Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors!

“There is no greater challenge than to challenge yourself.”

– Coach Ilg

Habits & Tendencies

For those of us who sense the importance of self-cultivation through fitness, we must quickly arrive at point in our understanding the need for examining our habits and tendencies. Why? Because, from a yogic perspective, within our habits and tendencies lie the fertilizing agents for our Awakening and possible Enlightenment.

When beginning a spiritual practice, like Wholistic Fitness or High Performance Yoga training, we must not rush. When we rush, my Tibetan teachers told me, the grip you get on the Teachings is shallow. In spiritual work, we want to go for depth, not superficiality.

The task of a spiritual warrior is primarily one of cleansing and accountability. Warriors never blame others for the difficulties of life that we must all endure. We must clear out negative habits and slothful tendencies in order to gain our true nature which lay beyond the impact of habits and tendencies. This takes tremendous spiritual strength, far greater strength than is needed to do a Bench Press or a Chaturanga or even doing Hill Repeats on your bicycle. But, the great thing about using fitness training for spiritual work, is that doing those things – Bench Presses, Chaturangas, and Hill Repeats – all empower your spiritual tenacity out of mediocrity. Doing those things with spiritual intent is a form of purification that can help burn away our negative and feeble habits and tendencies. In the Katha Upanishad; “There is nothing higher than Purusha (spirit). He is the culmination; He is the highest goal.”

In Wholistic Fitness practices, I have created many techniques for understanding and gaining control of our habits and tendencies that mar our spiritual strength and delay our Awakening. Some of these techniques are very high in caliber such as Tapasaya. If I prescribe Tapasaya for you on a given day, that means you must look squarely in the eye a negative habit you have and sever it on that day with the fierce Warriorism of Manjushree. For instance, if you drink coffee in the morning and stay up late at night watching TV as a habit, a good Tapasaya for your on that day is not to drink coffee in the morning and go to bed early. That is fantastic spiritual work. You have generated some significant positive energy for your spiritual self. Other more gentle techniques that I have created in the science of Wholistic Fitness are things like the Breath and Posture Beeper Guru and the Eating Elegantly Assignments. Each of these techniques are intended to whittle slowly away at our habits and tendencies so as to remove the auto-pilot mode of human doingness and get us to arrive at the place of true human beingness.

The Path of Wholistic Fitness and High Performance Yoga can help us see the causes of the ‘problems’ and sufferings in our daily life. Our humble but powerful Path helps us track ourselves onto a spiritual way of living while enjoying the many delights of a worldly life. We need the same determination of our spiritual practices and conscious daily workouts – as we have for going to work to earn money. The reward of a spiritual life is not shown too quickly on the outside. Upon our dying breaths however, it is to he who has studied well inwardly that no fear comes. If we overcome our habits and tendencies during this lifetime, we can possibly navigate the Bardo (dying) realms without fear engaging the same skillfulness and determination cultivated in our Practices.

Thus, ultimately, death becomes just another inner workout in the amazing and sacred life of a WF Warrior. But we all must study very hard and do our Practices with great enthusiasm to gain this type of mastery in our brief lifespan.

Well, I’m off to do some Hill Repeats to do my best to empower my feeble self ever Higher. Maybe it will help me be brave in some way today and help the quality of my mind. If not, at least I’ve got another workout deposited in my good karma “bank account.”

And that, to me, is always enough.

May your Practice be strong and sincere today…

love,

coach ilg