Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors!

“High intensity workouts are like spiritual sunrises within. They destroy the darkness and lethargy of ego-created crutches of comfort. We cannot radiate without intensity in our Practice.”

– coach ilg

{Advanced Note: in the months ahead, i may be forced to move DL into a subscriber-only format. for as long as i’ve made DL public to the internet, it seems as though less-creative personal trainers and yoga teachers are uh, ‘borrowing’ my philosophies and techniques and turning them into “their own” work and capitalizing on their plagiarism and warping of my words and style. i shall do my utter best as i have for 20 years to keep my work available, free of charge as my karmic donation, to all who are sincere about body/mind fitness and appreciate my LifeWork of Wholistic Fitness and High Performance Yoga. thank you. as Dylan sings, “Times, they are a changing…” om tat sat. – coach ilg}

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COACHING DIALOGUE WITH STUDENT P –

RE: Dearest Coach Ilg…Mom’s lifestyle is not active, rheumatoid arthritis and the Dr.s all say she

is normal.

� “Normal” according to whom, right?

What is considered “normal” dis-eases of our society is certainly categorically different from what is “natural.” Here is what is natural; our bodies capacity to regenerate.

RE: As you can imagine, she has little muscle left. She weighed as

much as 210 when I was growing up. (She’s 5’2″) Now she is 140.

She is eating pureed vegetables and pasta. (She likes her “comfort” foods)

She did like Vita shake. I was hesitant to give her my FD. What will

nourish her? As always, appreciative for any help,

Student,

P

� Unfortunately, what those of us who are treading as best we can the Path of Awakening soon realize that nearly everything that we once thought brought us “comfort”…things like cars, furniture, TV, convenience foods, etc…in the end just brings us suffering for those things erase our gumption to move, to breathe, to swim upstream against the current. most often, after a lifetime of blowing off regular exercise, the fallout from not training and keeping fit hits hard.

Keep giving Mom Vitashake and Fortune Delight (from SUNRIDER HERBS). Superb products for regenerating her overall cellular fitness and, at the same time, gentling wringing toxins from her inactive body. Some Calli Night at evening would be an excellent way for getting her quality sleep while improving her organ-ic health. Getting her to take ESE + JOI is the elite healing combination for any neuromuscular affliction. but she must move and breathe. my company, WholisticFitness.com can offer you online training and guidance for her.

May my words have helped your situation…i bow to you and your Mom…

head bowed,

coach ilg, R.Y.T.

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Congratulations to my ultra-distance bike racing bro Ron Jones and his beautiful wife, Candace! Ron just wrote me:

“The twins have finally arrived! They are doing great and very healthy.

See link for photos and comments. Thanks for the chi!

http://www.ronjones.org/Personal/Twins/index.html

Namaste’

Ron”

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Dear Coach Ilg –

A training update: Things in the Frugal Realm Training Program are

clicking nicely. While my body has certainly felt exceedingly

well-trained, it is adjusting to the rigors of the Realm quite well.

� anything in excess is not “quite well.”

you’ve gone too hard.

a spiritually mature athlete warrior will dance the edge of sustainable effort without ever going over.

you’ve gone over.

RE: A

few quick check-in points:

Feeling a twinge: I would stop short of calling it my first WF injury,

� there are no WF injuries…

only egoic ones.

see my counsel above.

get the lesson. you will NOT be studying WF 20 years from now if you go too hard.

as i always advise, “Don’t try harder, try softer.”

RE: I have a 90 minute training session booked with

Teacher Q for this Saturday morning. How would you recommend I get the

most out of our time together?

� empty thy cup.

Teacher Q is good.

he knows more about recreational fitness than me.

listen to him.

cherish your time with him.

you are Blessed by his presence.

RE: Is there any specific work you would like

us to do together?

� emptiness

RE:

Balancing Act: My yoga practice overall is going well and moving deeper.

However, I am frustrated at times with my lack of progress in some of the

balancing asanas, specifically Malasana (when I try to wrap my arms around

my back, my center of gravity moves back and I fall on my butt), Bakasana

(can’t seem to find an equilibrium point), and Sirsasana (can’t find

vertical). Asanas that require standing leg balancing (floating pigeon,

ardha chandrasana, etc.) are solid as a rock, but when I try to balance on

my arms or head, I become very shaky. Any specific things to focus on?

