September 29, 2002
OF HERBS AND QUESTIONS -
Dear Coach -
Exactly what "core nutrients"am I supposed to be getting from the Sunrider herb products? There is very little protein or calories and I'm sure less nutrients than a plate of broccoli or a handful of blueberries.
- Tim
Student Tim -
your question comes from a conditioned perspective of the analytical Western mindset which is still in its infancy regarding principles of wholeness.
SUNRIDER herbal foods are based on the Eastern principle of regeneration and support of the body's innate wisdom. The 3 grams of protein per 3 teaspoons of NUPLUS or the 5 grams of protein in the same amount of VITASHAKE is assimilated and used by the body so efficiently that it supports the physiology of the body far better than a plate of broccoli or a handful of blueberries or a coffin-sized case of an 'engineered protein powder'. one must consider the elemental (or organ-ic) qualities of the physiology before staring at the numbers of protein, carbs, etc., of herbs.
using SUNRIDER herbs as your 'core' nutritional base means eating herbs that function as spark plugs to the enzymatic fitness of your food...YES! you still should be eating beautiful whole foods, raw as possible, low in fat and high in fiber and protein...the herbs make sure the nutrients in those foods are used in the best, cleanest manner.
translating the yin/yang and elemental Chinese philosophy into the molecular mathematics of the Western mentality is difficult for many to accept logically.
that's okay. because feeling and seeing is what matters most. as your personal experience with the herbs increases, your self-found evidence of the herbs efficacy is all you will need.
you can learn more about herbs by eating them for two months then you ever will from reading a thousand 'nutrition labels' or a million 'clinical studies'...both of which are endlessly manipulated by economic drivers.
skeptics can disregard SUNRIDER. they can also disregard my Five World Championships and self healed state from a broken back using SUNRIDER herbs and eating whole foods. that's cool, it's their opinion.
but for people who are not inclined to accept 'unscientific explanations' it's likely that if they remained true to such skepticism, they would also find the 'scientific explanations' quite unacceptable as well!
direct experience is what counts.
eating herbs is about raising the protein efficiency factor and the overall nutrient assimilation factors and increasing the active elements of your food. over the long-term, this results in a higher vibrating you...
but your mind must be quiet enough at the beginning to hear the vibrations...which is why i combine Meditation along with Nutrition in the study of WF. you misspelled 'broccoli' for instance, this lack of mindfulness is precisely why people find it difficult to prioritize wholeness over analysis...wholeness requires more perspective and less narrowed focus which leads to tunnel vision.
once your mind quiets and your body speaks more clearly to you, the beauty of eating herbs everyday is as obvious as sunlight bouncing off a mountain summit.
As Jack LaLanne said, "If a man makes it, don't eat it!" Jack, at 88 years old who has only eaten whole foods his whole life and no dairy or meat, can still do 40 pull ups and over 100 push ups. can you?
the only science that matters in the long run is the science of self. this requires feeling through direct experience.
I have not aligned WF with herbal foods for over 20 years for no reason. Herbs and whole foods are better for you than engineered and synthetic foods.
SUNRIDER herbal whole foods and skin care are just happen to be the most concentrated, powerful, and best herbs on the planet! let's hope the company stays around for another 20 years! SUNRIDER is like WF: it's by far the most comprehensive, safe, and effective path out there!
see you on the summit...
eat an herb,
coach ilg
����
Dear Coach Ilg,
I was surprised to receive you response to the Sunrider protein question. I too wondered why you recommended items with a low protein component as a source. Especially in view of you last official publication, Winter A, where you do endorse a designer protein and provide a guideline for protein intake that is at least one if not two orders of magnitude greater than the Sunrider alternative.
I personally would love to stop thinking about the protein issue, yet you have in fact mentioned such concepts as nitrogen balance. So could you please tie this all together. (I know Nietzsche said one of the main reasons for his success was that he never reconciled anything.)
