Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors!

“There are two ways of looking at the world. One way is that nothing is a miracle. The other is that everything is a miracle.”

– Albert Einstein

Kathy and i are back in LA, (overly) tanned, rested, and ready to get the doors open for our new HP yoga studio. We are aiming for September 15th as our ‘soft’ opening. Our Grand Opening is slated for the first weekend in November and will include a variety of speakers, musicians, and free classes. We are delighted to feature kirtan chanting artist, “Mantra Girl” (www.mantragirl.com) for our Grand Opening weekend!

Should be very fun.

Which is why i want to open my own yoga studio…sounds like fun. i like having fun. i’ve had fun my whole life. Even through the ups and downs. In fact, the longer one journeys a spiritual Path, the realization begins to gel; it’s the obstacles and challenges in life that gift us appreciation, meaning, and wonder.

RECAP OF OUR SUMMER YOGA RETREAT:

(watch for a Red Mountain ‘Moment’ photo series at wholisticfitness.com!)

Our time at Red Mountain kicked gluteal. We represented the High Performance Yoga vibe pretty well, i feel. A great time was had by all and the Management wants us back ASAP. I don’t know…it’s a pretty tough gig….;-)

Some peripheral highlights help define the core of our week-long teaching; by week’s end nearly everyone staying at the Spa was doing Namaste and bowing to each other. Most of these people had never even heard the word, “Namaste” before, let alone bow to complete strangers! It was very cute. We had the place looking like a zen temple with everyone bowing and smiling to each other. Our classes were packed with more than a few students moved to tears, either by way of sheer effort or uprooted emotions brought about by the depth of inner work that HP Yoga requires from us. Dr. David Tate, the staff psychologist at Red Mountain Spa is such a big fan of HP Yoga that he pulled his gorgeous son and daughter out of school for my Taoist Yoga Flow Class and Yoga For Health lecture. He said told his kids that attending one of my classes is an “education of a Higher sort not to be missed.” i bow to Warrior Tate. Kathy and i had lunch with his family and Dr. Tate enthusiastically agreed to endorse my new book. Another bridge built spanning East and West! Yeah, baby!

OUTDOOR YOGA, WHERE THE BREATH TRULY BELONGS!

Since HP Yogis are not ‘studio’ yogis, i made certain we took our yoga outdoors. One gorgeous morning, i established a course record for the Snow Canyon Loop on a rented mountain bike with a wobbly rear wheel. This unbelievably beautiful 17.3 mile loop circumnavigates the Red Mountain Spa via a blend of a Scenic Highway that climbs 1,400′ through Jurassic sandstone peppered by 2,000 year old lava flow fields and a scintillating paved bike path that undulates like a angered serpent through red rock country as it careens into St. George. A lefthand turn sweeps you onto a thigh pumping 3.5 mile gentle ascent to deposit you right back at the Spa. Don’t miss it. One of the best cycling routes i’ve ever had the honor to breathe with. You can even do your best to better feeble ilg’s time of: 51 minutes. Remember, that’s on a hard tail rented mountain bike! I like leaving invisible marks like this at places i visit. Kinda like a dog marking his territory, you know what i mean? i’ve pretty much marked the entire country at this point. Got that down? Dog?

Kathy and WF Warrior Clay Clymore also rode our mountain bikes with climbing shoes tucked into our packs out to a cliff that i knew about from my former life as a rock climber. Sure enough, our self propelled effort won favor with the Desert Gods who – having been appeased by our sweat – saw it fit to hook us up with some very cool local rock climber kids. Their super kind, laid back demeanor rekindled my faith in the younger generation as they let us use their equipment and enjoy their company. The smell of rope abrading rock and finger tendons yawning upon chalked handholds pried open all sorts of rich, delightful memories from my former occupation. My HP Yoga fitness transferred seamlessly onto the vertical rock face as i easily floated up a 5.10b route with no flicker of difficulty. The presence of a very sparky Desert Tortoise appeared like a Skinwalker at Warrior Clymore feet! All six of us shared a zen moment when Kathy spotted a tiny spider spinning a web like a lasso around a much larger red ant. Periodically, the spider would jump on top of the strugggling ant, inject poison into it’s backside, then reverse the lasso effect. Watching this fight for life reminded me of how addicted we humans are to comfort. And of how far we’ve strayed from the visceral intensity of survival.

