Wholistic Fitness

COACH’S SUNDAY SERMON: ONLY THE NOW



Like choosing to see the Light instead of the Darkness, i had to cultivate the Sushumna energies within my spinal column as i lie paralyzed as a young mountain yogi. Hitting rock bottom, figurativley and literally, forced me to trust and constantly refine the energy of my cells to overcome my spinal cord injury. i have already mystified the doctors who once told me i would never, ever be able to walk, let alone compete in sports again. Most of us do not need to ‘heal’…we need to grow! Pain is a vital component of any true spiritual growth process. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. This is why in WF, i teach my students not to slink away from that which challenges them, instead run toward challenge! In fact, only by devoting ourselves to difficulty can we be Freed through it! Run away for lifetimes if you choose, yet, the inner Work will be needed to be done sooner or later. WF is all about doing the Work sooner…not later. Life is too short, too precious to waste it on spectacting. Do the Work in the Now.

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Wholistic Fitness illuminates the spiritual possibilities of our efforts in lifestyle fitness like a new Light which illuminates old stuck patterns, many of which seem as solid as rock. Once we Awaken to a multi-disciplined approach to our body/mind fitness, we learn a key lesson; within every weakness of ourselves, within every imbalance of our body and mind, there lies another Seed of Higher and Sacred Growth. i chose personal fitness and extreme sport performance to carry forth my message of Yoga to people in the form of Wholistic Fitness. i saw at an early age that the pain and endurance required to fuel lifelong fitness is a mandatory and actually IDEAL preparation for the inevitable spiritual journey which we must all recognize…even if it be at the moment of death. in the words of my spiritual Teacher, NidraRishi B in counsel to me,

” Pain serves as a necessary constrictive element for refinement, and timing is essential in the layers of realization of the subconscious mind. Eons of time have fragmented the reality of Self. The healing and evolving of the emotional, energetic body is a necessary component of our evolution. The power of the mind and its’ desire for survival is the challenge. The mind is a slippery eel. The battle which ensues is demanding. But when Grace arrives and awareness is at hand, the mind does not stand a chance…Higher consciouness takes over and victory is assured.”

Personal workouts must occur each day; that requires fortitude of spirit over mind. I have yet to meet the intellectual, whom regardless if they have a PhD in anatomy, can logically think themselves into an advanced yoga pose. Getting into advanced yoga postures requires the surrender of the ego, surrender of the logical brain, and a mind open to the possibilities of Higher Learning. How is Higher Learning attained? By listening, accepting, and cultivating the NOW! Quit thinking about working out and just do the work! Release into the wrapping of your hand around the barbell! Surrender into the breath as you begin my HP Yoga Sun Salutations! Place your chopsticks down between a bite of food every now and then and FEEL THE NOW!

What imparts Sacredness to your training is not the style or the creator of a particular brand of working out…what fuses spirit and strength is your MIND CONTROL…otherwise known as Meditation, one of the Five Fitness Disciplines of WF. As Sogyal Rinpoche so elegantly puts the common sense basis of the spiritual journey:

“The cells of our body are dying, the neurons in our brain are decaying, even the expressions on our face are always changing, depending on our mood. What we call our basic character is only a �mindstream,� nothing more. Today we feel good because things are going well; tomorrow we feel the opposite. Where did that good feeling go?

What could be more unpredictable than our thoughts and emotions: Do you have any idea what you are going to think or feel next? The mind, in fact, is as empty, as impermanent, and as transient as a dream. Look at a thought: It comes, it stays, and it goes. The past is past, the future not yet risen, and even the present thought, as we experience it, becomes the past.

The only thing we really have is nowness, is now.”

Once, while still a young man,

i lay paralyzed, spinal cord injured, pelvis smashed, unable to move anything but my breath.

The experts in the body, the doctors, told me i would never again walk, let alone compete in sports again.

just yesterday i rode my bicycle for over three hours up a mountain. No one could keep up with me.

And, not suprisingly, there were no doctors in the peleton.

The only wise doctor is the one found within.

Feeble ilg says, once you’ve hit the bottom, the darkest night of the soul, there is only one Perfect Path; the Now.

You have everything you need to Awaken:

You have Awareness and you have Breath.

You also have the only Tool of Transformation that you will ever, ever need:

The Now.

Now,

Just Begin

Again

and Again…

and

Endlessly Again.

Live your Life

Pain is neccessary as a refining element

There is no re-tirement from life,

there is only a re-firement of your Divine Spark which never,

ever dies.

Go Noble Warrior!

Go into your day and illuminate your weak tendencies with the srength of the WF Light!

i

cherish who are you choosing to be

for you

are choosing

to

Be

Here

NOW!

love,

your feeble coach