Best personal regards,
Andy Solomon
hey Andy -
THE WINTER ATHLETE, being a tome directed toward high-intensity, cold-weather competitive athletes, sported a stamp of approval for extra protein due to the above average catabolic nature of such athletes.
the moment i stopped competing, and moved to So Cal, i dropped all the engineered supplements (which i only used 'intuitively' for years) and have just used SUNRIDER herbs plus a low fat, high fiber, mostly raw and whole foods diet (salads, salads, salads!) ever since. I suggest the same for most students, but everyone is different, which is why online training, one on one, is far better than relying on any book...including mine!
break a sweat and stretch your spirit today...
May Your Practice Be Strong & Sincere,
coach ilg
www.wholisticfitness.com
visit:
DIRECT LINES: Daily Meditations from Coach Ilg
September 25, 2002
Namaste Noble Warriors!
To honor the broad shoulders upon which ALL of us fitness warriors stand, I would like to offer my congratulations to Jack LaLanne...the father of modern fitness in America, as he receives a much deserved Star on Hollywood Avenue tomorrow morning at 11:00 am.
If it were not for my book deadline, I would be in attendance to watch him. My ultra-racing bro, Ron Jones (zenbike@aol.com) will be there and he in fact, gave me the heads up on this event and steered me to the following web link which contains a FANTASTIC article on Jack. 88 years old and still crankin' the chi, baby!
we all should bow very deeply to this undersung hero of American Fitness!
here is the link:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/807232.asp
i close with a few of Jack's classic quotes in the article.
May your Practice be ignited by honoring Masters like Jack LaLanne!
in strength, spirit, and sweat,
coach ilg
�����
���Remember I told you about that big smile,� he said on one of his shows. �A smile isn�t any good unless you give it away.�
- Jack La Lanne
�Would you get your dog up in the morning and give him a cup of coffee, a cigarette and a doughnut?�
� JACK LA LANNE
�If man makes it, don�t eat it.�
� JACK LA LANNE
�Jack La Lanne: �You name me one creature on this earth that used milk after they�re weaned.�
� � � Interviewer: �But milk�s good for you.�
� � � �Jack La Lanne: �It�s not good for you. It�s good for a suckling calf. Are you a suckling calf?�
September 24, 2002
"the science of WF has less to do with fitness than it does with being
willing to be honest with yourself."
-coach ilg, 3/92
Namaste Noble Warriors!
You guys are cracking me up and cracking open my heart with your quotes...here are some of your most recent ones. Let me tell you, there might not be anything like WHOLISTIC FITNESS, but there SURE ain�t nothing like a WHOLISTIC FITNESS student! You guys are the BEST! THANK YOU FOR YOUR DEVOTED STUDY!
�
Dear Steve:
A decade ago, I bought your Outdoor Athlete book, which I considered the finest athletic manual in the world at the time. What really got me, besides the rather unique readings on certain classic moves in weight training--which I as it happens had done for decades-- was the movement-aware, mental-spiritual dimension you brought to everything. Now, I see, you are expressing the yoga-origin of all this. And, bringing it all together into the outdoor athlete's perspective! Thanks for all your good guidance, I do appreciate it!
Clair McPherson
�
Regarding WF Master Student, John �Hakado Ru� Kuhlman�s hilarious story of just how �effectively� SUNRIDER herbs �cleansed� his system and didn�t tolerate his junk food consumption, HP Yogi Darren Moore of LA writes,
�Give my regards to Hak.....I appreciated his story, you don't get that kind of sharing often. Ilg, thoughts of my yoga practice and class carry images of you.
see you soon, darren�
�
CONGRATULATIONS to veteran WF Student and world class kayaker, Rob Hartman...who is now sure to be a world class daddy! she is BEAUTIFUL!
http://mail.chartermi.net/~hartmanrf/pics2.html
�
Steve,
You are a gift to those who know you. Thank you for sharing from your heart the beautiful descriptions of your visions.
Love and light,
Penny Smith
�
Steve,
Your alternative essay to the media coverage of 9/11 was incredibly beautiful. I just finished watching the heavy news coverage of today's memorials of 9/11 and I'm getting ready to go to sleep. Now I can rest with and uplifted heart.