In contrast to finding yoga in outdoor sports and in the animal kingdom, i also pushed my edge in the opposite direction. During the week long retreat i received my first ever pedicure. i now want another. Inspired by the soft gleam of my feet, i painted a blue “OM” symbol on my big toes. Why not? Kathy and i also had a tanning contest refereed by Noble Student Clymore. Since Kathy is part Mexican, she made a crucial mistake of overconfidence. She forgot that my heritage, although anglo, stems back to Germanic Barbarianism. If challenged, my Viking spirit arises from within eons of imprinted cell energy and i will do anything to slay a competitor if so inspired. Melanoma, i figure, is a small price to pay to win a tanning contest against my wife. When time came to reveal the tan lines, i inched her out by one half of one shade. Performance Note: i did have to rely on a yogic siddhi (power) to win this competition, a fact of which i am not proud.

i bow with nearly sunburned scalp to you as summer begins to surrender. It’s been another fun one. We are all Blessed to be Here Now,

coach ilg

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Dearest Noble Guru,

I wish to express my deepest appreciation to you for teaching the Ai Imawa healing postures as part of your yoga class at Red Mountain Spa. I want to share my observations with you as well as our tribal brothers and sisters. In the past I had not given the Ai Imawa healing postures enough credit. After having warmed up with sun salutations, I believe this set the stage for letting the postures work their magic. I like the postures because the remind me of my study of martial arts, then came the magic. I felt such a deep emotional release that toward the end of the series there were tears rolling down my cheeks. Thank you for allowing me to revisit and learn a deeper appreciation of Ai Imawa.

humbly submitted

Namaste’

warrior student clay clymore

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Dearest Teacher –

I look forward to visiting your new studio one day soon. When the great northern and southern WF vortexes once again meet, a new destiny may be born.

� when the Lila

deems our Dance

such

we shall share of the Dharma…

RE: How do I obtain your new book,”Total Body Transformation?”

� pre order available via:

www.amazon.com

search under

steve ilg

or

Total Body Transformation

RE: Do you also have a book on high performance Yoga?

� soon

RE: Maybe I should soon consider writing one of my own!

� sure, why not?

go for it!

RE: I feel your presence, and give thanks for it each day!

In Love and Trust,

Panther

� me too…

i bow to you,

ilg

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Been reading your direct lines lately and decided to update you on things

back here in Monterrey……

Been enjoying my summer and reaping the fruits of my intense training from

January until June…this summer felt my climbing really improve with the

practice of yoga not just because of the increased flexibility but because

of the “hold the asana” type of movements in the rock…

Started Kitesurfing on some weekends in lakes nearby and in South Padre

Island…men, I am really loving the sport…can kite for days without

getting tired…yea baby…

With regards to my biking… …my last race was yesterday and I

finished 14 in my category…heat was burning and my heart rate was 181 bpm

average with 192 bpm

max…concentrated, motivated and improving but still far from the

podium…lets see how I do in the next and last two races of this

year…will probably ask for your training advice for next years series…

Im reading the Light on Yoga book and practicing your videos…Iyengar is an

wonderful writer/teacher…your new yoga video rocks…my hips still arent

even near of doing a pose similar as those on the last 20 minutes of the

class…flexibility is my REAL challenge…I will open myself “centimetro a

centimetro”…

Still researching herbs… wonderful stuff…we are still testing the

Sunrider waters…and have liked what weve tried…personally really like

the fortune delight before and during my morning CV or strenght

session…Ilg supreme for breakfast and mid morning Calli tea…feel

energetic and with better control on my daily food choices…slowly

progressing towards my weight target…

Hope you recieved your Sunrider book back and liked the music selection we

did for you two.

Best of luck in your new Yoga Studio proyect…hope to visit it soon.

Ale and yours truly are still absorbing your teachings and saving/planning

our next wholistic fitness trip…most surely next year…you guys are fully

invited to our home whenever you want to visit the real south down under…

Un abrazo desde Mexico,

Fidel y Ale

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