Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors –

“You are only as strong as you are when you are barefoot.”

– coach ilg

there is a reason why yogis do their practice barefoot. it keeps us grounded. it makes us slow down.

today, WF Online Teacher, Grant “Heikosan” Couture , embarked on a six week solo vision quest in the desert near Las Vegas. last i heard from him was a gleeful confirmation that he could get his SUNRIDER HERBS shipped to a fellow WF Student in LV. so right about now, Heikosan is merging into desert wilderness with nothing but a backpack of SR herbs!

what a classic WF Master Student. i love my Heikosan.

nobody is going to know where Heikosan is for six weeks.

we could not find him if we wanted.

but he is finding him by letting go of himself.

Jesus; to find yourself you must first lose yourself.

that is why both Jesus and Buddha wandered in deserts.

when was the last time someone could not find you for six weeks?

you want to be Christ like? Buddha like?

then take off your damn shoes and walk through a desert, baby!

that’s a real churchgoing. that’s the real temple.

how often does your Preacher/Teacher/Therapist/Physician take his naked foot across the dusty skin of Mother Earth for more than 15 minutes?

talk about a disconnected society with disconnected ‘leaders.’

your Connection is up to your personal effort in fitness training. fitness of body and mind.

we’ve become so un-grounded we think taking a pill or making ourselves look younger will somehow ground us more than a simple mountain hike or run along the beach. our addiction to entertainment instead of inner-attainment has our natural senses slip ever more quickly through our consciousness. not long ago, we spent our entire lives barefooted, never even knowing what ‘shoe’ is…we padded about nature like wolves across damp pine needles, silently strong and with focused poise.

my old rock climbing bros and i used to outmatch each other in barefooted feats of endurance and strength. i once climbed a rock climbing route that had a technical difficulty rating of 5.12. i climbed it barefoot. and ran down the talus afterward barefoot as well. i miss those naked days climbing, simian like, upward under the sun. by night, i fell asleep gazing at a moon just as nude, just as crude, as my body upon the earth.

now growing older and doing time in city life, my toe strength and foot toughness is but a mere shadow of its former tenacity.

makes me kinda pissed, i must admit. because in my book, you are only as strong as you are when you are barefoot. everything else is fake. that is why Arnold used to squat barefoot. he knew.

Heikosan repeatedly goes to great lengths to spend time by himself. he loses money, lots of it, just to be al(l)-one. but he is a spiritual warrior and is going hard after the Higher Wealth. as he has learned the importance of creating space within his bodily joints and tissues through his yoga practice, he has also learned the need for creating space between the waves of his thoughts. yoga citta vrtta nirodha.

in the way yoga postures stretch the body giving it much needed space, so do solo retreats create space between the thoughts of the mind. a solo retreat can be as simple as a committed savasana at the end of a yoga class or as deep as a Heikosan desert walkabout. your choice. you are in charge of your yoga of silence.

don’t take a chaotic mind to heaven. most folk couldn’t recognize heaven if they were living it right Now. why? they are too busy being rushed! oh, there is going to be a Judgment Day, don’t worry. the Judgment is on how well you’ve controlled the thoughts of your mind. your ability to do so has been called, The Pearly Gates.

our society teaches us to medicate instead of meditate. that’s fine. we are free to hang out for as long as we desire in chaotic mind governed by externals. we can push away solo inner work for as long as we like. a nervous breakdown or a stroke or cancer will eventually ground you into confronting your mind. that is just the Way of Life. it’s not bad or good. but for personal fitness training to be genuine, i must train you for that moment of encountering your own mind regardless of how much you may not like sitting still.

i take this time over these years to write about stuff like this in so many different ways because i deal with much of the suffering that comes from not following a path of body/mind fitness.

let us know what Heikosan knows; the necessity of silence.

do not feel bad if you are not being as brave in cultivating the yoga of silence as Heikosan.

he is a professional.

he is a WF Master Student.

he is a role model for many/including me.

the wise Teacher all-ways learns from his Students.

let us know the value of refusing to be rushed.

no matter what.

today i rode my bicycle with my bros.

i didn’t have the time, trust me.

i created it.

i know the value of refusing to be rushed.

next week the last thing i need to is to take a week off

to hang out in a red rock desert. i’m too busy.

but, next week Kathy and i are hanging out in red rock desert.

we invited you.

are you coming?

no?

why?

let me guess…

too busy, right?

tomorrow, i will speak more about this ‘being rushed’ thing.

i “hope”

i “have” the time…

i am very rushed these days…

guess it will boil down to my Love for you

to create the time

which is the same as

creating the time

for me to Love me…

today, let’s do this together:

slow down.

love,

coach ilg