Namaste,
Michele
LA
�
�hey coach, just thought i would drop you a quick note to let you know how world solo 24-hr mtb championships went for me. i ended up 7th, which i am happy about, because i can say i am 7th in the world. it was quite a bumpy road, the whole trip and all, so, assuming things would have gone according to plan, i probably could have gotten at least 5th. oh well, i have to be happy with what i got, and look towards next year, this was all just a learning experience. i will send the race report later... love ya!
timari
�
HERBAL Q & A
Dear Steve -
That was great information on TOP, JOI and ESE. But what do you know about thyroid problems / health? Is there an herbal supplement that can help with under active thyroids?
- Cindy, LA
Dear Cindy -
your thyroid is like a mirror reflecting the metabolic and enzymatic fitness of the body. performing yoga asana (postures) whereupon the thyroid and parathyroid are directly stimulated is key. Poses such as halasana (plow), sarvangasana (shoulderstand) can bring the thyroid into balance. this is why in most HP Yoga class, we end with one of those poses...it helps bring about hormonal balance in a society that seems devoted to bringing about hormonal chaos!
as far as herbs, doing the core SUNRIDER program is best. the combined effect upon the cleansing and balancing of the organ systems will allow the thyroid to function at her most optimal level. thus, getting drinking the ILG SUPREME once or twice a day should do the trick with a steady yoga practice including those above mentioned poses.
namaste,
coach ilg
�
dear Coach,
the following comments from one of my students who recently purchased your HP Yoga video. i'm thinking it won't be too much longer before the WF/HP Yoga "secret" will be out in Indy:
"Chris,
Okay, that High Performance Yoga tape rocks. Are you trying to kill me? I can't believe how intense it is....
I received it last week and tried it once after work. I didn't have enough brain power left in the day to concentrate, so only got through about 20 minutes of it. I got up this morning and tried again and got through about 45 minutes and had to fall back to child's pose. WOW - I can see why I can take my gym workouts out of this cycle! I had a really hard time doing the seated knee bend and rolling my calves out???? I'm not quite flexible for that section - but am sure I will get there.
Love the Sunbars for breakfast...need to get some more"
Namaste,
Shawna Schaub
IN
�
Dear Coach -
I love the HP Yoga Pants and am getting back into High Performance Yoga now that the off season is here!
- Fit Kit, triathlete
Canada
�
Dear Coach Ilg -
The Winter Athlete has rally struck a chord with me, and the philosophy of Wholistic Fitness resonates deeply. Sign me up for Online Training...I look forward to the adventure.
Thanks,
Jonathan
long beach
���
Coming Up Soon in DIRECT LINES:
Coach Ilg on
�) the NFL opening weekend
�) US OPEN Tennis Championships
�) Tiger Woods
�) Key Points on dancing the line with Fear
September 19, 2002
Beautiful and Noble Warriors!
I am back in LA...oooof. Tough transition from New Mexico, let me tell you! But I got some good quality book writing, yoga, and bike rides among my old haunts. Much needed for my chi replenishment!
I�ll be back updating this forum more regularly now...and attending to the several hundred emails that have accumulated recently!
Check out this great article from TSN magazine that mentions my wonderful WF Master Student turned HP Yoga Teacher; Grant Couture. In it, several professional athletes are profiled about their use of yoga. Grant, a former pro hockey player, who now owns his own yoga studio in Vancouver (www.wanderingyogi.com) is interviewed in the piece. Great job spreading the Dharma, Grant!
May your Practice sing with spirit and sting with sweat!
I bow to you,
coach ilg
�
TSN magazine
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
Phoenix Coyotes goalie Sean Burke practices yoga numerous times a week.
By Reed Holmes, TSN magazine
Three summers ago, Sean Burke was feeling like an old veteran. The 33-year-old goaltender had just finished his 12th season in the NHL.
"I always took a lot of pride in working out and being in good shape and those kind of things, but I started to feel a little bit like I was wearing down," he said. "I was starting to tighten up a little bit. I just didn't feel real loose and relaxed a lot of the time."
Burke started the season with the Florida Panthers, but had been traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in November. It was his sixth NHL team and fifth in three years and it looked like Burke was starting to be treated like a spare part.
