Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors!

“Yoga is more about learning to really stand on your feet, not your head.”

– Coach Ilg

I know from past experience, DL readers love hearing actual input from my formal Online Student’s responses to their end-of-cycle summations. so, here you go…an actual Cycle Summation with my coaching input. may your own Practice deepen from this exchange with a noble student from New York.

my coaching input is preceded by this symbol: � :

���

The Green Tara Program

Cycle Summation

RE:

Finish this sentence:

My travel through the Green Tara program has given me a sense of…

shock and awe

perspiration

achievement

strength at the core

understanding that strength and flexibility do not need to be an “either /

or” choice

� significant in-sights. well done. now, live the Higher Sight you’ve attained.

RE:

STRENGTH TRAINING:

Note your consistency during this discipline.

Had to substitute one

home workout for EEE-GAD as gym was closed on Easter. Missed last EEE-GAD because of Mother’s Day commitments. Otherwise extremely consistent in focus,effort, and intensity.

� good. keep making deposits in what i call your Workout Consistency Account (WCA). for the student who does this, greater dividends than ever imagined will arrive.

RE:

How did the EEE-GAD Workout go?

I’m starting to be familiar enough with the

EEE-GAD routine to relax into it and flow from one exercise to another.

Had some struggles with “dead legs” – I found during the squat / leg

extension supersets that my legs were not fully recovered from Thursday’s

lower body workout, Friday’s yoga, and Saturday’s intervals. The issue

was not soreness or tightness, but rather pure fatigue, particularly

evident when trying to hold the “stick” position on leg extensions.

� this is common in our Work for the first few years. stick with it.

RE:

Which gym movements seem harder than others? Why?

The ab movements in general, and the suspended leg raises in particular,

are difficult. On the leg raises, my body wants to ooze off of the

apparatus, and on all it is difficult to maintain energy and focus through

to the end.

Two-bench triceps: I still haven’t made it through to the end of a 1:00

minute set without needing Escape hatch A. I’ve gotten close, and am

making progress, but still haven’t quite made it.

� you will if you keep your WCA strong.

RE:

Forearm strength, while increasing, is still a constraint. Believe I

could handle more weight on V-handle pulldowns, hang cleans, and deadlifts

if my forearms could step up to the challenge.

� perfect training of the weak link. well done, Noble Warrior!

RE: Any changes in physique?

Weight has stabilized around 156 (down nine

pounds from beginning of Namaste and twenty pounds from just after my

father died 1 1/2 years ago). Exploring new notches on my belts. Seeing

more definition all over my body. Much more prominence for my veins,

especially in my forearms.

� creating a New Being from deep within…this is the hallmark of WF transformation!

RE:

CARDIO:

4) Any standout reactions in this discipline? Just that I am keeping the

faith and doing the work,

� yes, WCA.

RE:

How did the Assigned Intervals go? Which Dragon comes up most often

on these workouts?

I am finding a rhythm to the intervals. Continue to

struggle with pacing – finding a 3:00 pace that is sustainable but at my

edge,and maintaining my energy from beginning to end, are challenges.

� pacing of interval energy = pacing of life energy.

finding the rhythm of interval workouts = finding the rhythm of life.

RE:

How was that 2 – 2.5 hour Cardio workout? What did you do, how did you

feel?

I spent 2 hours on the elliptical trainer at the gym – 1 hour on a

“cross training” program, which was pretty mellow, and one hour on a

“cross country” program, which was a challenge. Found I got in the groove

and did just fine – no difficulty sustaining breath or elevated heart

rate.

� 2 HOURS on the ELLIPTICAL trainer!?!??!!

holy Lord Buddha Within!

feeble ilg bows to you!

hell, doing that alone is nearly worth your Master Student Inka!

RE: YOGA:

Comment on your ujjayi breathing through the postures? Maintaining

steady focus on the breath, and keeping my breathing through the nose and

deep. Do wonder if I am getting it “right” – I try to keep the image of

“goggle fogging” front and center, but it has been a long time since I’ve

been on skis!

� i have sent you another handout on Ujjayi in a separate email. these breathing techniques can take years, not months, to mature. enjoy the process. just make sure you are not mouth breathing during asana practice, this is most important.

RE:

Name the three poses which you find most difficult. Note any

commonality between them.

Virasana: I am able to sit into the pose, but feel a lot of pain in my

knees. I believe this is partially due to a general lack of openness in

knees and hips, and partly to being extremely bow legged – it is a lot of

work for me to get my knees to touch. I have to exit this pose very

gingerly.

Malasana: Here the challenge is all balance. When I go deep into the

squat, and especially when I try to clasp my hands behind my back, I lose

my balance and fall backward.

