner life. for it is through the breath of self-propelled effort that we can clearly see that there is no such thing as �preventative war�. no divorce is truly healing. the hunger for war is the same one rooted in gossip and addiction to entertainment and it is a mistaken one. all hunger, if examined through meditation, is an instinctual and spiritual hunger for union with the Divine. all humans have a hunger for texture in our lives yet we satiate it wrongly by sensual instead of spiritual attainment.

palm tree fronds seemed to swish traffic out of my way as i swiftly piloted my mountain bike across Ventura Boulevard. now back down in sixty degree warmth of the valley, i concluded that, like yoga, texture is everywhere. we just have to Practice finding it. our entire lives – if lived consciously – reveals but a pandemonium of textures. some people say they get �bored� by fitness training. i say they are simply not paying attention. delightful textures inevitably arise from any mindfully performed workout. .

as we edge deeper into our richly stratified folds of self through Wholistic FItness practices, we can use our awareness of texture to help climb our inner, personal hills. those inner obstacles are intended to focus us. they fuse our breath into a repetitive presence…and turn up the faucet of the Divine. hills, both inner and outer ones, makes us sweat, gasp, and if we are aware enough to appreciate their texture, they will edge us ever Higher.

may all beings know peaceful texture to the dance of their lives.

may your Practice be strong and sincere.

i bow to you from the humble helm of Wholistic Fitness…

– coach ilg