Wholistic Fitness

Local Flagstaff HP Yogi Ben has made the most of his weekly HP Yoga classes plus a devotion to reading DL. Ben is editing my new version of my AI IMAWA book and DVD. This shot was taken during a MTB ride in the high Kachina Wilderness last summer. Below, Yogi B articulates beautifully his insights from yoga during an absolute monster of a MTB ultra race. i bow to the beauty and bravery of Yogi B!
This is go(o)d stuff!
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Namaste on this beautiful morning, EC.

It struck me as funny when, this morning, i read your post of the first ascent because sometimes life runs in funny parallels. Saturday i rode the 80 mile Pines to the Mines Ride payntake.com. It is my longest mtb effort ever. It was amazing. we can ride 80 miles anywhere – but to do it on the from Flagstaff to Jerome, and to see all the amazing things in between, makes this truly a spectacular event. It begins at 7am, and i began to ride at 6:30, when it was 25 degrees at my door.

i learned some things yesterday – like how my reliance on yoga and my understanding of my mental practice is growing – but is still puny and weak. At about mile 45, the suffering from the rollers started to kick in. the body responded nobly to all the challenges, and i kept it well nourished and hydrated. out of fatigue and that curious desire of the body to do SOMETHING ELSE other than simple sit crunched up and pedal, i practiced Ai Imawa while cruising rollers at 20 mph. i even accomplished The Foundation, by simply focusing on the pedal strokes while holding my hands in their proper location. i did The Dragons similarly. the Yang was all over – as was the leg-burning that those postures induce. i just grabbed a little bit of Mother Earth and released something into Father Sky, and i felt a little better.

The descent into the Verde Valley – 7000 to 3000 feet – was technical and rocky but there was an aid station with lots of gels and electrolytes and caffeine and fluids at the bottom (60mi). It was 75 degrees at the river. i reloaded my body, asked it for 20 miles more (knowing that 18 of that was uphill approx 4000 vertical feet), and got back on.

about 1500 vertical feet up, I realized that my legs could do this, but my mind was growing uneasy. this hurt. this was really long. this climb has 12 miles still to go (that’s two Snowbowls). there were motorcycles and atvs throwing dust that choked my weary lungs. i looked left, and i could see Sedona’s red rocks, and i could see the Peaks coming into view, with their snow. Time to quiet the mind. i did another round of Ai Imawa, and used Touching Far Away Things with Our Minds to grab some of the Mountain strength, passivity, and grace to take me up over Mingus Mountain, the Peak’s rogue sister to the south. i ticked onward – not fast, not to win, but just to get there, and to learn somthing along the way.

At about 6500 feet, near the top, i began to cramp, only two to three miles from the finish. Time for the Ujaia breathing, and WHY hadn’t i been paying more attention to Mulabanda??
Grab her, and heat the prana, and the cramping goes away. Last three miles – 30mph flat, slightly uphill big-ring romp to a steep descent, past a mine, and into town. 7hrs, 4 stops to eat or shed clothes, no flats.

Could i have finished the ride without this knowledge? yes, most other riders undoubtably did – but i felt the energy, entered the cold, entered the heat, climbed more than i ever have before, and faced dragons that i didn’t even know i had. that makes me different.

Oh, and safely at home, with the legs so stiff and body so tired i had no appetite, it was time for some Asana Yoga. A few downdogs, some sun salutations, some hip work, and i created an appetite, restored my energy, and found flexibility.

This is the PATH, man, i felt it. Thank you for showing me the first cairn along the way. i look forward to finding more. Enter the cold, enter the heat, and pound away. there’s no better way to get the work done. oh, and i was amongst the first dozen riders into Jerome – most seasoned enduro racers. not bad for a first timer.

humbly indebted,
-b