Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Fitness Warriors!

Kathy and i have returned to the City of Angels…we are back teaching yoga, training online students in Wholistic Fitness. and loving each other. doing what we do. as best as we can do.

i pray you are too.

do whatever you do from Love.

workout from Love as well.

many do not. they workout from Fear, or Ego, or Guilt. that is not a wise Way to shift Higher. instead, workout to exercise your spirit more than your body. workout to exercise your mind so it becomes stronger and more concentrated. this way, when you pray, your prayers will be more concentrated and God will hear and honor them more quickly and more deeply.

the world seems in dire need of spiritual warriors and warrioress’s…those of us who dare to be impeccable in our thought, word, and deed. those of us who allow our hidden self to emerge from the intensity and consistency of our daily workouts and work-withins. those of us who know that even falling off the Path is part of the Path.

so much depth everywhere. to mine the moment for the minute miracle..aye, therein lies the rub. the spiritual fitness life requires attention to detail..for God hides in the details…those things and circumstances that the untrained mind cannot see.

“What is most most essential is invisible to the eye. It is only with the Heart that one sees rightly.”…or something like that from THE LITTLE PRINCE.

along with returning ‘home’ to LA, were 148 emails to answer.

i do my best to provide something

anything’

to everyone

it is my yoga.

cyber yoga, if you will.

my time goes unpaid financially as i spend my time answering Seekers from all over…but my True paycheck comes in spiritual Ways. do what you love, and the UniVerse shall provide. in this i have trusted since 1982. (of course, tithing is an everlasting option for those of you who enjoy and benefit from DIRECT LINES but are not formal students of Wholistic Fitness! here is our address: 5720 yolanda ave.,#2, tarzana, ca 91356)

out of the 148 emails, this one stood out from a beautiful being in NYC of whom i’ve never met.

yet, in his words, i am certain you will find a Brother in spirit.

i did.

thus, today, i shall close this entry with his words to celebrate the Fitness Warrior in all of us!

in-joy

and

May Your Practice Be Strong…

i bow to you,

coach ilg

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Coach –

I, like many, first came into contact with you through Joe Glickman’s

piece in the New York Times. At the time I clipped the article, bought a HP yoga

video, did it a couple of times, said “damn that’s hard” and put it back

on the shelf. Some time later I heard you had a new HP tape. I bought

that one as well, did it once, said “damn this is even harder”, and put it

back on the shelf. In the meantime, things were going to hell in a hand

basket. I live in NYC, in a neighborhood hit hard by 9/11. Two weeks

later, my father died after a long battle with cancer. I was just

starting to recalibrate from that this summer, and in a two week period

lost my uncle (who had been a surrogate father for my father), and my

teacher of 18 years (click here for a great piece on him:

http://www.trumpetplayeronline.com/jimmy_maxwell_dies.html) . I use

teacher in the broadest sense – I studied trumpet with Jim (I used to be a

professional jazz trumpet player), but he was my spiritual mentor and best

friend as well (he was a Zen Buddhist since the 1930s, and incorporated

this into his approach to the trumpet through what he called “the

systemless system”). I was also traveling 4-5 days a week for my job,

taking me away from my wife and 2 year old son at the time I needed them

most.

Finally, around Labor Day, I vowed I wasn’t going to live this way

anymore. For my family, I was able to get off the road, finding enough

local clients to let me make it home to see my son before bedtime every

night. For my teacher, I helped organize a memorial concert in Central

Park, the first time I had performed in public in several years (it was

the first time my son heard me play – he now asks to play “Papi’s trumpet”

every day!). And for my physical and mental wellbeing, I decided to get

off my butt and start sweating (we would now be getting to the part of the

story where WF comes in). Knowing I needed a goal to commit to, I decided

to run in the New York Roadrunner Club’s cross-country season in Van

Cortlandt Park (a legit course, often hosting NCAA and high school

championship races). I chose this specifically because it would be hard

(WF: embrace difficulty) – I have always hated running, and had never run

more than five miles in my life. My racing goals were modest – finish all

the races I entered and run faster each time. More important, I commited

to a WF-inspired workout routine to build my overall fitness:

Tuesday: HP yoga

Thursday: Strength (not weight!) training

Saturday: yoga

Sunday: run (either a race or a training run over the cross-country

course)

My race results were as follows:

Date Distance Time Per Mile

Time

9/1 4 miles 35:23 8:50

10/6 5K 26:26 8:31

10/20 5K 24:54 8:01

11/17 5K 24:21 7:51

11/24 15K 79:22 8:32

My running mantra during these races: “don’t add drama, just add breath”.

I was consistently surprised at my ability to up the ante on my cv. Other

big takeaways:

HP yoga plus squats = wicked strong legs. I consistently was a passer,

not passee, in the hilly sections of the course, all thanks to those scuba

deep chair poses

One reason I have avoided running in the past is because it would give me

a good deal of pain in my right knee. I was convinced something was

wrong, and assumed I would need surgery. Since I started doing HP yoga

regularly, I’ve experienced no joint pain, even after the 15K.

For the first time, I appreciate the cleansing power of CV. I find myself

feeling like I have scrubbed my insides after a good run – its a great

high!

I generally do my HP yoga workouts on Tuesday nights. Wednesdays are my

best day of the week – my body feels almost liquid and I feel tremendous

presence as I walk through the world

Most (all!?) barriers are within my mind, not my body or my environment.

Running five+ miles always seemed a VERY BIG DEAL – something only

“serious” runners would do. I ran almost twice that far on the 24th (the

15K), and while I wish I had run a little faster, I still had plenty in

the tank at the end

By next fall, with a full year of WF under my belt, I expect to kick ass!

In short (he says, after making Coach read a two page e-mail), WF has been

a big part of me feeling like I am moving forward again. I am a stronger,

more positive presence in my son’s life (he, by the way, is already doing

sun salutations at my side!), and a better companion to my wife. As to WF

– I hope (and expect) this is only the beginning. One of my 2003

resolutions is to start a WF correspondence program. In the meantime, I

will keep doing what I am doing, building a foundation for whatever comes

next. One question: I am intrigued by what I have read about SR herbs on

your site. I must confess I had never heard of them before. Is there a

“starter” order you would recommend for me as a first-time user?

Peace-

Allan

P.S. Have really enjoyed this week’s postings from NM. My wife and I took

our first-ever road trip together in 1992 to Santa Fe and Taos. It was

and remains a magical place for us. Reading your postings brings me back.