Wholistic Fitness

Padmasambhava went further: “If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.”

above photo: time to reel in the heart rate after crushing 1,100′ to the 8,900′ summit which comes after only 1.5 miles after the Start Gun goes off! they don’t call this a “Sprint Course” for nothing! you gotta be ready to go Red Line right from the Start…there is a Life Teaching in there, too!

***

i straddled the saddle on Miles (my new MBT) in 19-degree pre-dawn frost.
i was going to ride to the Start Line of the 2009 Soulstice Mountain Trail Race,
my fourth time racing this hallmark race of Flagstaff.
all four times, i’ve ridden to the Start. in 2006, it was raining and snowing like
crazy, so ilg had nothing to complain about on this cold yet sparkling morning.
if you Trust in something, in the Way ilg Trusts in a Wholistic Fitness Lifestyle,
you must Practice it in your own life. i do not want to Preach WF.
i do not even like talking. ilg only wants to Practice WF. Let it continue
to simmer through decades of Sweat and Stillness.
many fitness people want everything quickly. they jump onto whatever new fitness fad has done the fanciest marketing. then comes the predictable sense of urgency to
‘become certified’ in whatever it is –
which is merely an adolescent desire to be approved in the
opinions of others.
we live in an age of ever accelerating speed.
we have easily ignored the Teaching of Gandhi;
“There is more to life
than merely accelerating its speed.”

but what is lost in our speed, however, is power.
Indy Racing cars go quickly, very quickly. they have lots of speed. even the corners are
burmmed so their speed is not lost.

what happens if we put a hill in front of the Indy Cars?

they lose speed because they don’t have the power to shift into a low gear.

people want to get High, so we often take drugs of some sort or another. we might get High
for a moment or two, but at what loss? ilg will tell you at what loss; Inner Power.

humble confidence is crucial for genuine Inner Power. if we keep doing whatever it is that makes us High, we lose Perspective of Wholeness and we think we are Higher than we are…when really, when we arrive at a base of a BIG HILL, say our Parents die or we get Cancer or something, we realize we didn’t develop those Lower Gears required to ascend such difficult headwalls. this is why ilg would rather finish in last place in a dozen different sports than to always keep winning in the same sport. addictions come in many forms.

as Miles and i rolled up Schultz Creek Trail toward the Start Line of Soulstice, Father Sky grew dustier and dustier from all the ‘runners’ driving up the nearby Forest Road to the Start Line. because they don’t Practice WF, it does not occur to them to be easy on Mother Earth/Father Sky to ride their mountain bikes to the Start Line. some of them probably feel as though doing so would fatigue their legs and lungs for the Race. they don’t want to risk getting a flat tire or perhaps their Practice doesn’t include becoming skilled on bikes; they just like to remain strong in one discipline. it’s comfortable to them to ride in cars to go race in a running race.

if we really want something sacred from our Fitness,
we must risk comfort.
we must risk becoming more whole and finding Santosha in what i call, “being an Endless Beginner”…

Sacredness is a training effect from Wholeness.
Ego is a training effect from Specialization.

when i grew up, my mom took me only to a General M.D.
today, there are only a few General M.D’s because they have been pushed out of the Medical World by the Specialists.
same thing in sport.
how many other athletes do you know that can claim 8 podiums in 7 different sports this year?

see what i mean?

similarly, if you have ever known a General M.D., you can sense how their Practice of Wholeness has humbled their outlook and their CareTaking. it’s really quite touching. because the General M.D’s knowledge is so versatile instead of narrowed,
he or she has arrived at a point of Awe for the Human Body and thus all Human Beings.

Specialists, however, are quite different. most that i have met seem aloof, uncaring, and quite full of themselves.

Wholeness is the natural way to unfold our consciousness and expand our body’s capacities and our mind’s potential for Wise Discrimination.

***

everybody wants to deepen their sense of Sacredness…even if they have yet to understand the categorical difference between living Sacredly, and trying to ‘be happy.’ Many Gems in our lives are hidden by divine design. this is so we develop our Inner Tools and Capacities in order to handle the Cosmic Power which lies dormant at the base of our spines (Muladhara Chakra).

when we are children, we are not given big allowances if our Parents are wise. they know the child would be foolish and waste the money on silly things.

same thing with Spirit.
we are children along the Spiritual Path, so the Gods are wise enough not to let our Kundalini power manifest until we have Practiced enough to stabilize and strengthen the versatility of our subtle anatomy.

ilg suggests not trying too hard, too specifically to get God to Awaken your Cosmic Power. instead,
Practice Wholeness.
Re-fine thyself through everyday sadhana like Early Morning Ritual, a wise play among the 5 Noble Fitness Disciplines of WF, and of course, engagement of the 4 WF Lifestyle Principles.

as we re-fine ourselves through our gradual embrace of Wholeness,
trust me,
you’ll encounter more and more often
a wonderful,
awe-full
sense of Sacredness
as you
Rise Higher,
Grow Naturally,
and
Expand Safely
toward
Union…