Wholistic Fitness

Dharmic Whispers; My Kin?�n� Mountain Yoga Retreat Notes

“Athletes, artists, dancers…To achieve highest states, one must open up the heart for the magic to exist…Old Souls…They are drawn to these activites. The young souls watch. As it should be. Run straight into it. DO not avoid it. This is the way of the true masters…”
– Mahanidrarishi B

Above photo: Yesterday: developing the artistry of what i call, “The Plyo Tele*” my own, unique style of ‘yang style’ style telemark skiing i am slowly evolving as the years pass. Maybe in another decade, i will actually have it mastered! Probably not, yet that is not the point of Mastery…the point of Mastery is enjoying and learning from the Process. I like listening to my own body, my own spirit and adapting my Practice of WF into the way i move and explore fitness and life. Fatiguing myself in the High Mountains by day, then, while others sleep, i meditate and listen to my Teacher’s instructions and guidance. My Mahanidrarishi told me during one of our sessions at Kinlani, “Dear Steve,
Athletes, artists, dancers…To achieve highest states, one must open up the heart for the magic to exist…Old Souls…They are drawn to these activites. The young souls watch. As it should be. Run straight into it. DO not avoid it. This is the way of the true masters…Love, B”

Global Summit Talks should only be done while skiing, cycling, or hiking; unless the body and breath animate the intellect, there is no true human wisdom. Without a barrier of physical fatigue, we are not empty enough for our Inner Ear to recognize, hear, and in time, assimilate Dharmic Whispers. I am a mountain yogi; my spiritual self thrives in the rarified, unpolluted air, richly concentrated withPrana (Life Force). during personal retreats, such as the last few days at Kinlani, i experience – for me – paradigmatic shifts in my meditations. cross-country ski training, the highest caloric output sport of them all, numbs my intellectual mind via a high heart rate and technical precision awareness. like a beautiful aerobically induced mantra, my ego spills out of my psychology, withered from a blasted physiology, thus emptying me to receive Dharmic Whispers from my Teachers. {coach in full ‘classical style’ stride. photo by Ananda; special thanks to Flagstaff Nordic Center} – http://www.flagstaffnordiccenter.com/

Ananda points to a Hawk, beneath the 12,633′ ‘snow crystal’ of Humphrey’s Peak where i took Retreat to work with my Mahahnidrarishi. Just as the human body has neural plexus’s (chakra’s), so too, does Mother Earth.

A pivotal part of an individual’s spiritual journey, is learning where, throughout the various stages of life (ashramas), is our h(om)e. Through the wise Guidance of our spiritual Teachers and through consistent Practice, the yogin learns to tune their body to where they are most needed, helpful, and/or in need of healing. teleskiing – cross country skiing down Alpine Ski Area slopes – is kinda like doing 20,000 Fast-Twitch Fiber Lunges, and, at 11,000’…this is superb Practice for a feeble mountain yogi like me! on my far right lies the Grand Canyon (talk about ‘earth vortex’s!) and below me, an ancient volcano seems to pull me into her tuft filled arms. photo by Ananda.

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“So everything is at risk in how we live now at this very moment: How we live now can cost us our entire future.”
– Sogyal Rinpoche
{Coach arcs linked tele turns at 12,000+ off Kachina Ridge in the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona. Shortly after Coach’s descent, the Park Service closed the immense snowbowl above him due to avalanche danger.} – photo by Ananda

“For most of us, karma and negative emotions obscure the ability to see our own intrinsic nature, and the nature of reality. As a result we clutch on to happiness and suffering as real, and in our unskillful and ignorant actions go on sowing the seeds of our next birth. Our actions keep us bound to the continuous cycle of worldly existence, to the endless round of birth and death. So everything is at risk in how we live now at this very moment: How we live now can cost us our entire future.

This is the real and urgent reason why we must prepare now to meet death wisely, to transform our karmic future, and to avoid the tragedy of falling into delusion again and again and repeating the painful round of birth and death. This life is the only time and place we can prepare in, and we can only truly prepare through spiritual practice: This is the inescapable message of the natural bardo of this life.”
– Sogyal Rinpoche

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{WF Most Improved Winter Athlete of 2004-05; Ananda. Alpine Skiing, Skate Skiing, Classic Skiing, & Sport Snowshoeing were all mainstays of Ananda’s Winter HP Yoga Practice…most of these sports were entirely new to her, yet her HP Yoga and WF and SUNRIDER HERB devotion totally paid off. Once scared stiff (literally) of a knee injury that kept her from enjoy the amazing brilliance and fitness of winter sports, Ananda used her WF Training to dance upon the winter landscapes like an snow angel set free from a fear-based cage. DL – still free of charge since before the internet was invented – would not stukk be possible today without this faithful, beautiful Server and Teacher of WF. i bow to Ananda.}

* Stands for “Plyometric Telemark”