Wholistic Fitness

take good look at that face.
because today, on this Morning of all Sacred Mornings…
i’m getting the first hit that DaddyHood may well be the end of ilg as i love him.
i know, i know. some of you veteran Daddies are already smiling, seeing that ol’ ilg is finally, finally gonna have to grow up for christ’s sake. let me explain.
see that face? that is a typical ilg face.
you know, the one we’ve all come to love and enjoy, even me.
and trust me, it’s been a long, hard grind to learn to love every afflicted, painfilled, negative, lazy, and spoiled cell of me.
you know how i’ve come to love all the conflicted parts of me?
i’ll tell you right here and now, DL Warriors;
i’ve allways loved, embraced, and downright embellished the mischievous soul of ilg.
that is right, i said, ‘mischievous.’
can a professional yogi REALLY be allowed to be ‘mischievous’?
you bet.
in fact, in the Lineage of Mountain Yogis, we excel at mischievousness. we, in additional fact, push our Practice Higher than most due to our dastardly, rascally, wily ways of Practicing and Teaching.
see that Cheshire grin in my face?
in nearly every picture, my face portrays that same “i know something you don’t” type of look.
and that look comes from the very fact that yes, yes indeed i DO know something you don’t.
namely,
the very moment this photographer gets done taking my damned picture i am going to be out in Sacred Sweat doing something exceedingly fun such as skiing, cycling, running up peaks, rock climbing, doing solo yoga, meditating, camping, backpacking…all those things that are to be expected of “America’s Outdoor Athlete.”
i’ve done that my whole Blessed Life.
while the sheep work,
ilg plays in Natures Wildness, scampering about to no discernible purpose. avoiding all responsibilities like they were the Black Plague, which to a Mountain Yogi, all but that which feeds our Soul is to be considered as such.

until now.
this morning.
see all that fresh fluff upon the Sacred Peak?
if you could look outside my window right now, your Heart would Dance as the glimmering, glitter of cold snowflakes glissade through Morning Light like an Arctic fantasyland. there is fresh snow upon my Beloved Mother thanks to some night work from Father Sky. Mt. Elden, looking like a celestial white Ganesha in the background, appears to applaud in measured waves as cold and hungry finches, ravens, and chickadees flit like freezing fire through immensely needled giant pines. Each morning in the mountains is to me, Temple Time.
yet, as i write this, in this very moment,
i should not be here.
ilg should not be here.
ilg should be in Bala, cruising with skis waxed and edges sharpened up the 17 minute commute to my Sacred Peak Yoga Studio:

it’s that mischievous ilg that nearly always scores First Chair on a fresh powder day like today.
rarely do i miss such a Blessed Event; ilg is always one of the first to score the fresh lines through these powdered trees:

mischievous ilg applies his best yoga in these trees, mimicking puma like agility;
swiftly dropping one knee and then the next in deep, seemingly endless powder as the massive tree trunks whir past.
breath comes quickly, then slowly.
torso rising, then falling tapping into some version of primordial ocean movement still at large within my being.
this is why i telemark ski,
this is why i live,
this is why i…i…
wait a second,
i am not on today’s First Chair!
all the other locals are gonna be scoring MY first tracks!
why?
because,
(breath)
because,
(posture adjustment)
because,
(mantra recitation to help bring all my years of spiritual work to help me in this realization)
because,
because,
because
ilg
mischievous ilg
has to go to a Baby Doctor Appointment with Ananda this morning.

there i said it.

while my bros are scoring MY fresh powder lines amid the majesty of everything cold and go(o)d,
i will be sitting in the stagnant air of a doctor’s waiting room, a room filled with other humans,
their inevitable coughing and slouchy postures will appear to me to be like the bleating of fattened sheep,
and through the window of the waiting room,
i will be able to see my Beloved Sacred Peak,
and i will only be able to imagine skiing, dancing, breathing through my fresh powered trees…
mischievous ilg transformed into a sheep
by a baby yet to be born.

how spoiled have i become?

i TAF those Teachings have just begun.

i’m taking this outta the kid’s allowance, i’m telling ya that much.

***

* first photo by WayneWilliamsStudio.com
all others by ilg