Wholistic Fitness

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RE: DL 2*15

Loved your Half Dome story. If you ever need another moniker, perhaps it should be “extreme storyteller”. You’re great at it!

Making dal this morning for Indian lunch.

Always a mtn girl…
Yogini J

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Blessings Coach..
an observation for you………….from DL 2-15 SO HUM breath. Your picture is beautiful…….such clear energy and so vibrant a CHI……such a healthy looking and feeling ILG………way to go coach…….the outer reflects the inner !

love student shel

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Teacher Ananda and Coach Ilg,
Your approach to living is inspiring� I bow and will keeping studying. Thanks for your guidance and patience.
Namaste,
Steven Borgelt

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THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS ARE REALIZING and ENGAGING WHAT IS MOST FRUITFUL ABOUT WF: The 4 Lifestyle Principles:

Ilgbro,
I bow to DL this week–hits home to all of us…today I saw a piece of trash in my parking lot at the apartments. I thought of TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION and picked that mofo up–it was an ad for all the booze on sale down the street…i put it in the trash.

I seem to notice and come back to breath and posture more and more–hell at times this is all feeble rj can handle himself! I have a cool exercise for y’all–everytime we see someone slouched with shitty posture we warriors should “pull back.” I’ve been doing this lately–I see the bad posture and I pull my shoulders back and stand even taller–I stand FIRM and TALL for health and fitness Bro!

Hit a double today–trail run and some friggin’ iron. By the way, did you feel a CHI hit this last Monday around 11:00 in Flag? It was rj flying over at 30,000 feet!
Still Rockin’
rj

{you can visit World Champion ultra endurance racer, Ron Jones at his amazing resourceful website: www.ronjones.org}

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Namaste, Sweet Teacher, Ananda~
I’m becoming more aware of breath and posture – not working hard at it; realizing I am working it. Mindfulness has strengthened. Practice is stronger. Trust is lovely. Inner dialogue is more loving.

Had my first HPY experience this evening. Yeowzah!!! Love it!

Gorgeous dreams,
new student susan

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WF BLESSED MALA BEADS EMPOWERS STUDENT SHAWNA

namaste Coach Ilg,
Teacher Ko presented to me a very special delivery from you after yoga class this evening. as i opened the package, a wave of fragrance met me first. i could sense something very sacred lie within the envelope – receiving the delicious scent, carefully i pulled out your note, pine needles and the Mala Beads. i feel humbled and honored to receive such a gift from you. thank you for such a special offering.

Teacher Ko shared with me that the beads are to be worn around the neck or left wrist and that i should contact you for further direction.

i am at a loss of words…i feel blessed to be traveling this path.
namaste,
student-shawna

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RE: DL 2/4; THE REAL SUPERBOWL

Noble Coach:
Excellent DL on football and the “super bowl” the other day. There needs to be more emphasis in this country on sports that carry you through to adulthood, if not to the grave, like endurance sports etc. When Lance won the Tour last year, I heard a debate on the radio, the gist of which was that Lance was NOT one of the greatest American athletes ever — all the best athletes played football/basketball/baseball in high school or college, so a pro cyclist was a “leftover.” There is some truth to that. Not so much that Lance isn’t one of our greatest athletes – he is – but the fact that many kids end up not playing any sports at all, since they aren’t freakishly big, tall, or gifted with eye-hand coordination. My two cents.

Love you,
feather

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Coach Ilg,

I would just like to add my two cents in about cut programs. As you may recall I wrestled in college and am now an assistant. My dad is the head coach for the local JC (ask R. Jones about him), where his teams have finished 4th, 1st, 1st, and 2nd the last four years in the California community college championships. He was national Jr. college coach of the year 2 years ago, and the program has been by far the best at the school for the last 10 years (both athletically and academically). In that time program has been threatened to be shut down 4 times, and this last year the AD designated him as a walk on coach (dropped his pay) without telling him. The same thing has happened to cross country, tennis, and soccer. At the same time football has 5 paid coaches (they’re mediocre), and basketball has 4. The football, baseball, and basketball programs also drain the school of money (and are often involved with the law), while these other sports are pretty much self-supported (a few fund raisers, etc.). I find it ironic that I’ve never been anywhere where the acting A.D, and the community in general, hasn’t expressed to me how much they respect wrestling….how difficult it is both mentally and physically………how it changes one’s life (IT DOES), but still give a half-ass effort to support the program. As usual, you hit the problem right on the head.

In respect,
Joe Gutcher

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Dear Coach,

thank you! you da man.

loved the “Super Bowl” DL! hey, i’ll bet i’m one of the few “freaks” out there catching up on correspondence rather than watching the freak show on tv. i look forward to watching the real “Super Bowl” during tomorrow am’s Early Morning Ritual session! yeah, Baby!

