Wholistic Fitness

Dear Steve,

I am a novice yoga practitioner.

My yoga experience is based upon the Living Arts’ Beginners A.M. and P.M. yoga tapes that I do inconsistently, and a wonderful (gentle) post-natal yoga tape that I practiced with (for about 4 months) 4 years ago.

I have been interested in finding a yoga studio close enough to follow a regular practice (both at home and at the studio). I found your Tarzana studio while eating at Pozi’s Grille. I noticed you had a Zen meditation class. My son was interested in experiencing a Zen class, so we went two Sundays ago. Thank you for the free class. Ben really liked it, but he did not want to make a regular practice of it at this time.

This past weekend, I attended your YogaNation class for the first time and the Zen class for the second time.

My understanding of the Nations’ class was that it was instructional. That meant to me that I would sit and learn and listen. So I did one of my yoga tapes before going to class, so I could sit (quietly, I hoped. Sitting still is not easy). After my tape, I ate.

This means that I ate before the Nations’ class.

As you saw, I wore the wrong clothes. I was not expecting to work out.

I was not mentally prepared for a vigorous workout.

For me, last Saturday was a vigorous workout. My muscles burned. I breathed very hard. Most of the postures were difficult for me to either do or maintain.

I haven’t had a good, vigorous workout in a long time.

I felt both great and awful.

Great because of the workout. Wow. I did it. Plus, at the end, both sides of my lower back gently cracked by themselves. (A chiropractor can’t do that!)

Awful, because my muscles burned too much, and my stomach ached.

The next morning I attended the Zen class again. Lots of breathing.

That night I had one of the worst stomach and body/back aches. My entire back felt like it was completely open and in flames. My stomach was acutely upset and everything inside it was burning. I had a fever.

I don’t believe I was sick with a “bug.”

I believe that I really messed with my body.

1. I ate before one of your classes. You can bet I won’t do that again.

2. I overextended myself to meet your physical challenges in class. I am competitive, and since I am not in any good physical shape, I really don’t think that I should be trying to prove myself. There has got to be a balance somewhere between pushing myself harder and over-pushing myself.

3. I am not on a good nutritional cleansing diet. OK, I’m not on any diet. If I am to do these breathing techniques with yoga without stomachaches, then I need to detoxify GENTLY. I think that what I experienced on Sunday night was a dramatic opening in my nervous system (chakras?) from the “cracks” in the lower back and the breathing exercises that fought against all toxins in my body that were being released plus the food I had eaten during the prior 24 hours. I was really feeling nauseous.

I have stretched out the workout aches and pains. I know how to do that.

I do not know how to detoxify my system.

I don’t know how to practice hard “enough” without over-doing it. I think I’ll need to be the master of the hard physical pushing, and you be the master of the mental pushing and proper techniques until I get in better shape.

I have no specific physical goal to attain. I do not wish to climb any high mountain, or learn to ice climb, or rock climb, or go on mammoth bicycle or kayaking journeys. I don’t run. I don’t back pack. I don’t need to prove myself physically any more. I just want to be healthy and have my body (muscles, joints, bones, blood, nervous system, etc.) last in good health until I leave it. So my goal is my journey. That’s all.

Knowing this, is your program appropriate for me, or is your “target market” for the more physically driven focused athlete?

Best regards,

Robin C. Fox

�

Noble Warrioress Fox –

everyone is an athlete.

all humans are part of the human �race.� thus, we are athletes. our race, in case you have forgotten, is toward Enlightenment in this lifetime. we must help each other and Practice very very devotedly and wisely.

your mindful letter (not one misspelling) and well constructed thought patterns tell me that

you are reaching out

for a Teacher…

you want to know if my place is safe for you to explore new dimensions of yourself emerging.

it is.

your potential is high… you are �ripe� for self transformation. go for it.

Robin, i have no �target market.� you assume that upon me. a high altitude mountaineer learns quickly that assumption kills. do not assume anything about me, my work, or yourself. keep freedom everywhere, within everything and everyone. do not assume. he who has no assumptions maintains Presence. he who assumes destroys Presence.

my athletic exploits and physical workouts have been and will remain mere fodder for what truly matters; my spiritual workouts in the years ahead. you can benefit from the fitness energy in the High Performance Yoga studio. you are from our Tribe, just re-membering. you are safe to explore with us. that�s what we do; explore inwardly.

you were guided to my studio by way of a Higher Intelligence. in-joy our �yang� Presence as a beneficial component of your own sacred Journey.

i bow to you and your devotion to work on yourself. May all beings benefit from y(our) dedication.

head bowed, spine straight…

coach ilg, RYT