“In that moment I was in another cave — filled with Powder. Then I died and was resurrected back in the cave of champions — collapsing, and very humbled. And what was that final pose that Ilg showed us? He was levitating!”
i received SOOOOO much more than the admittedly high effort i put in to produce Durango’s first annual snowshoe race, the Winter Warrior 10k which took place today under the most unbelievably, jaw-dropping, sattvic conditions any new Race Director could have dreamed.
Snowshoes on my back (5)
Skis beneath my slip-slide feet (7)
Mind surfs sky-like snow! (5)
– coach ilg
after today’s ski training up La Plata Canyon, 1*29*11
photo essay of 15 incredible Colorado mountain shots…
vrkasana
Those of you that live in Durango and take our weekly HP Yoga™ classes, you already know that we begin our practice with a recitation of this most ancient of prayers which all Buddha’s of the past have reportedly prayed. By doing so, we connect ourselves with that astonishingly relevant Tribe of Awakened Spiritual Athletes which goes back in time for eons.
honestly however, me toeing the Start Line tomorrow? has helped in unspeakably potent ways to heal my knee. see; let me tell you a Secret of Mountaineering, Sport Performance, Overcoming Weakness/Imbalance, Conquering Dis-ease and Injury, and last however, not least, Chi-ld Rearing: ALWAYS MOVE IN THE DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO.
if you had seen my right knee one and a half weeks ago, here is what you…well, actually perhaps not YOU being a WF devotee…however, here is what many would have (and many did) say:
Your Feeble Mountain Yogi Ilg, sky high today on my most Sacred Sweat of all my Durango workouts; my infamous “Mordarbacken”…which is now part of the nordic skate skiing ultra: Tour de Ski coming up on my Race Schedule on January 22. Behind me is the radiance of my chi-ldhood Sacred Mountains; the La Plata’s caught here in my pic beaming their namesake silver aura.
I actually have not been able to ski this old traditional nordic skate skiing torture/bliss fest which i called, The Mordarbacken, since I was in my twenties! You can only imagine how stoked I was to revisit this old Ilg Standard which repulsed all my training partners who were able to finish it with me (only 2 out of 5 did!). This workout requires 2 hours of uphill ski skating at elevations starting at 8,793′ and finishes at about 11,213′ upon the base of Grayrock Peak (12,604′) which you’ll see in my 11 photos below (watch my YouTube Channel for a music video of this route).
2 hours up of skate skiing…followed by a scintillating, jump-filled descent on tiny edgeless skate skis in 32 minutes…most of which need to be spent in Chair Pose (Utkatasana)…you wanna come with me? Sure…you’re gonna have a challenge figuring out however, which of the photos to use as your new ScreenSaver…reader beware!
click on pics to deepen the Chi Hit…all photos by steve ilg unless otherwise noted. please do not republish without first asking. May my effort amplify your Practice this week… *** Prehistoric man journeyed through, lived within, and more than likely marveled at these captivating sand dunes which lay like a Devotee before the snowy […]
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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