Wholistic Fitness

A DL STUDENT INTERVIEW: MICHAEL THOMPSON OF CLAN HAKU!

Stellar Online WF Student Thompson of Clan Haku never waters down the potency of his WF Practice!

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DL: So what was your life BWF (Before Wholistic Fitness)?

MT: BWF I was tired, cranky, and labeled myself something like a “middle-aged, fat businessman.” I was short-tempered with people and felt that I had no control over my life. I also felt that I could not be happy, due to all the demands on my time. On a more serious note, I felt that my organs were shutting down…real health problems seemed to be right around the corner if I didn’t act.

DL: When/What was your first encounter with Steve and/or Wholistic Fitness?

MT: My first encounter with WF was seeing a copy of the The Outdoor Athlete in a book store about five years ago. I liked the emphasis on outdoor sports, particularly winter sports, as they are my favorites. I liked the tone of the writing, too. It seemed that Steve was dialed in to a more Universal definition of fitness that resonated with my own views of the world. I followed the programs in the book for about a year and brought my weight from around 184 (on a 5′ 7″ frame) down to 152 and started to feel great. I got busy at work, though, and dropped the workouts, and that was all it took to lose the fitness thread. A couple of years ago I knew that I needed a change, and I understood that I could use some help, if nothing else, to hold me accountable. I emailed Steve and he quickly replied that I needed to enter the Temple, under Coach Haku’s guidance.

DL: Why did you decide to embark on the Wholistic Fitness path?

MT: When doing it on my own, using The Outdoor Athlete, I was tired of being overweight and out of shape. I also knew that there was a link between fitness and happiness. With so many demands on my time, too, it was a chance to carve out some time for myself. When I finally asked about coming on as a student, I knew that I had a choice to make between declining health and taking a new, but unknown to me, path toward fitness. Without wanting to be melodramatic, it was a life or death decision. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, but I knew that I was at a high risk for a potentially fatal health event in the very near future. In hindsight, I was listening to my body. I actually always had “listened”, but what I heard was frightening to some degree.

DL: What has come of the practice? What are some of the highlights and crises
during your studies here?

MT: Initially, it was good to feel “supported” by being invited to practice. I also had a sense that this was the right path for me at that time. In the beginning, it was a bit of a stretch for me to get with the program, although I tried my best. All the new yoga lingo and the like was pretty foreign. SR herbs, although not pushed heavily, were a sticking point, too. I really do not like taking pills or powders for any reason, and here they were being highly recommended. And the SR program is clearly a “pyramid scheme”, so I had reservations about it from the beginning. This was a month or so in, though, and I stopped and thought about it all. It was about the time that I was assigned Patanjali’s How to Know God, which really resonated. Anyway, one of the lessons that hit home was to “trust your teacher”, so I gave myself up to the Teachings and the Teacher. As a scientist and botanist it was a leap to not know what was in the little pills, and I had to get used to taking them, but I thought that the only way to know if WF works would be to give myself up to it totally.

It was difficult for me to enter the gym, under the prying eyes of the body builders, etc., but it quickly became comfortable, and then familiar as I recalled lifting weights in college. The same was true with cardio work. The only bike that I’ve ever owned, though, was a one-speed with a big sissy bar, so it was hard to go to a bike shop and buy something with gears and skinny tires. Another early struggle was with yoga. It was so foreign to me, and full of arcane words, that it seemed impossible to grasp.

My biggest struggle, though, was with back and hip “problems.” These were in addition to shoulder and knee “problems”. My hips were slightly out of alignment and would periodically get worse after a long car ride, or hours at the desk. The result was very sharp pains and an inability to even walk on some occasions. I recall crying out for a little help and, yes, sympathy, but got none. Instead, I was urged to look within for Fear or other emotional baggage. I remember wondering, “Do these guys know what they’re doing? Don’t they know that I’m HURT?” Once again, before “reacting”, I decided to trust the Teachers, and guess what? I finally started to “get” the connection between my body and my emotions. I saw, too, that these weren’t “problems”, they simply existed. In realizing where my Fear resided, I felt the tight muscles that lead to my spine being out of alignment. The ultimate change came when, in meditation, I recalled my father’s back pain and remembered the times that I took him to the hospital so that he could be made to walk again. I recall feeling overwhelmed and confused to see my father crying and unable to move. As a father now, I understood that my Fear was that this would happen to me. I also understood that I needed to let go of that Fear, and my attachment to my father’s pain, and walk on my own. The result is that I have had no back or hip pain for a long time.

Those are some of the early issues, and they tend to focus on crises. Today, I Fly on my bike and Pray in the Iron Temple. I rely on SR herbs for most of my nutrition, and I’m starting to grasp what it might be like to be a Master Student. I feel now that I’m ready to Learn.

I can’t leave this topic, though, without mentioning my Intensive with Coach Sheader at his home in Colorado. That was a real highlight, and I wish that I had done it sooner. WF is at its best when you have the scent of sagebrush all around you.

DL: Have there been significant transformations in your life due to these?

MT: Physically, I have become stronger than I have ever been. Doing my first real pull-up in 26 years was incredible…it felt so powerful and full of joy. Cranking that off, too, made me feel that WF was working for me. So much from just one pull-up! I also have much greater cardio capacity, which allows me to run and play with my kids and to start to consider myself an Athlete once again.

I now feel in control of my life, ironically, by giving up the need to control Life. And I am very, very happy to have this chance to dance on Mother Earth in this life. I also feel that I have met some kindred spirits…tribal members. People are, I TAF, tribal by nature, yet it is hard to find your tribe in the midst of today’s “society”. WF gives me a sense of Universal belonging that is profound.

At work, I am a much easier person to be around. I no longer have to be “right” and things don’t need to be done “my way”. It brings great Joy to, instead, watch the Universe unfold.

DL: Where is your journey now taking you?

MT: I am walking the WF path more openly and I’m making good choices about what I put in my body, mind, or spirit. I shy away from negative people and tend not to follow world events. I focus, instead, on the world that is within walking distance of my home. I am seeking to continue to grow in my levels of fitness so that I feel good entering races and triathlons. I am also taking more risks, and pursuing sports that long attracted me, such as ice climbing. More importantly, I feel that I am becoming more connected to what is Holy in Life. To be specific, WF is ushering me into the next phase of my living on this planet. It may entail changes in work and relationships, but I feel grounded and ready to take those steps.

DL: And from there?

MT: I have a goal that some may understand. I wish to be a serene and happy man in his 80s who is known for growing wonderful, delicious tomatoes. WF will get me there, and perhaps one day we will share a tomato sandwich made with my homemade sourdough bread. I look forward, at that time, to sitting in malasana with my Teachers, cats curling at our feet, reflecting on well-lived lives.

DL: Lastly, in your own words would you define ‘Wholistic Fitness’?

MT: Wholistic Fitness, to me, is the Art of nurturing your body, mind, and spirit and getting them to function in a holistic manner. I am more comfortable with imagery, and one day I will paint what I See. I see a figure, sitting zazen, bathed in a white light. Around him I see many versions of the same figure, some walking, some dancing, some seeming to be lost. Each one is a different color, representing the different Selves that we allow ourselves to become, refracted from the Whole. WF allows me to call these Selves back to form the complete Self once again.

DL: Any thing else you would like to add?

MT: Namaste, with all my Heart, and thank you for being my Teachers.