Peace,
ko

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Coach,
Namaste! Saw this and had to forward. File under “greatest zen quote from a man who never heard of dt suzuki”:

“you’ll be amazed how fresh you feel when you forget everything in your life except what you’re doing right now”.
-Pittsburgh steeler coach Bill cowher in this week’s sports illustrated

Have a beautiful evening.
Student L

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RE: DL 2*3 COACH’S LETTER TO A YOUNG MAN

Dear Steve,
I’m very grateful for both your recognition of David’s talents and your support of him and willingness to inform the many others who also have great respect for you of his work.

I hope you are well in your work and am delighted to hear that you hope to be coming back our way. Please let me know when that will be so that we can enjoy your powerful teaching in person once again!

Namaste’
David {Tate, Sr.}

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Coach…….blessings
OK now you have gone and done it……have i told you today I Love You

Give it up for Janis Ian……..how about the secret life of j eddy fink album ? janis dressed as sherlock. My Janis Ian albums are so so worn they wobble when i put them on the album turntable–yes i still use a turntable. The image of you at your desk tending to our tribal needs listening to janis —-tears well up in my eyes.

May i teach the janis ian music appreciation class at bardo U ? 1/2 unit karma credit if you listen while in savasana— 1 full unit karma credit if you listen while doing HP yoga.

in breath and sweat and in deep appreciation for my h(om)e team………….may music fill your day and fill your heart ! love student shel

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RE: DL 2*15

Dearest Maha Rishi, Coach
wow!
humbly i say, “you taught me everything i now teach.”

poetry in motion,
ta 😉

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Hey Coach,
Great DL today. I couldn’t agree with you more about the medical industry. When you suffer trauma, western allopathic medicine can’t be beat. But for everyday health and preventative care, too many people refuse to let their own body do the work it was designed to do.

I think the current scare tactics over cholesterol are a perfect example of where the medical industry goes awry. The have a patient who is perfectly healthy, except their cholesterol level is “high.” Suddenly this same patient is a timebomb. “This number is high, you need to be medicated immediately, and for the rest of your life!” they cry!

Leaving aside the fact that the definition of “high cholesterol” is changing all the time, and bears a strange, inversely-proportional relation to the stock price of the drug company, your body manufactures its own cholesterol. Every cell in your body needs cholesterol. To say that this one value being high makes you unheathy is ludicrous. Cholesterol level is a function of both genetics and nutrition.

Like most natural systems, you body will always seek to operate around genetically-programmed “set points.” Trying to use medication to change the genetic disposition of the body is doomed to fail. Instead, you need to focus on the environmental factors that are causing the body to operate outside that predetermined zone.

Your body is going to tell you what it wants, you just have to listen.

OK, I’m off my soapbox. Sorry for the long ramble.

Enjoy the day,
Paul

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Coach,

i bow to you and the Path that i have been able to forge with Haku. i have gained so much in the 5 years of practice. Yes, 5 years. Everything changed the day i read Glickman’s NYT artcle on the new age jock and rode my bike to Border’s to find, hidden in the shelf, THE WINTER ATHLETE.

Namaste!

Bryan

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hello my kissable coach………..tapped , whacked and wild YES……slobber no ! If you want us to stop kissin on you stop showing us such a HIGH time………..that won’t happen so prepare to receive smooches………….a challenge to the tribe to see how many of us can get to god’s playground in 2006 and kiss that fuzzy hairy cheek under the sacred peak !

love student shel

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dear coache’,

a moment?

whassup?

1-dl’s have beeen ab-salutel-ly out-a-sight’..
especially your teachings to the student with
dope/xxx issues….

2- deep cleanse..just finished….
lost 9lbs body fat/3% of body fat….

3- pulled a hamstring 2 weeks ago…
usually a 2-4wk lay-up…
ice, rest to start..then
wf, healing mediation/breathing, yoga,
and of course sunrider(wu chia pi/sunbreeze)..baby..result?
1 week go(o)d to go…bruise gone..go figure.

4- sheli ..that girl rocks…

well…gotta go..dawn patrol beckons….

love,
student dansan

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Namaste, Beautiful Teacher Ananda~

Lovely greetings this eve!

The routine is humming along with a quiet balance. A few technique observations and questions?

1. During Seated Leg Curls, I notice that my last two reps are usually quite challenging (going for momentary fatigue) and that my form, keeping my lower back stable, is hard to maintain. Is it appropriate to decrease the weight in order to maintain form, but in doing so, I’m not hitting momentary fatigue?

2. I’ve read in past DLs about incorporating the yoga blocks to Iron Temple workouts. Is this appropriate in the Namaste program?

3. When performing jump squats, is it acceptable to keep my hands together in front of me instead of behind my head? I feel better body position especially as I fatigue.

4. When performing leg extensions, I feel very light headed. Prior to the exercise, I do not feel any sense of the light headiness. Once the light headiness begins, I feel the sensation (sometimes verging on nausea) for approximately 30-60 minutes.

Nutritionally, I TAF that I am becoming more mindful in the selection of appropriately balanced food, especially during hectic periods at work. Your words about taking care of myself really helped uncovered an important stone. Thank you again!

My workouts have been really lovely. I am becoming more focused on subtle (for me) form adjustments, and going out of my comfort zone for cardio workouts.

In glee and gratitude,
new student susan

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john’s book!

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