A DIFFERENT “RED MOUNTAIN” ADVENTURE!
Ananda prepares for bakasana within a secret canyon on our visit to nearby Red Mountain. Man, those SUNRIDER herbs are rippin’ that girl UP! pheweee!! i gotta start taking more Action Caps or something!
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Located 28 miles north of Flagstaff, on your way to visit the Grand Canyon (they don’t call it “Grand” for nuthin’ you know!), make sure you make an adventure pit stop at aptly named Red Mountain, a one million year old cinder cone that rises 1,000′ above the pinyon-juniper mesa into the ponderosa zone. Home to dozens of species of birds and wildflowers, rumor has it that even mesa-dwelling goblins cavort among the spooky, wind carved huecos of the cone! hmmmmm…sounds right up my alley…
i am ready to run up the one and one half mile trail to check it out…wanna come?
Hey! there is a mesa goblin now! oh wait! hec, that ain’t a goblin! that is WF Teacher and HP Yogini Ananda! check out the pinyon and juniper pines twisted around each other like Garudasana! 
Mother Earth is soooo healthy here! check out this Mustard Bladderpod! this hardy desert wildflower is usually only half this size! Must be the Pran up here, baby! Regeneration! 
Better to see a Larkspur in bloom than to have a blooming lark spur you!…least, that’s what i always say! man, my running pace is slowing down with all this beautiful nature to drop into! Hey, if our fitness levels can’t take us deeper into awe at nature, why bother?
commonly mistaken as “Indian Paintbrush” the Scarlet Gillia is one of my favorites! oh, wait a sec, yogis are trained to overcome Duality…we are not allowed to have favorites…”Well, frankly Scarlet…i don’t give a damn!”
with the mystical spires of Red Mountain in the background, i could tell by the linear rows of holes drilled into the ponderosa bark that i was closing on a Red Naped, or possibly, a Williamson’s Sapsucker! My Teachers taught me to learn the names of birds and flowers because, “It increases Awareness and Perspective.” it also increases neck mobility! 
Basidiomycota, anyone? i would, but i filled up on my SUNRIDER herbs this morning…
i love this shot. in the same way this ponderosa tree has shot out a root to take hold in unstable volcanic tuft, so too does meditation take root and help to eventually stabilize the chaotic, undisciplined mind. “Yoga is everywhere because yoga is in everything i see.” – coach ilg
goblin spires, spiraling pines, inspiring sky
in morbid irony of a much sensationalized accident, my run came to a quick stop as my gumption to climb up a slot canyon suddenly caused this boulder to crush my left arm. as fate would have it, i had to cut off my own arm using only my teeth! after cell phoning Tom Brokaw to see if he could interview ME about MY CUT OFF ARM ACCIDENT, he replied, “Screw you, ilg…that is old news!” Dejected about the loss of free publicity (since no one ever interviews me about how to stay SAFELY INTACT after 2 decades of extreme sports), Ananda helped me sew back my arm using nearby Mullein and Yucca fibers. 
Earth Sister Ananda climbs up a slot canyon, both arms intact 
sunlight shafted rock (5)
whispers of eternity (7)
mesmerizing chi (5)
buns of steel, walls of sand
Ananda holds out some choice Obsidian and some very healing Quartz Crystals. Before the White Man came, terminated crystals would protrude outward from these sandstone spires by the millions, catching sunlight and amplifying the Earth Energy, these Red Rock cliffs would literally dazzle the eye like a natural chandelier. 
For reasons of greed, the White Man felt obliged to snap off all the imbedded Crystals (see above evidence) to sell them at New Age bookstores and catalogs. 
well time had come to run back down the trail, hop on Sudhamani and crank off a 1,500′, 28 mile uphill Time Trial to our home. Averaging 19.3mph, i was beneath the Sacred Peak and back to Online Teaching in 1:27:32. God, thank you for blessing me the courage to remain true to my Path, true to my Practice, and true to my Sangha. I feel Blessed for being brave enough to stay fit and strong, supple and serene. I can’t imagine my life without being Wholistically Fit…
it’s
just
too…
FUN!
May this entry inspire you to shoot your own Arrow Of Truth
into your everyday fitness and purify your life
within the Hallowed Heat of your Sweat(lodge)…
go now, Noble Fitnesss Warriors!
and be Brave Within.
special thanks to my Beloved Ananda…
namaste,
the mountain yogi
These teachings are the "Rasas" or "sap" of Wholistic Fitness. You’ll find insights to ponder, student chi to keep your own chi topped off, and plenty of proven training techniques to test on your own body, mind, and spirit! Also, you’ll find my very popular Race Reports, and news of our Sangha’s (community’s) latest transpersonal fitness adventures!