Wholistic Fitness

Just Another Cardio/Yoga/Strength/Meditation/Nutrition jaunt up the Sacred Peak…
as i wait, patiently as possible for Flagstaff to be Blessed with the Miracle of Snow,
i return day and again to the Kachina Spires to get my fix of supernatural wind and pran
to breathe my spirit into the Four Directions of Eagle, Bear, Buffalo, and Coyote…
i must train harder than the Buddha to bring my Edge closer to you…Oh Faithful Warriors of
the Wholistic Fitness Sangha! Must train harder than the Buddha!…

My eyes, from the Temple H(om)e lift toward the Sacred Peak…i will run up, climb up, dance up
the far left ridgeline…this view from my home assures me once again, this will be no regular
workout so common to the masses…
this promises to be yet another session of Sacred Sweat and High Altitude Stillness…

must train Harder Than The Buddha…

mountain yogis are trained to adapt to conditions; not whine about weather…
Weather is never good or bad…Weather is just weather…
i have trained in these Southwest Mountain Brothers and Sisters through drought and hammering snow and rain..
today – though my Atlas Snowshoes are quivered to my spine – i shall not need them,
for only a mere crust of snow dwells, scablike, upon the hearth of the Sacred Peak.
instead, i pull out my YakTracks – for low landers; think chains for your running shoes.
i have used this piece of mountain yogi gear for years, and this very pair i gave to WF Teacher Haku
who used them to help us set the Men’s Team record at Mt. Taylor Winter Quad last year…
i must Train Harder Then The Buddha in order to retain that record…and so many more…

i pass through my checkpoints at record speed; pausing only once at 11,200′ to
adjust my soaring heart rate…i look around, already perched far above the highest horizon,
and feel
and reMember with
the Sacredness of All Things…
the Silence is eerily calm and profound…
bobcat prints juxtaposed next to mine within the pages of the snow…
bringing out life upon the frozen earth..
other signs of life cover Mother’s garment of snow like drumbeats;
coyote, wapiti, deer, fox, raven, pica, and…coach ilg…
this is my Family; i feel okay with this eerie Great Mystical Silence;
for in my Spiritual Training, i have been Taught that until the Yogin is at One with
the Great Mystical Silence; the filaments of Consciousness will be quickly severed
at the Early Entry into our Bardo Moment…

i must Train Harder Then The Buddha…

i turn my at-tension upward,
and begin, again and again…
running upward,
then clawing…
heart beat beyond compare,
i release fear and switch my in-tension back upon the WF Sacred Mantra as i climb faster than any other
Being toward the Summit Winds…

Summit Headwall; O Lady of Volcanic Grace,
whose hair has once fallen from a fire red sky…
i lope among you
breathing
dancing among a vertical jumble of
your summit boulders…
like teased and tasseled braids of White Corn Girl…
i gaze into a thousand eye sockets looking into me;
searing thighs,
searing lungs
now i am the Volcano of Force
flinging my bright breath upon you…
a heart soaked emblem for your Beauty

i take shelter three times from the 60 mph+ winds that rush the summit headwall,
a lifetime of high altitude wind and sun has ripped across my face; if it were not
for the SUNRIDER Herbs and Skin Care to regenerate from such high intensity damage,
another human would barely be able to look upon my weathered and leathered face!
i lovingly clutch my shivering knees…
fetal position, imploding breath, i hear a plane…
it is below me…let the common man fly his planes; he knows not the breath of your Mountain Spirit!
flying planes no help in the Bardo…
i glance to the frozen plains stretching out below my quivering body…
i glance to the frozen plains stretching out like a molted brown scarf upon a batter of earth…

oh Smile Mountain Yogin!
the Sacred Peak has disrobed for my eyes
through my devotion of effort and sacred sweat
oh Smile Mountain Yogin!
upon the summit ridge; a particular Pranayam is done;
one created especially for these supernatural winds and
subzero temperatures…
upon completion of my 12, 255′ pranayam session
my Spirit Dances light as a raven’s feather
and i plunge
downward
like a Wolf Howl
against a bay of stars…

it is go(o)d to be a Wholistic Fitness� Warrior…
bold against the sky…

i howl to you, oh Noble Warriors…
i howl to you on this fine and treasured day.
be brave.
be strong.
be lovingly fierce in all that you do.

om mani padme hung

coach ilg