� who taught you to be so goal oriented instead of process oriented?

you have so NO IDEA of how LONG it took me to do Malasana or Sirsasana…why are you in such a HURRY!?!?! Slow down, Student L…SLOW DOWN! Enjoy the breath DURING the holding of postures, okay? there is NOWHERE to go in yoga postures save for the witnessing of the breath!

namaste,

coach

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You toooo funny, oh “feeble” Ilg! And I am always humbled by your awareness and perspective. Not to mention, your an inspirational writer.

Chow for now,

Joy

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I so look forward to your website ‘dailies’…your bit on L ‘friggin’ A was absolutely HILARIOUS yet profound when you think about what you have chose to do; be HERE with us whacky L ‘friggin’ A people! but now it’s hard to imagine life this city without Teacher Ilg!

love,

d

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Dear Coach –

RE: I have been thinking a lot about your DL on nutrition last week. I was

particularly struck by the concept of spiritual nutrition. Last evening

provided a wonderful helping of spiritual nutrition for me. As I believe

I wrote you some time ago, my wife and I belong to a CSA (Community

Sponsored Agriculture) co-op, whereby we partner with a family owned

organic farm in upstate New York and receive a weekly share of fruit and

vegetables. Tuesday evenings are CSA pick-up days, and have become very

special community gatherings. People come to get their food, but also

bring their families and stay in the park and talk – it creates a true

small-town moment in the big city. My wife ran the pick-up last night,

and I organized the little kids into a baseball game. I provided the

pitching and unconditional support. They provided energy and laughter.

Watching the joy on their faces and the exuberance in their movements

filled me up more than any burrito ever could.

� bingo, baby!

a WF Master Student counts spiritual calories, not physical ones.

proud of you,

coach

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Dear Coach Ilg,

Last Thursday, I was just visiting the gym with my sister, Dana, since she wanted me with her for her first class, and I just want to let you know that your class was amazing, beyond challenging, peaceful, beautiful (I loved the candles) and inspiring. I’m hoping that the rumors of you building your own studio on Ventura Boulevard are true, I would love to be one of your students in the near future.

Thank you,

Amber

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Dear WF Teacher Sheader –

I am not sure that I am totally happy with the cardio intervals. They

seem to be missing something. My heart rate is up where it should be, but I

am not sure if I am really pushing myself. When I used to do 440’s and

880’s on my own, while training for 5k’s, I really felt like I could feel

the edge. Somehow, I don’t feel this way with the intervals that I am

doing. Part of the problem is that I am training for a much longer race

than a 5K and thus the intervals are perhaps less intense. The other part

of the problem is that I may need to get a better bead on my heart rate. I

have been thinking of re-reading a book on lactate threshold testing and

figuring out my approximate threshold. This will further help me assess my

heart rate during the interval so that I can push that race performance.

Another aspect is that 8 minutes might not be enough at race pace. Perhaps

I could go further, faster or recover quicker?

Student Jim

� Don’t become so attached to the HRM. Use your intuition, cultivate the chi.

I have used HRM with athletes but in the end you need to get on with feeling

your heart not monitoring it. I have never yet used one and I made it to the

world class level, and still radiate the mojo(e) on the track on Interval

day.

Get out there and go zone 3-4 for 8 minutes, recover and do it again. This

workout is utilized by the Kenyan marathon team… it works. You just got to

get out of the head and more in the heart. You will never find the edge

otherwise.

Go(o)dspeed,

Coach Sheader

ADDENDUM FROM COACH ILG TO STUDENT JIM:

i am right with Teacher Sheader on his Chi Hit to you…

out of the head

and into your heart

go!

screw reading another book

start flipping the pages of your inner chapters

and let the most the beautiful mystery novel

unfold; your self-realization!

go!

in breath and posture,

coach ilg

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Hi Steve,

Thank you so much for putting on such a wonderful meditation workshop yesterday – it’s just what I needed! As you know, I participate in yoga workshops at various studios in L.A. on a very regular basis. This was by far the best workshop I’ve attended in a long time. Your students in the grotto have such great energy. You did a lovely job facilitating the discussion. Your handouts were very thorough and helped to answer many questions I’ve had about Zen. It’s a beautiful practice… One I look forward to exploring for years to come!

Namaste,

Michele

P.S. Did you see Lance biking today? I read the Direct Lines reference to Tyler Hamilton – he’s awesome! I deserve no “warrior” award for doing walking meditation with a broken foot. The practice is my reward.