Wholistic Fitness

Dear coach's noble sangha,

      I first joined in January of this year. Not sure why it took so long to introduce myself, possible notions of lesser-ness compared to the quality of athletes and warriors before me. I am 26, Exercise Science student at NAU, and meditation is the part of practice most difficult for me.

My (given) name is Robert and I met coach several years ago when I was helping at Coach's practice cave in Kinlani (Flagstaff). Without having the fortune of being led to him at that time I do not know where I would be.

I have fought through a severely overweight stagnant childhood, addictions, failing out of college (twice), going back to college, severe economic struggle, countless jobs, even arrests, and just about any other hardship someone could painfully bestow on themselves. 

Now I feebly prostrate at the temple door. Coach's way is the only way, steep and direct, to have any sort of chance of doing karmic work within this lifetime.

An academic by nature, athlete by pure struggle. I now work in fitness at the YMCA in Flagstaff, after leaving scholarships at a premier engineering university to learn more about this thing called yo-ga! and seeing what I was physically, spiritually capable of.

First notion of spiritualness:  Upon exiting a sweat lodge on the Cheyanne River Lakota reservation in South Dakota when I was 17. After my scout group had done 2 weeks of community projects for the tribe; our elder host invited a handful of us into his private sweat lodge on the last evening of our trip. Being a scientifically grounded punk rock skateboarder, I had dismissed the notion of God by age 13 growing up in the conservative Midwest. Until that one perfect m(OM)ent when grandmother moon let me know the REAL truth. The elder whispered a name to me, Wasak Mani Haksla [sp.], walk strong boy.

    and so I continue to walk the path

love to you all

-ra