Whatever we have done with our lives makes us what we are when we die. And everything, absolutely everything…
As ilg heaved, huffed, and puffed my fatigued hip flexors through the deep, sacred snows i actually arrived at such a point whereupon i felt i was literally fucking the snow with each uphill hip-flexor driven stab into the expansive, soft, and all-too accommodating virgin powder…the universal symbolism upon my sweating, heaving, driving body/mind/spirit not being lost to the rather obvious analogy; at times, the intensity of cardio work spurns sexual passion which of course is but an often sub-conscious, samskaric longing for an end to duality and a return to wholeness.
Take a conventionally-trained runner, for instance. As a typical coach, I would monitor his or her ‘hard days’ with either ‘easy’ or ‘off’ days. Trouble with this predictable, boring approach is two-fold; 1) the runner feels guilty when not training hard or worse, if there is a prescribed ‘off day’ which is enough to send the usually compulsive if not obsessive into conniptions and 2) as my friend and fellow Durangatang, Ned Overend (maybe you’ve heard of him!) taught me many years ago,
Grandmother Moon (yin), in complementary opposite to Grandfather Sun (yang)….bordered by sister trees, sister river, brother cloud, and ripples of which we are all One….
ilg admits; it’s been the steepest headwall i’ve ever attempted to climb
yet, thanks to my Practice begotten from my Teachers…your Teachers..our Teachers…of this
amazing Precious Path of WF?
my Essential Nature of Mind is only intensifying through the difficulty…not diminishing…
how doth the saying go?
“The interruptions ARE the Practice!”
Most Precious Sangha, what’s more important than learning the dimensional breath? be at YogaDurango (Florida Road studio) tomorrow at 11 am to 1 pm for a fantastic workshop with Joy and myself head bowed, coach steve ilg, cpt/uscf/ryt 500 founder: www.WholisticFitness.com www.highperformanceyoga.com
Durango, Colorado –
Legendary and seemingly ageless outdoor athlete/mountain yogi steve ilg increased his stock as the “world’s fittest human” by winning back to back races in rando (ski mountaineering) and nordic ski racing this weekend…
We don’t if Krishna initiated the Warrior Arjuna with a Mantra before the Big K counseled Arjuna to “Look to your duty; do not tremble before it; nothing is better for a warrior than a battle of sacred duty…”… what we DO know is that your feeble coach has steadfastly counseled all of you in the use of Mantra for Cardio and of course, in HP PROP Workouts. Today, Yogi B writes to me about just how the Mantra protected him from his ego during his recent run;
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Coach’s Teachings
Most teachings are for Wholistic Fitness Members only. Some are complimentary.
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!
You have access to thousands of posts going all the way back to 2002. The Archives makes for ideal Svadhyaya, and if you don’t know what that important term means ... all the more reason to dive into these amazing WF Scriptural Recordings!
Checking out one or two archived teachings every day or so is an AMAZINGLY EFFECTIVE way to stay connected with your Tribe AND maintain consistency and motivation in what matters most: your own practice.
Note: We'll be fixing broken image links, and cleaning up the categorization of archived posts, over time.
Photo of Coach and daughter Dewachen, living the Path (upside down!) by www.jamesqmartin.com