okay the novelty of being back in the Big City has worn off.
my z1000 is still stuck at Burbank Kawaski. sorry bro’s can’t give your Service a thumbs up.
without my pocket rocket i feel Lost in LA. ilg driving around LA in a Honda Element is about as fun to me as a being an ashtangi stuck in an Iyengar class; Where’s the FLOW, dude!?!??!
even poolside, one drop-dead gorgeous high maintenance babe is starting to look like all the other drop-dead gorgeous high maintenance babes. one fancy car looks like the next. everybody tryin’ hard to be In. gotta be careful in LA….sometimes she can be like YouTube; great for the first few times, then…after awhile, you get a queasy uneasy feeling in your cells; is this really what my life has come to? spectating other people’s cries for mass approval and recognition?
my body thirsts for my Early Morning Rituals beneath the Sacred Peak. Pingala is still partially closed and the humidity has swollen my nostril membranes heightening the lack of Pran coming into me while a polluted Father Sky looks at me, sadly withered compared to the outright blast of His blue back up at 7,200′.
for the first time in my life, i feel every fiber of my being desperate to hold my baby daughter, hear her Tibetan squeals of chuckle, see her eyes squeeze with delight as i toss and catch her over my head in my arms. when my mind wraps around the image of my Beloved Ananda – who is still taking the endless pulls of being a single mother of an infant at home alone – it’s like my cells shatter with sadness and like Humpty Dumpty’s men; they can’t seem to find themselves put together again. this stupendous version of the Steep and Direct Path of my own spiritual journey is so new to me; i’ve been a Lone Wolf till now…and today, this Lone Wolf with a young child far away from me is feeling agitated by the constant press and push of the City.
to help mitigate this growing sense of Big City Agitation, me and Marlowe went for a three and a half hour road bike ride yesterday. it was so beautiful. i felt so strong with so much oxygen available for immediate delivery to my legs and lungs. we put in 60 miles and it felt like 16 to me. nice stuff. flowers cascading into the smooth roads of the Simi Valley after climbing the gentle grade of Santa Susanna Pass…13 mph up that thing felt like nothing…guess my Nordic Fitness is still hanging around. so sweet was this luscious spin in the SoCal breeze that even the assumed snobbery of the Hummers and SUV’s that repeatedly threatened to sever my left elbow did not bother me. i used to put in so many miles on these roads that every pedal crank felt like a homecoming.
according to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, pain comes in three types; spiritual, environmental, and physical. of the three, spiritual pain is the worse for if the Inner Being is not found, befriended, and nourished then the other two types of pain will be compounded in intensity, frequency, and complexity. that is why i prioritize doing things that nourish my inner self, my spirit before all else…even if it requires carving out the time for a 4-hour bike ride in the middle of busy business trip.
today is a photo shoot. i’ve agreed to be a part of Roy Wallack’s next book; RUN FOR LIFE…a follow up to his previous book in which i am also a part of; BIKE FOR LIFE. i’m going to be photo’d doing my Runners Warm Up sequence of ten postures that are really superb. I’m calling my chapter in the book, Yoga On The Run and will be just a tiny tip from Roy’s and my future book that we are working on…more on that later…right now, i’ve got to preen myself for the photo shoot both inwardly and outwardly. i want to took like a respectable yogi in the photo shoot for you all, so i better go. i’m feeling fat (who doesn’t before a photo shoot?) and need to radiate my Inner Space with some Pranayama, hit the gym to pump up my upper body (not the lower; if you want to look ‘ripped’ in photos; do NOT pump up! the blood and fluids engorge the tissues and erase all muscular cuts that you’ve worked so hard to earn!) and then go through the pre-run Runners Vinyasa that i created. dat’s why photographers like working with me; i come prepared and easy to shoot. gotta do your homework, right?
May your judgments and personal dictates become ever more difficult to distinguish and may your three types of pain leave you faster than that hot-wired Chevy that just screamed down Vineland Blvd…
Dharma everywhere
if i look at the world with the eyes of my Dewachen…
from the land of deep tans and kids wearin’ Vans,
the mountain yogi
These teachings are the "Rasas" or "sap" of Wholistic Fitness. You’ll find insights to ponder, student chi to keep your own chi topped off, and plenty of proven training techniques to test on your own body, mind, and spirit! Also, you’ll find my very popular Race Reports, and news of our Sangha’s (community’s) latest transpersonal fitness adventures!