July 03, 2004
WHEN I WAS 17...
when you were 17, i am sure you remember yourself as being quite...uh, potent.
me too.
already a national class athlete (Nordic Combined Skiing & Sport Climbing) with too many girlfriends, the chi would hit me and i would drive (okay, race) Vince I (my yellow sport pickup with a camper shell) towards Eldorado Canyon near Boulder, Colorado, or perhaps up Flagstaff Mountain where many of my early escapes and epic workouts took place and...cried.
screamed, actually.
my screams were primal...as primal as the equally potent starry sky which revolved, uncomprehendingly, above my feeble magnificent self.
i recall pounding my 5.12b strong fists into Vince�s steering wheel courtesy of a yet to be tapped adolescent energy matrix that would later be re-dis-covered as the seat of my Kundalini energy, which, to this very day, remains the focal of my inner and outer efforts toward Enlightenment.
my particular journey of extreme and endurance sports, Western sports science, herbs, Native American philosophy and practices, wolf upbringing, Tibetan contemplative arts, bankruptcy, divorce, business ventures, drugs, partying, sex, paralysis, competition, zen, fighting, martial arts, and yoga all seemingly fused into a quixotic elixir of life jumping at me with verve, urge, and an endless humor. with my Soul fused to the Divine with an unmistakable and unshakable sense of potential finesse, poise, and spiritual architecture that leaves me blibbering at the exquisiteness of It All.
it is fortunate that sweat - unadulterated, pure sweat - brings me, again and again, my Truth.
through my daily SweatLodges (aka; workouts), i have learned my edge about Truth. for instance, i have learned through the acidic sting of sweat in my eyes that:
my Truth is not Gandhi�s Truth.
my Truth is not Paramahansa Yogananda�s Truth.
my Truth is not Sensei Kishiyama�s Truth.
my Truth is not my wolf�s Truth.
my Truth is not the Truth of my mother, or my father, or any other member of my biologic, marital, or spiritual families.
my Truth is Steve Ilg�s Truth.
my Truth - like yours - is a special Journey into the Self...MY Self.
and...
that journey is a Sacred One...
unique
particular
and
my daily excursions into my Truth
- by way of Sweat and Silence -
IS
the
time
of
my
life.
my beautiful, brave, and noble Warriors of Wholistic Fitness and High Performance Yoga:
do this:
Sweat your Truth
each day
as deeply as you are capable
until i Return from my Beloved
high mountains
and red deserts
of our amazing American Southwest.
you don�t need to travel to Egypt.
you don�t need to visit Europe.
you don�t need to read another New Age book...
and you sure as hell don�t need that back surgery
or that knee surgery or that cosmetic surgery or
even have �your roots done.�
here is what you need to do:
LISTEN
to
your
unique
and
beautiful
life
while you are here.
Do not turn away...
turn inward.
that is all.
jao!
love,
your feeble teacher