Wholistic Fitness

come spring, we Durangatangs all get a wee bit loopy from the pranic punchbowl which pours over us in June…this morning i eased my post Iron Horse legs and lungs onto Nalanda (my Tortelli cross bike), and pedaled northwest a few miles to near where i grew up; Falls Creek…i was psyched to do a little cycle/run/cycle duathlon workout among my most sacred and ancient red rock cliffs; home to our Anasazi elders thousands of years ago…i felt Their presence and that of my just-dead Dad throughout chi-bump producing m(om)ents along my way…wanna come?

Tranistion #1:  Bike to Run – here is a not-so pro shot from my little camera phone; note my crooked glasses and i just LOVE the Fly Being making her presence known in front of my never-not-insignificant nose!

one day, i’m writing another book;  The Healing Energies of Singletrack…

whatever ails thee?  a go(o)d dose of singletrack, taken consistently and without iPods, will heal.

i promise such to be true…from over 3 decades of direct experience.

don’t complicate healing.

just get out, breathe and be.

my run was only amplified in its sanctity by climbing a few of the Boulder Beings – my old friends – smiling and blossoming along the singletrack like inner smiles from friends recollected from tranquility.

in wholistic fact:

no matter how deep our Grief,

our Angst,

our Sadness…

if we are willing enough to drop into a Scarlet Gila perhaps

giving, receiving the Hawk-strewn sky

we may find ourselves smiling…

like a flower upon our thorny ego.

my minimal support Mirage™ from Saucony®, a supporter of WF.  though the Mirage is not a trail running shoe,  i use it for such.  my TAF is this;  i prepare for hard trail runs wearing modern moccasins such as the Kinvara™ (see my YouTube Chanel; Engineer Peak Run), Mirage, and Hattori™ (only 4 oz!  review coming soon!),  then,  when i do race the steeps in my trail-specific running shoes (this year at Imogene, i plan on being in the Peregrine) the considerable ergonomic shift and increased traction feels like racing in a Porsche.  Wholistic Lesson: my connective tissues are strengthened through training in minimal support shoes, while my racing is enjoyed and benefited from being in the specific upgrade in performance footwear.  it’s a c(om)mon sense thing…just like the rest of WF!

a dead and gnarled Cedar greets me as the climb and my heart-rate steepend

and He reminds me of suffering…and the Teachings thereof:

suffering c(om)es in two kinds;

one kind leads to more suffering

while the other leads to the end of suffering.

my Attachments create the first kind

and my willingness to Let Go creates the second kind.

The Slot; where you really don’t want to slip if you want to stay around on this Plane a little longer…

“Greed, I say, is a great flood; it is a whirlpool sucking one down, a constant yearning, seeking a hold, continually in movement; difficult to cross is the morass of sensual desire.”  –  Sutta Nipata 945-946

“If, like a cracked gong, you silence yourself, you have already attained Nibbana; no vindictiveness will be found in you.”   – Dhammapada 133-134

ilg asks Thee, Oh Noble Warriors of Wholeness, is there anything more sacred than

an eon-molded tuft of sandstone vaulting into Father Sky?

they don’t call it ‘sand-stone’ for nothing…

“Sandstone is fragile, and should not be taken for Granite.”  – American climbing legend; Layton Kor, attributed to in the sixties.

turn-around point on my run…looking north down what i call, “The Arete of the Ancients.”…Falls Creek Valley (aka; Hidden Valley) on the left,  Animas River Valley on the right.  The running warrior gets to dance the monument between…if you’d like to run or hike this trail with me, then, c’mon!

“There is no evil like hatred,

And no fortitude like patience.”

– Santideva; Bodhicaryavatara,  6:2

and a creek  runs across the singletrack here and there…affording another Essential Healing Energy toward all who appreciate and listen, without iPods to the Noble Trickling of a wild rill dancing through an alpine meadow…Falls Creek. this spot by the way – is a Rinpoche Dewa top priority creekin’ spot!

The value of a sweat-based Dharma Path like Wholistic Fitness™ isn’t to be found in infomercials or high-tech apps….

Those are just external manipulations of God’s most precious Wholy Water – Sweat.

If you wish to Realize the Dharma

you must first Realize your mind

then you can see the Truth as It arises

as easily as these words, pictures, and Noble Effort which i created above for Thee.

What is that ilg smells burning?

Your Tapas.

Please consider or reconsider becoming an Online Student of WF…we need your Light.

WF Teacher Training is again in the works; remember – when i announce the opening for applications,  you will need to have both a Personal Training and a Yoga Teacher Training Certification.  no big deal;   these days you can get both this weekend and next!

photo: i chose the paved road back to my bicycle…i was an accomplished Road Racer before my spinal paralysis blessing.  running on pavement is actually a lifetime easier on my broken spine and twisted pelvis than trail running…yet, running half-naked upon Mother Dirt is many more lifetimes more nourishing to my spiritual self…thus, regardless of searing pain,  ilg still runs on dirt whenever possible.

The Arete of the Ancients in background behind Nalanda

The End(less Beginning)

all photos and text by el coache with Love and Sweat