Wholistic Fitness

Photo: one of the most popular pics on my Facebook™ site is this one, taken myself a few weeks ago at our in-town ski hill; Chapman Hill…the Maker of Champions.  Dewachen Ilg boot-packing up the slopes before we ski down cuz we wanted to score a few ski runs before the rope tow opens. She’s 3.  Me too.  I think.

In this pure land surrounded by snow mountains, it seems that an ever-expanding volume and amplitude of my personal and spiritual goodness and happiness streams itself from doing what it takes to be a Conscious Father…

it’s time to say sayonara to the winter snows as they begin their inevitable, transmogrified slide into the wild rivers which still animate these parts.  Rivers whose names themselves are enough to shriek even non-Practitioner’s  kundalini into shards of Enlightenment;   Animas, La Plata, San Juan, Dolories, San Miguel, Piedra…

friday was the last day i could ski at Purg on my weekday-only season pass…

What better way to end my formal ski season than to take a Last Dance upon those shimmering slopes with my precious daughter,  our Rinpoche Dewachen?  so, we did…just Daddy and Daughter…cranking the last few turns of a Heaven of a season...here are a few Heart Hits, both photographically and in verse of what felt to me to be a space and a time far suspended above the the comings and goings of the outer world…enjoy…

as i unloaded the ski gear from Bala*,  the slushy mud puddles in Purg’s parking lot attracted Dewa to them like molecules of unbalanced electromagnetic charges…there is simply NO STOPPING a 3 year-young from splashing around in puddles…thank God!  sadly,  (and i can see my Beloved Partner’s head shake with dismay as she reads these words)  Dewa’s noble puddle-stomping efforts resulted in sopping wet boots even before we went skiing at nearly 10,000′.   Aarrgh.  “Oh well,” i told Dewa, “It’s okay,  it’s a warm day compared to January.”

can i even tell you how much i love this shot?  yes, for those Ever Alert Master Students of WF,  that is indeed Thomas The Train in Dewa’s right hand…more on that later.  for now, just relish what i must be feeling as i snap this shot…you can almost feel the immensity of what Dewa must learn in her life ahead to survive, if not thrive in this ever accelerating world of form known as plane(t) earth.  next, the eye drifts to her small skis next to daddy’s skis…metaphysically representing the unimaginable flight of self possible for her…if i can guide her well and thus enabling her to learn to use the tools which lie before her to soar with such FUN and SACRED GLEE-SPEED!

my SvaDharma (Sacred Duty) as her Conscious Father?  work as hard as i can on myself so as to be able to flip over any coverings of the myriad Tools available to her along her own unique Journey.  ilg tells you now; having a kid is a helluva heaven thing.

Dewa here is holding Thomas close to her heart as she exclaims, “Daddy, those tree’s are sooooooooo beee-you-teee-full!…look!”

and so i looked…and i saw the Beauty of which a 3 year-young sees…and it was go(o)d.

above pic;  although she is not technically “old enough” to ride the “6-Pack” or the high-speed chairlift,  Dewa is all over riding the “Daddy Swing” as she calls it.  this pic demonstrates Dewa’s mind-boggling hip-openness (coaching caution:  do NOT attempt to duplicate Dewa’s yoga posture above; you will injure yourself immensely cuz, well, you ain’t no Dewachen!…neither am i!).

Thomas in detail.  As we skied, jumped, and careened our way at speeds which may surprise you given the fact i was mostly holding Dewa in my arms,  Dewa would occasionally drop Thomas, at which point she would scream in my arms at high speed, “DADDY!!!! DON’T FORGET THOMAS!!!!”

…so,  spraying an immediate rooster tail into the sunlight sky as i hockey-stop to a giggling stop and (false) fall upon the precious snow blankets,  i would whisper into Dewa’s nectar-scented ear, “Don’t worry Conductor (long story),  Sir Toppenhat (another long story) will go get Thomas, you stay here and say the Mantra if you get sacred, okay?  I’ll be RIGHT BACK!”

“OKAY, SIR TOPPY!” Dewa would shout back at me.  then, i  kick outta my skis and boot pack up the ski slope as fast as i raced Mt. Taylor to get Thomas before some iPod-wearing snowboard punk crushed the headwall above Dewa while throwing a mute grab and failed to see my Precious Rinpoche in his landing spot…let me tell you…the things that a New Daddy can project happening is frightening, fast, and all-encompassing! ilg is such a wuss!   photo: what it looks like to New Daddy Ilg during one of these ever-occurring boot-packs-to-go-fetch-Thomas.  is it just me or does Dewa just seem soooooo little and precious!??!?!

Here, Dewa proudly shows off the “high country snow that i am going to bring back to Mommy!”

and let ilg just report this much about this woman’s natural capacity for Ekagraha** and Samkalpa***.. not only did Dewa have Thomas The Train in one fist as we sped at spirit-soaring speeds down the nearly 4,000′ vertical we skied that morning,  she also NEVER LET GO of the snow in her other hand, determined to bring it to her Ammaji, who at the same time was training for her first triathlon about 3,000′ vertical lower and 25-miles away.

if you look closely at Joy’s ring finger,  you’ll see the final, melting remnant of Dewa’s long-fisted snowball from the high country…during the drive home from Purg,  i carefully wedged the remnants of Dewa’s snowball into the binding of my skis on the cartop carrier, while praying to Vishnu to sustain this one precious little snowball PUH LEEZE until Dewa can hand it to her mother….obviously, the prayers paid off..

and

suddenly all the formal Teachings of Permanence and Impermanence which i’ve studied formally and informally for over 3 decades took on a new level of Depth which likely would have remained inert for another few lifetimes if

i did not choose to be a Father,

Lover,

Yogi,

and Skier

in this one…

Blessed be thy Sacred Snows

melting into our lives in so many sadly unacknowledged ways

until next ski season..

the ilg clan bows to your unique and sacred Journey…

Bala* = our Honda Element

Ekagraha** = one-pointed concentration

Samkalpa** = fierce determination