Wholistic Fitness

Most Precious WF Sangha,
first,  feeble ilg wishes to thank Thee for all your breath-i-full cOMments about my recent post:  http://wholisticfitness.com/2012/07/cracked-pot-baba-day-2-in-the-nm-vortex/

second,  i thank all of Thee through whose Prayers, Mantras, and Visualizations (and Rain Dances) have resulted in a most CRAVED GRACE of monsoon rains blessing the parched terrain of Durango…we locals were like loonies, smiling, and fox trotting in the recent rain showers, however brief they may be…there is a sweet, treasured Pattern now in Father Sky whose mottled canvas ensures at least higher humidity,  an stratospheric parasol from the scorch of Grandfather Sun, and least some raindrops to slacken the thirst of our sun-bleached high country which looks more like a Billy Idol hairpiece than the usual dense fabric of sensual wetness and wildflowers which grace such pranic high planes…

third is a wish…that you and yours enjoy my and Ananda’s pics below and the dharma quotes which i chose to caption them with….may they inspire your Practice and may you let me know how you found the Dharma dripping with Divine placement into your recent (w)holiday…

oh, and a heart bow of Gratitude to our neighbors, Dave and Nichol…for keeping our Chicken and Cat Beings alive and well over our past travel days…

Blessed Be All and always stoked to hear from you how your WF Practice is flowing (or not!)…it’s all Go(o)d!

head bowed,

el coache

“In stillness all conflict must end.” ~ Phillip Urso

Dewachen, exhibiting Her usual dour state ;-),   at “Shady Lakes”…another secret gem just off Highway 313 near Alameda, New Mexico…so many pass off New Mexico as a dry, dusty nothing place…this pic is for such people who aren’t willing to do what it takes to explore the luscious wetlands of the Land of Enchantment!

pic by ilg

“ Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built.” ~ Rumi

pic by ilg at Shady Lakes, NM

“The pose begins when you want to leave it.” – Coach ilg

The LAST thing ilg wants to do is inflict harm upon other Beings…yet,  ilg wears jeans (which kills animals),  ilg drives a car (which kills animals),  ilg has returned to occasionally eating flesh foods…and, as a Father bringing a Rinpoche Daughter into this Plane(t)?   ilg considers it a High Priority to use the Direct Experience of skillfulness in attaining, cleaning, offering, and finally eating flesh foods in a Sacred Circle Way to my Daughter.   countless hours of dharma talk, facilitation, and listening by both myself and Ananda go into these pics which may upset the conventional vegan or vegetarian whose Practice has yet to understand why precisely the entire Bhagavad Gita took place on a BATTLEFIELD where men – even brothers – killed each other.   To learn Yoga is not about learning granola and seaweed snacks,  it’s about developing the Union of mind, consciousness, and prana to deal with the Bardo Entry and the skillful navigation of It when we cannot take another inhale…so,  knowing that;  Are You Trained Thoroughly Enough for your inevitable Bardo Entry and Navigation?   If not?   You may just re-incarnate as a Trout Being in an Easy Catch Pond in NM…and…hopefully,  you’ll be caught by a 4 year-old yogini who has been Taught to chant the Blessed Mantra WHILE she reels you in!   Do The Inner Work, Yogi!   pic by Ananda

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl

A Lilly Pad…what ilg calls, the American Lotus.  pic by ilg at Shady Lakes, NM.

‎”Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.”  ~ Jason Crandell

Dewachen, Shark Being, and the Yoga of Awe At It All…pic by ilg taken at the New Mexico Aquarium, Albuquerque, NM

”I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.” ~ Gandhi

Dewachen reaching out, feeling within at the Butterfly Pavilion at the New Mexico Botanical Gardens, Albuquerque, NM.  pic by ilg

“Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.” – Coach Ilg

Dewachen and Ananda, at the New Mexico Botanical Gardens, Albuquerque, NM.  pic by ilg

“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.”  – Coach Ilg

This pic repeatedly tears open my heartspace as a father….Dewa, trusting the innate goodness in all…joyfully wanting to be a part of the game, approached the camp group of kids at the Botanical Garden park…no words needed… as you can see in this picture and read the energy, so too, did we. Even though we could not hear the other childrens’ words, we felt that Dewa had not been invited into their “sacred circle”….We have all felt that at one time or another…you remember the cellular response of feeling outed, rejected, doubted… of not having a space/place among your peers… yet, it’s not about us, is it? It’s about how we perceive ourselves after these m(om)ments.

which is precisely why Conscious Parents…

Just BREATHE and do WHATEVER IT TAKES TO BE THERE for our Chi-ldren!

‎”To perform every action artfully is yoga.” ~ Swami Kripalu

Mere m(om)ents after taking the previous pic,  i snapped this one.  Ananda had read the energy of what was happening and Stepped Up and
did what it took to make sure Dewa knew;  She Belonged, baby!   May Go(o)d’s Graces Bless all Conscious Parents who do the ultimate ultra-marathon
and sacrifices of doing what it takes to BE THERE for their chi-ldren….

“You can’t always control what goes off on the outside. But you can control what goes on inside.” – Coach Ilg

of course, in the Course of Conscious Parenting,  after arriving back in Durango the crush of 10,000 Things To Be Done arose…yet,  we found out that our kitten, Trevor, had killed a House Finch Being (see Dewa’s right palm in above pic)   which i’ve previously and preciously wrote about.  So,  instead of unpacking the car, getting dinner done, doing all the Things That Needed To Be Done,   Ananda and i dropped It All to Drop Into Dewa who was swinging silently, chanting the Mantra to her little dead Bird Being which she held in her little, Precious Palm…as Grandmother Moon snuffed out the last Light of Father Sky,  still Ananda and i dharma talked about life, suffering, death, rebirth, and It All…

and so weaves the quilt of the WF Life…

How Blessed Are We!?

So,  what Dharma Teachings dribbled into YOUR “Interdependance  Day”?