Wholistic Fitness

Is it just me or is there tidal wave of “Certified Yoga Teachers” and “Masters” that are hocking “Yoga For Athletes” dvds and seminars that have never even seen a Start Line, let alone the view from a podium?

Ain’t that a direct violation of Satya?

Wondering why I don’t have a Yoga For Athletes dvd yet? Cuz i don’t know enough.

There is not enough validation from the Sacred Scriptures to dovetail into the Western penchant for athletic sports. Even after 5 World Championships in 4 different physiologic sports and dozens of podiums at National, Regional, State, and Local levels in more sports than probably anyone on the planet…Even after 2 decades of coaching professionally athletes of all those same abilities…guess what? i still consider myself too much a beginner to Teach others the world class manner of dovetailing with integrity the Hatha Yogic knowledge of the Ancients into competitive sport.

To learn how to saturate, direct, and cultivate even the basic notions of Pranya-Vayu, for instance, while subjecting the body to the day to day, highly concussive impact of training for sports is, at least for me, a lifetime of study…not TEACHING! None of the Ancient Masters were World Class Athletes, let alone in a multitude of sports. Did The Ancient Masters train across the physiologic spectrum at least? I know that my Tibetan/Mountain Yoga Tradition sure did! However, there is no mention of competitive sport as a Pranic Tool in the Sacred Scriptures of Hatha Yoga. Thus, i would have some prrrrrrrety important questions for anyone out there teaching YOGA FOR ATHLETES who does not have AT LEAST my athletic resume and monthly training stats.

For instance, i would like to know how to transfer the entropic value of engaging Mula Bandha to effect apana-vayu at mile 80 in a 120-mile bicycle race when you are in a five-man breakaway with a :45 lead over Chase Group #1 which allows the Pranic Saturation to provide more internal floatation to let the hips fly and the lumbar to recover to TRANSFER into the management of manas while free soloing a Grade V ice climb when a snowfield, 350′ above your frozen waterfall that you are climbing alone, lets loose and sends about a million tons of wet cement snow over you as you attempt to maintain composed strength onto the 1/4″ picks of your ice tools and crampons as the deluge roars upon you. I want to know THAT transfer from a pranayamic engagement to a citta nirodhic element from someone with Direct Experience of those types of situations; please email me at ilgtrain@npgcable.com

or, even, how about telling me which Pranayam is safe and effective at countering the heart rate lowering causation effect upon the muscle glycogen depletion during multi-sport transitions that results in lower number of high glycolytic type II muscle fibers to contract efficiently thus NOT reducing leg speed on the Run Leg by infusing Pranic Saturation regardless of the physiologic need to re-engage the adenosine triphosphate system? okay, okay…that is an EASY one…hec, even I know THAT answer! jeez, what do you think i am DOING during all my training workouts? listening to an iPod, for Christ Sakes?

my point is,
there are waaaaaay too many “Teachers of Yoga” that are so willing to TEACH before taking a few decades to STUDY…PARTICULARLY when it comes to the absolutely unexplored terrain of blending Western Sports Science into the Sacred Vedic Teachings of Yoga. I mean, just to win a STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in a sport that you are GOOD AT while maintaining a quality Hatha Yoga Practice probably limits the Human Yoga Population to a few dozen? a Handful? how about World Chamionship competitors that are Hatha Yoga Teachers? NOW how many?

Yet, how many BOOKS and DVDS on YOGA FOR ATHLETES are there being written by False Prophets? probably a lot, eh?

So many willing to Teach.
So few willing to just Practice.
Even fewer willing to Compete.
Just a couple able to win.

That is why i enclose regularly my own Practice Stats…for the sake of other Teachers of Yoga that are interested in convening and opening up a BASIC EXCHANGE about the weaving of a World Class Liberation Path like Hatha Yoga with World Class Athletic Training.

And, if it ain’t World Class? Then i ain’t interested.

Why settle for less than the Best In The World when it come to Self Cultivation? Why buy any Herb that is not World Class? Why take study under any Path that is not DEVOTED to the ultimate Podium of the Human Race; Enlightenment! I have willed myself to attempt to train even HARDER than the Buddha did during His life, because i live in a Spiritually Darker Age (Kali Yuga). Instead of people being interested in Enlightenment and training for it like they did back in Buddha’s day…people are interested today in EnterTainment instead of InnerAttainment. Thus, i created Wholistic Fitness� as a daily Dharma Vehicle that, if Practiced, destroys the sloth of today’s common addiction to comfort. Once that is done, we can use the Practice to work on what truly matters; Awakening and, possibly, Enlghtenment in one lifetime.

my public life will end at age 75.

why 75?

more on that in a future DL…sorry, i’ve got to attend to my Online Students..

enjoy the Stats below and
Remember the saying,
“You can never be better than your genetic limits,
however,
you can ALWAYS be better than you are, right now!”

…and someone, somewhere…felt something Stir from deep within themselves…

May your Practice be strong and sincere,

coach ilg

. *** Above Photo of Coach – Overall Long Course Age Group Winner and Second Place Overall at the Gaspin’ In The Aspen Mountain Duathlon last autumn.

***
Coach’s January Practice Stats…
Walking My Talk

Strength Training = .75 hours; down by .50 hour (note the increase of HP Yoga� to override my low ST hours)
Cardio Training = 34.75 hours; up by 4 hours (got spanked on my first club bike race, then a week later, took 2nd place)
Yoga Practice= 52.75 hours; up by 13 hours (regularly teaching here in Flag has increased this Discipline)
Meditation = 40.50 hours; up by 11 hours (increased Assignments from my MahaNidraRishi forced huge efforts from me)
Nutrition = average calories per day: 1,764. slightly up by 145/day. Thank GOD AGAIN FOR SUNRIDER HERBS!!!!!!!

Performance Stats;
� 52:00 Ascent/19:00 Descent = 11,500′ on Agassiz Peak. mode; Kahtoolas.
� 2nd Place; sprint finish = club training ride. 50 mile loop
� 1st Place; Snowshoe Division. Note; There was no snow. 10k time; 52:13 on a course with 800′ climbing at 8,300′
� Bouldering: Flash ascent of “Navel Ring”: V3 (5.11+) indoor (www.verticalrelief.com)

NOTE: VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO ATTEMPT TO MIMIC THESE MULTI-DISCIPLINED STATS!
IF YOU DO, INJURY or ILLNESS is likely to result without my two decades of SUNRIDER Herb allegiance and 30 years of WF training! Your Yoga is YOUR yoga!

***
“When in doubt? Just do.” – coach ilg. one of the oddest races i have ever done occurred last month as i qualified for The 2006 National Snowshoe Racing Championships on BARE GROUND! The severe drought in the southwest has pushed my Practice into new – and more painful – realms than i have ever known. As a Winter Athlete, first and foremost, the lack of snow has forced me to increase my Pratyharic Fitness; go within.
Another highlight of January was my 52 minute Kahtool’d Ascent to the 11,500′ mark on the Sacred Peak through fresh snow. My descent was 19 minutes. If you plan on following this mountain yogi toward Enlightenment? Bring a full quiver of skills and sweat, baby. Oh, i see all the “Certified Yoga Teachers” selling “Yoga For Athletes,” and giving seminars…yet i never see ’em on start lines, let alone see them on the podiums of varied sports! Ain’t that a violation of Satya? Life in Kali Yuga, gotta love it. Everybody is a “Master” i reckon. Meanwhile? In our humble Tribe of WF? We are just out there doing it…each day, exploring and learning and working on bettering ourselves through America’s original and only multi-disicplined Path of Yoga; Wholistic Fitness�…since 1982.