Bakasama: Making slow progress here, but still considering your advice to

wear my bike helmet! I can get into position, but lose my balance

quickly.

� perfect.

your struggles in these postures are precisely what it is called yoga practice, not yoga perfect! these postures hold the exact keys to your Gateway Higher…dive deep into them, Warrior!

RE:

Finish this sentence:

My Green Tara excursion into yoga made me realize…

how rewarding a solo (i.e. not tethered to a video) yoga practice can be…and

that Iyengar is one flexible dude (even if he does seem a little pudgy in

his Speedo – what’s up with that?)

� precisely my thoughts as a young athlete. i wanted his flexibility and kinesthetic command, but i sure as hell did not want to look like him! this is why i created HP Yoga, a style of asana practice that keeps what is best of Western fitness training principles while honoring the yogic body/mind tradition. if one young person picks up my new book next year and see’s the shape of my forty+ year old body doing yoga postures, and knows that i can also have that body win ultra distance events, extreme sports, strength sports, and sustained meditation austerities, then to me, THAT is true fitness…WHOLISTIC FITNESS, baby! if anything, my new book will certainly raise the standard for “certified” personal trainers across the nation! perhaps this is the best way to decrease the poor fitness of Americans; produce more Balanced and Wholistically Fit trainers!

RE:

MEDITATION:

How did the Zazen/Pranayama sessions go? Comment.

These sessions are going great. Per your counsel, I am now keeping my

eyes half-open during zazen, which has been an adjustment. Pranayama

still at the mechanical stage, but a great way to start the day.

Most interesting insight from the Rasa Eating Exercise?

That my level

of awareness of the act of eating is still quite low. My awareness and

care in food selection has increased dramatically through my short time in

WF. However, I have strong behavior patterns tying food consumption to

“multi-tasking” – I almost always am doing something else while eating

(reading, watching TV, talking with my wife / son, etc.). I am finding it

very difficult to undo those and really focus all my senses on my food.

� i am proud of your study in this area. trust that just bringing Awareness to unconscious behavior is enough.

RE:

Note how you felt after taking your items to charity after your

Periodic Renunciation:

I have four jumbo-sized bags of clothes by the door, but haven’t made the

dropoff yet. I will this weekend. Using the “eight month” rule forced

productive discipline – I have donated clothes for years, but generally

focused on those clothes that were worn out, instead of those that could

be better used by others. For example, while it is important in my work to

be well-dressed, it is completely unnecessary to have four exact replicas

of the same pants, as I found I did when I looked critically at my

wardrobe. Happy to say three of four are now in the donation bag.

� and, due to your Practice of “Aparigarha”

you’re gonna make three other beings,

very, very happy!

this is High WF! well done, Noble Warrior!

RE:

What do you think about being in barefeet around the house?

Has it brought a new Awareness for you?

I have never been a big shoes in the house guy, so

this wasn’t a big adjustment. I like the tactile feel of the floor under

my feet, especially the cool feel of the kitchen tile in the morning. It

has also been the source of much family fun, especially for my son, who

announces “let’s go barefeet” when he comes into the house.

NUTRITION:

Did you notice any changes in your dietary attractions during this

cycle?

My diet has stabilized, with no caffeine, very little dairy and red meat,

and lost of veggies and a good amount of fish and shellfish. Amazed at

how easy it was for me to make pretty dramatic changes in my diet (e.g.

going cold turkey off a four cup of coffee a day habit with no withdrawal

issues) – based on your writings, I credit that to the herbs.

�

😉

it feels g(o)d to feel Light, doesn’t it?

RE:

Did you order and use your SUNRIDER herbs? How do they feel to you?

I eat vitashake, FD, and sunny dew every day. They have quickly become a

foundational part of my day. In particular, the vitashake / sunny dew /

water / soy milk shake I have when I wake up gives me a great base for my

morning gym workouts.

NUMBER IN PRIORITY, WHICH WHOLISTIC FITNESS DISCIPLINES YOU FEEL TAUGHT

YOU

THE MOST ABOUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE:

Strength 2

Cardio 1

Yoga 5

Meditation 4

Nutrition 3

� good job being honest with which of my Five Fitness Disciplines you are weakest in. you and i will now zero in on those weaker areas in the years ahead and never stop in our mutual Quest for your Highest Body/Mind Balance!

i trust your Recovery Week is being fully enjoyed, because i’ve almost finished with your PERFECT POWER Update!

yeah baby! ain’t living WF fun!

i bow to your Devoted Practice,

coach ilg, R.Y.T

founder/Wholistic Fitness Personal Training