Wholistic Fitness

NAMASTE NOBLE WARRIORS!

WEST LA YOGA:

First of all, thank you for my Valley yoga warriors who travelled over the hill to enjoy the Free Yoga weekend in West LA at Mark Blanchards Power Yoga! Mark and Elizabeth (the owners) remarked how many HIGH PERFORMANCE YOGA mats and and sweat towels and logos they saw…HP Yogis really showed up and helped make their Grand ReOpening a high energy success! I am very proud of you! I think the classic quote came from HP Yogini Christine who is trying to move her Westside office closer to the studio so she can make my 6:00 pm classes more regularly! There is a yogini with her priorities! Christine; email me your address…I have a gift for your sincerity!

POWERHOUSE GYM YOGA:

Well it was a Monday morning class five years ago that started the HP Yoga ball rolling in Chatsworth, CA out of a bodybuilding gym. Less then two weeks from now, we’ll have our new Yoga room in a brand new, gorgeous facility! We’ll have yoga offered nearly everyday, with meditation, lectures, and special events all in our own room! Why? BECAUSE OF THE STRENGTH OF YOUR PRACTICE!!!!

Our beautiful Trina will teach the final group exercise class ever taught in the old PowerHouse Gym facility…and isn’t it appropriate that it should be a HP Yoga class! Come and support Trina this Thursday night at 7:15 pm! I would attend myself but I teach in West LA on Thursdays…but I’ll be with you in spirit as you bring closure to what was been a remarkable Seed planted in the most unlikeliest of gardens…people kept telling me that yoga will NEVER work in Chatsworth…so much for skeptics!

NEW HP YOGA CLOTHING

Watch for the October Website Special at

www.wholisticfitness.com

coming soon!

I’ll close with this question and answer from a student and let you get on with your beautiful and sacred day! Keep watching DIRECT LINES, my Daily Meditations for constant training and practice tips, student quotes, and just general Wholistic Fitness fun!

In Sweat & Spirit,

Coach Ilg

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A QUESTION AND ANSWER FROM A YOGA STUDENT

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Dear Mitch –

RE:

First, a quick testimonial and word of thanks: I discovered your teachings

& the Outdoor Athlete in ’92 when I used your book to train for a grueling

two week trek along the path of Shipton & Tilman’s 1934 approach to Nanda

Devi in the Indian Himalaya.

� my childhood heroes were Sir Earnest Shackleton, Tilman & Shipton…that must have been an incredible trip for you!

RE: Five years earlier I had made a similar trek

in Nepal and had suffered greatly. Even though I was younger and in decent

“shape”, I was not strong in the practical, balanced way you advocate. On

my Nanda Devi trek I carried more weight, ate primarily local foods and had

an incredible amount of energy even at altitude. While I have not been a

consistent student over the last decade, every time I have made the

commitment to get healthier I have turned to your work for inspiration.

Thank you!

� Delighted to assist!

RE: When I heard you were teaching in West LA near where I live, I started to

train again to be strong enough to attend your HP Yoga class. I have been

lifting, running, doing some gentle Iyengar yoga and eating well (including

the SR herbs, which have helped me break through a weight-loss plateau that

had limited my performance for the last 10 years). I ordered your HP Yoga

tape and, well, it kicked my ass. I could only do about 2/3 of it. I felt

great afterwards — particularly my hips — but my quads were blown out

early on and that limited the number I postures I could get through

comfortably.

� you should rest more often in Child’s Pose during the first part of my video tape…like climbing a Himalayan peak, you must pace yourself…a bit part of HP Yoga is conquering ego enough to REST when you need to REST!

RE: So, my questions are: should I keep training before I come to your class, or

will I get something out of it even in my current (relatively weak and

inflexible) physical state?

� just get your ass into my class and pace yourself. the way i sequence my classes results in a very rapid strength fitness gain, but you must listen to the language of your body, not the ego.

RE: How advanced is the class compared to the

video?

� all my classes are about the same. like my main power yoga teacher, Mark Blanchard, there really should be no ‘levels’ to yoga…one day you may be strong, the other day your legs are sore and tight from running intervals or doing squats in the gym…so your yoga practice will differ. just come to class, breathe through your nose, focus your mind, steady your emotions, and have a ton of barefooted fun! last night i had a 55 year old woman take my class who had never done yoga before…she LOVED it! why? she rested when she needed to and arose to the challenge when she could…she was a better yogi than many who come to my class and try to muscle their way through it! my yoga classes are not difficult, it’s the egos that are difficult.

RE: know in my heart that mindful practice is more important than

“getting through the postures”, but … it is kind of disconcerting when you

can’t get through the postures.

– Thanks again, Mitch

� Believe me, Mitch, if you can climb Himalayan peaks, you can certainly make through my little yoga classes! i honor your respect for the Practice and am very glad you wrote. i hope i have quelled your concerns and can’t wait to see you in class!

May your Practice be strong and true

and may you reach all your summits

Coach Ilg

founder, HIGH PERFORMANCE YOGA

www.wholisticfitness.com