Wholistic Fitness

COACH�S NOTES FROM NEW MEXICO; Part I

i am riding my bicycle across the fragile beauty of New Mexico. i escaped LA early this morning via Galileo (my motorcycle) and the 405 to LAX observing all speed limits of course on the empty freeway, of course.

LA�s freeway system is absolutely magnificent. there is nothing wrong with the system at all. as long as it is 6:30am on a Sunday Mother�s Day!

after answering email at 37,000� on the plane i arrive within the energetic vortex of my homeland and set about my priorities with wolf-like demeanor;

1) surprise the pants off my mom for Mother�s Day (she had zero idea i was coming), and,

2) get my sea-level, pollution caked butt onto Alphie (my Kundalini-colored Trek road bike i keep stashed in New Mexico for my NM visits).

first things first; Mother�s Day. i had been calling my mom from LA for a week pretending i didn�t know when Mother�s Day was. I kept calling her, wishing her a happy Mother�s Day. fact was, it was Ananda, the stalwart warrioress and manager of HP Yoga Studio who forced me to take a direly need time out and return h(om)e to New Mexico. Bless you, Ananda. Thank you. I will repay you for doing quadruple overtime for nothing at the Studio. i can only bow to your amazing sense of and gut deep practice of Sva-Dharma.

the plane landed. i got a car. i called my mom. i still pretended to be in LA. i wished her a happy Mother�s Day. �Maybe next year, after the studio stuff settles a bit, i can actually come and see you!� i said.

�Oh, don�t you worry about that, i know how much you are going through right now…don�t you worry about me, i�m just happy you called.�

that�s my mom.

she�s like the Buddha these days. post menopause. very interesting.

so, knowing she is at home, i stop for a bouquet of flowers. they are in coffee mug as a vase. the mug says, �For A Very Special Mom.�

having visualized my ninja-like surprise, sure enough, it plays out to perfection. i pull up to the house. back door is open. i walk in. first, my Dad and my cat, Spencer Sandis Smith, nearly hit the ceiling as i glide, ghostlike toward them asking, �Shhhhh…where is she?�

�JEEZUSCHRIST!!!!!!� my dad yelps…in his typical – and not very yogic – dialect. �You scared the shit out me…what the hell are you are doing here?�

�Where is she?� i repeat, smiling.

�She�s in the TV room…�

you guys shoulda seen my mom�s face when she saw me come in through the door of her little reading/TV room. speechless. confused. she could not connect the dots.

when she did…she cried.

me too.

i�ve really pushed myself to be in the Big City and trying to impart what i have to teach. she knows how brave i have been in the seven years i�ve spent in LA. she wouldn�t do it. nor would any of my Mountain bros.

i felt an immense cascade of love for my Mom in that moment. i saw her 74 years of age. i felt my own years heavy upon me like a wet trenchcoat. i realized, this is my MOM, man. wow. i need to spend more time with her.

those of us Blessed enough to still have Mother�s around better damn well do our BEST to love them fully. even a cursory study of the worlds spiritual traditions reveal clearly the Absolute Superiority of Mother Energy. to be a female is very High. to be a mother however is absolutely HUGE from a spiritual perspective. only the most accomplished spiritual beings are Mothers. for a Soul to take an incarnation within a womb, a Mother must have journeyed well and deep within Herself to be a capable conduit of another precious life. make no mistake, female energy is always more powerful than male energy. all-ways. study any spiritual tradition. this is why in my Teachings of WF, i have always done my best to emphasize the yin, the female energy in everything from Barbell Curls in the gym, to yoga poses, to breath practice.

i bow to Mother�s Day.

i bow to Mothers.

i bow to female energy.

i bow to yin.

i bow to las luna.

i bow to you…

tomorrow�s DL: a simple bike ride in my h(om)eland.

go(o)d night Noble Ones, from where the Rio Grande laces mountains and mesas beneath a star soaked and sooooo clear night sky.

i am happy.

may all beings experience what i feel in this amazing moment.

namaste,

coach ilg