Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors!

HIGH PERFORMANCE YOGA UPDATE; 7/11/03

�God respects us when we work,

but He loves us when we dance.�

old Sufi saying

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A STAR IS BORN

Kathy and I hope it doesn’t go to his unpretentious lovely little head, but our graduate student from my High Performance Yoga Teacher Training, Greg Diaz taught his first and second classes recently in the Grotto…and he KICKED BUTT! Kathy, who attended his second ever class, said that she can only WISH that her second yoga teaching attempt was as technically sound and spiritually inspirational as Student-Turned-Teacher Diaz! Kathy is giving Greg more classes in the Grotto immediately due to his big opening splash which is great news for ALL of us who will benefit from his presence and service.

I must say, having known Student Diaz for a while now as both friend and as his teacher…RARELY in all my years within the New Age scene and things yogic, have i meant as pure and sincere an aspirant as Greg. He truly studies and practices the philosophical underpinnings of the great spiritual traditions like few do. Greg motorpaces me sometimes on my bicycle training rides up and down the Santa Monica Mountains and at every moment he is doing his Practice with smiling, sincerity of service and friendship. We all benefit from Teacher Diaz. i bow to Teacher Diaz. please support his first several months of Teaching, it ain’t easy, trust me! Enjoy him for he is a Buddha Jewel.

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RED MOUNTAIN SPA YOGA RETREAT WITH STEVE AND KATHY

what are YOU doing the last week or so of August?

http://www.redmtn.com/events/presenters/steve_ilg.html

or go to

www.redmountainspa.com. Click on EVENTS at the top. A list of

upcoming presenters appears, look for your humble teachers…

Kathy and I look forward to seeing you there, it’s great! We’ve presented there before and the mountain biking, climbing, and treatments only add to the yoga high!

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ZEN WORKSHOP THIS SUNDAY!

July 13th, 10:30 am to 12:00

in the Grotto, PowerHouse Gym. details at www.wholisticfitness.com

click on UPCOMING EVENTS

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A NEW ILG!

My little (6’4″) brother, Craig, and his beautiful wife Gwen just gave healthy birth to another ilg…i don’t know if the planet is quite ready for more ilgs…but…

welcome to Eleanor (Elle) Sinclair Ilg, 9lbs,1 oz at 19″ in Albuquerque, NM on Tuesday, July 8, 2003.

Welcome to your incarnation, Elle!

love,

Uncle Steve and Aunt Kathy!

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HP YOGA Q and A

Dear Teacher Steve…

i was amazed at last night’s (thursday) HIGH PERFORMANCE YOGA class…you are UNBELIEVABLE!! i had NO IDEA yoga could be THAT HARD AND SWEATY (but sooo much fun and inspirational!) I am going to be there EVERY THURSDAY! you are so strong and flexible and people tell me that you can do incredible long distance things too! HOW!?! my hips are sooo tight and all i do is the StairMaster! i couldn’t do half of what you made look so beautiful and easy! what can i do about my tight hips! oh, and your backbends were incredible! i can’t even bend backward…it hurts WAY too much.

hooked on YOUR yoga!

your newest student D

Dear Newest Student D –

first, thank you for such glow!

never tell yourself that you “can’t” do something. your sub- and supraconscious knows no off switch and will throw up cast iron walls of doubt if you tell yourself you can’t do something. you can do anything you want. but you must work accurately and devotedly toward it.

there is perhaps no greater joy on the planet when an endurance athlete starts to feel his or her hips open…endurance sports produce compaction, a LOT of it, i know. so, a LOT of devoted Practice will be required from you to begin undoing the years of compaction and adhesion within your pelvis. but that’s okay. with devoted Practice, 6 years of a power yoga style of Practice can undo a few decades of endurance abuse. that’s a pretty stinkin’ good deal, if you ask me!

since the hips orchestrate so many planes of movement (extension, flexion, adduction, abduction, lateral rotation, medial rotation, and circumduction), your first Yogic Warrior Work lies in compassionately attacking the toes/feet and the hamstrings. first things first. until the hams release, the rotation of the femur in the hip socket is compromised greatly. that is why in my classes we do a lot of tip toe stuff that causes much inner whining but produces high results.

to open up into backbends, compassionately attack the wrists/forearms and lateral flexion of the spine. first things first. the backbends will come about slowly as more ‘real estate’ is gained within the lateral spine flexors and the middle spine (that’s why last night i kept us in “Reverse Table or purvottanasana” for what seemed like an eternity.

pace your enthusiasm. enjoy the Journey. know that all is coming if you persevere. we’re right with you every breath of the glorious yogic Way!

i bow to you,

coach ilg, R.Y.T.

founder/HIGH PERFORMANCE YOGA

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Dear Teacher,

someone told me you race bicycles. your legs sure look like it! amazing! i’ve been watching the TOUR OF FRANCE on tv for the first time because of you. oh my god! have you ever done the TOUR OF FRANCE? you’d probably win!

your Student B

Dear Student B –

the answer is that i USED to race bicycles as part of my living, but

1) no, i’ve never raced the Tour de France

and

2) no i would not “probably win”, i promise you that!

but you CAN read about my humble efforts during my final TOUR de GILA race, a multistage bicycle race that I did win once.

there is a click for my GILA journals at the only website that counts for spiritual warriors; www.wholisticfitness.com!

and thank you for your kind words! see you in class!

i bow to you,

coach ilg