the first thing ilg feels the need for after a hard Cardio workout (which is predominately a ‘yin’ endeavor) is the deep fiber masculinity of Strength Training (which is predominately a ‘yang’ endeavor). This devotion to yin/yang balance (aka; Shakti/Shiva in yoga) is known as Wholistic Fitness.
To cultivate too much of either yin or yang is known as “neurosis.”
photo of ilg, the day after a 10-mile, high altitude mountain run; getting male (gym) after being so female (running).
***
There is a reason why you’ve never seen such an exercise as the one ilg shares with you today…
The root of this reason lies within the same fertile summit snowfield from which all the other Wholistic Fitness® teachings flow; all the Strength Training Techniques, cardio teachings, High Performance Yoga, Nutritional Guidelines, meditation lessons, and lifestyle principles of which conventional fitness and yoga warriors have yet to learn. Nor will they, until they Awake and look waaaay up and finally, finally see the fiercely graceful Path of Ancient Yoga stylized for the Modern Warrior known as Wholistic Fitness, soaring its long, steep and directisma approach straight up the formidably beautiful face of the Highest of All Summits.
Get this:
Intensity is the BuddhaNature of all WF’s unique teachings and unmatched Yoga (union). It has been the intensity of my life that has strengthened the depth and width of the WF Conduit of the Divine.
Be Warned:
If you are too scared of regular battledancing with Intensity across ALL the capacities of your miraculous human potentiality, then, take a lesser Path. there are countless ones. you can find them by simply looking downstream, along the flow of mediocrity. ilg asks you, however, why be continuing to seek lower than your Highest Self?
Be Stoked:
This great exercise which is about to be shared is not about developing a killer set of arms that do not look like the spindle wisps of endurance athletes. It ain’t about trying to get all big and bloaty like the current apish fighters and bodybuilders still mired in the lower chakral battles incapable of either great endurance or suppleness. This exercise is not about bashing the studio yogi scared stiff of getting sore and acidic from cross training.
Know This:
This exercise is about lifting Clarity from your addiction to Convention.
It’s a spiritual springboard to ignite your inner rocket ship from the thickness of inculcated, afflicted, and un-liberated thought.
Make No Mistake, Warrior Yogi:
until the body reflects the hallmark quality of the Ancient Yogic Warrior; there is Work to do. You must never be satisfied for there is no end to the body/mind epitome. Cultivate contentment (Santosha) only in your surrender to a Higher Go(o)d (Ishvara Pranidhana), then use your Daily Sweat and Stillness Practices (Tapas) to study thyself (Svadhayaya) in the Pure Realms (Sauca) afforded to each of us by the Grace (Spanda) of the Divine.
Until our body reflects like a mirror the capacities of our Clear Mind, then we must each keep steadfast our practice (Abhyasa) until our body gleams with a highly skilled, functional fitness of endurance, strength, suppleness, and symmetry. For without the balance of Yin and Yang within our body, then our masculine is out of balance with our feminine…and vice versa. Without balance of yin/yang (Shakti/Shiva), then no true Upward Progress will be balanced or appropriately strong at the Subtle Anatomical level; thus disparaging shall be our Awakening; let alone the ascent of our Kundalini. ilg has been Teaching you this for many years in many ways. Stop wasting time. Let nothing; no sport, no job, no relationship, no parental conditioning, no trauma, no drama stand in your Way of Wholistic Fitness Development; the Development of a Fitness Consciousness.
ilg now gifts upon you, Noble DL Reader, a superb Strength Training Movement which combines the graceful fierceness of a yoga posture well done, with that elegance of deep fiber strength which can only be found within the Metal Element of the Iron Temple.
i know you don’t read Dharma like this anywhere else,
dat’s cuz you know damn well there ain’t no other Dharma
quite like
Wholistic Fitness Dharma.
let’s party:
1) all great biceps training movements MUST stabilize the upper arm. thus, the inventions of the Weider Arm Blaster (which ilg uses and endorses), Scott Curls (during which, the Practitioner positions his or her triceps against some inclined bench so that the upper arm is fixed and then curls from that fixed posture), and the array of machines that pin the upper arm bone against a cushioned platform of some type and angled degree.
2) all great yoga training movements MUST compress the structural (musculoskeletal) body into influencing wisely according to the Scriptures, the organic (glandular) and subtle (nadic/chakral) bodies.
3) all great Warriors cultivate equanimity amidst great intensity (pain or pleasure or fear) and strive toward spontaneous skill from such a battledance.
4) all Enlightened Beings have learned to work on and eventually express Love from unthinkable Intensities of Spirit.
5) with a moderate Dumbbell, assume a Yogi Squat posture (research; Yogi Squat and Malasana in TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION). Make damn sure your heels are on Mother and your spine elegant. if those two chronic variables are not yet available for you, do not attempt this movement. instead, focus on your asana discipline and do more Yogi Squatting throughout the day.
6) Get super thirsty to attain #’s 1-4 above; this sets the appropriate Spiritual Stage for the training effect. If you do not want more than life itself #’s 1-4 above, then go home. You ain’t ready.
7) Engage Mula Bandha. bring Ujjayi Pranayam. pick up the Dumbell and position the triceps of that ‘active’ arm on top of the kneecap same side of body. certain nerves/nadis may jump with pain. be thus prepared.
8) making certain the upper arm bone of the active arm stays firm upon the kneecap, begin an Ujjayi Exhale and explosively yet with control begin a ‘yang’ phase of a curl in which the biceps muscle shortens as the lower arm bones are drawn toward the biceps.
9) as the lower arm bones travel toward the biceps, begin an artful supination of the palm causing the biceps to really ‘peak’ in her topmost position.
10) reaffirm Mula Bandha, enjoy an Ujjayi inhale as you lower with elegance the Dumbbell to starting position.
11) Perform 6-8 reps, merging lower mind (manas) with Higher Mind via the mystic phenomenon of muscle contraction rhythm, tempo, and vyana prana.
12) Switch arms.
13) No recovery between sets.
14) do 3-6 sets depending upon your capacities, willingness, and strength of mind.
15) Feel appreciation for WF, the Mountain Yogi Lineage, and the fact that you ARE a devoted Warrior to the Within. Feel Compassion for all Beings in All Realms who are experiencing an Armless incarnation.
that is all.om so ti,
the mountain yogi