Wholistic Fitness

COACH�S NOTES FROM NEW MEXICO; Part II

�You are neither this body nor the mind. The self is above and beyond the senses, intellect, and physical consciousness. That is you.�

– Swami Saraswarti

{Written Monday}:

between the blur of my thighs pivots my Trek road bicycle, �Alphie.� we�re both hunkered low on a rising kilometer of an asphalt artery which bisects the Colorado Plateau and the Rio Grande river drainage. Where Coronado once drew both insight and blood from this arid land, today, the pavement upon which i now pedal, brings yet another multitude of people. each time i come back, a shock of new housing expansions continue their monstrous reach into the fragile desert. these ribbonlike roads which i love to ride, will soon invite a million modern people, each one�s weight upon Mother Earth heavy. to populate here is to deplete the final moisture and resources from these parched high plains. few seem to care. more babies being born. more heaviness upon fewer and fewer natural resources. life in Kali Yuga, baby. should be very interesting over the next few decades.

although we find great difficulty in keeping our minds in the present moment, we sure seem to know how to spend money and live like there is no tomorrow and harbor no sentiment for history.

i look down at my thighs which appear golden in the waning sunlight. at this pedal cadence of 100 rpms, each thigh jumps with a sharp muscularity that makes me smile that i have maintained a fitness lifestyle. road cycling for me, creates more than fit legs. it produces a hypnotic trance of Oneness…an aerobic form of sometimes sweet, sometimes sour yoga. there always effort, if not pain. yet in the endeavor there is delivered a unique form of mental emptiness that is a gateway toward spiritual fulfillment.

among most studio yogins, �cardio yoga� like cycling, seems distant and �not traditional� to their ears. not traditional? why? Yoga is, after all, the Science of Change. why should a Bench Press or a 2 – 4 hour road ride into a headwind not be equated with yoga? you want a Warrior Pose? bend your elbows and flatten your spine and ride as hard as you are able into a headwind for a few hours. that�ll produce a Warrior Pose from the very guts of who you really are.

my point is:

wherever one finds Unity of self, one finds yoga, be it on a bike, in gym, on a choo-choo train, or slicing a carrot.

it�s all yoga, baby.

here is what helps the unification occur at any time, doing anything: conscious breath, conscious posture. WF Lifestyle Principle Number One: Breath and Posture.

according to my personal reading and research, the Yogic Masters from the Himalayas would regularly walk barefoot (or close to it) 10-20 miles per day at very high altitudes over rocky terrain. cardio yoga.

Funny to me: how so many contemporary yogins are proud to bend themselves into fancy poses but do not bother to do long (several hours per week) Cardio volumes.

High Performance Yogis are trained in the Ways of the genuine Teachers, the One�s that did Cardio and endured outdoor weather extremes like heat, cold, and wind. this type of sustained mental focus, self-regulation, and spirit of repetition is the hallmark of a HP Yogic Warrior. the results are obvious among those HP Yogins who get out and test the efficacy of the HP Way. Just in the past couple of weeks Timari Pruis, a consistent student of HP Yoga won a 24-hour Mountain Bike Race. solo. HP Yoga student Barry just climbed Mt. Whitney, in record time. solo. Steve Marlowe won the omnium at the velodrome. HP Yoga devotees Michelle Ringler and Steve Mackel just finished in the top ten of an Adventure Race.

High Performance Yoga

means performing within the Higher aspects of ourselves.

that can mean anything to anyone.

you are charge of what Level at which

you wish to play the Game.

HP means knowing who we are by direct and regular

testing of our

mental focus

and self endeavor.

which is what Yoga is all about.

meditate each day so you don�t let the outer world

dilute the Teachings of the Masters.

take personal retreats,

like what i am doing right now.

by yourself.

absorb the moments genuinely.

make no mistake:

yoga is the world�s first and foremost Extreme Sport.

the goal; to transcend all limits of the body and mind.

go

for

it.

off into the higher mountains…in pursuit of purer and purer Prana…

May your Practice be strong…i am meditating on you…you inspire your feeble teacher…

namaste,

coach ilg