Shortly after the season ended, Burke left Phoenix and returned to Florida. One day at his fitness club, he ran into a woman who taught yoga, the ancient Indian tradition that has become popular in North American. The woman convinced Burke to give it a try.
"Like a lot of people, I thought it was a little bit flaky. Then when I went to the first class there was probably 20 people in there and 15 of them were middle-aged women. I couldn't get through the class and these women were just flying through it, and I was like, all right, let's check the ego at the door right now."
While difficult at first, Burke took an immediate liking to yoga and began to practice it on a regular basis.
"I could see that it was something that was very appropriate for what I did," he said. "The physical side of it - the stretching, the breathing - and the mental side of it as well. The focus required and the concentration, those kinds of things, I thought it really went hand in hand."
Burke returned to Phoenix for his second season and had arguably the best campaign of his career. In 62 games for the Coyotes, the second-most games he had ever played in a season (he played 66 with the Hartford Whalers in 1995-96), he compiled a 2.27 goals against average (GAA), the best of his career.
"I didn't have the lower back pain I'd been experiencing, tightness in the hamstrings, a lot of those other things seemed to go away," said Burke.
Last year, Burke had an equally outstanding year compiling a career-high five shutouts and a 2.29 GAA, and was a runner-up to Jarome Iginla for the Lester B. Pearson Award, an award presented annually to the NHL's outstanding player as selected by the players.
Burke is one among a growing list of professional athletes that are turning to yoga as a way to recover from and prevent injuries, as well as to improve their athletic performance.
That list includes the likes of L.A. Lakers centre Shaquille O'Neal, Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George, tennis star Pete Sampras, Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield, and Blue Jays first baseman Carlos Delgado.
According to Matthew Solan, an editor at the Yoga Journal magazine, big-name athletes like Delgado, O'Neal, and Burke only started getting into yoga about five years ago.
"These guys are trend-makers that are going to yoga for injury recovery or to help supplement their workout routines or to help with flexibility in certain areas," he said. "Other athletes are probably catching wind of that and testing it. They probably wouldn't have done it on their own but they're seeing a name do it."
Grant Couture, who runs the Wandering Yogi Yoga Studio in Vancouver, is not surprised that athletes are turning to the ancient tradition.
"It gives you a better way to move," he said. "With athletics you are always looking the most efficient way to move, to have the best change of directions. It almost works on the nervous system, relaxing it in a way that it is able to respond easier to a situation."
Couture played major junior hockey in Lethbridge, Alberta and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1982 (#136 overall). He also played four years of his hockey at the University of Alberta.
Couture then got into yoga about six years ago after his competitive hockey days were over. He was introduced to the activity by a world-class American runner named Steve Ilg, who used yoga to compliment his training regime.
Like Burke, Couture took to yoga immediately. In fact, he liked it so much he began to study it and eventually became a yoga instructor and opened up a studio in 1999.
"I went into it because I was feeling a little rusty and all of a sudden I'm teaching yoga and the yoga philosophy," said Couture. "I would've never have guessed I would be doing yoga."
Yoga developed in India at least 5,000 years ago and was brought to North America in the late 1800s. However, its popularity exploded in the 1960s when the Beatles began to associate themselves with an Indian guru named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who was a yoga master.
In simple terms, yoga is a series of body postures - forward bends, back bends, side bends, twists - that are deepened and maintained through focus and breathing. While many see it as a way to stretch and get a good workout, others view it as a way to calm the mind, bring emotional balance, mental clarity, focus and concentration.
Emphasis on the meditative and spiritual side of yoga varies depending on the type of yoga practiced, and there are numerous types of yoga out there, ranging from a gentle stretching style to an intense workout style.
Typically, athletes engage in more intense styles of yoga like Ashtanga, which features a rigourous and athletically challenging series of postures or poses that focus on strength and flexibility, and Bikram, which takes place in studios heated to around 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
An increasingly popular style of yoga is Power yoga, which is an Americanized version of Ashtanga yoga and the type Burke practices.
"Athletes want to workout, they want to sweat. They can't come in and do some stagnant yoga class," said Libby Maio, a yoga instructor and manager at the Yoga For Athletes yoga studio in Vail, Colorado.
September 11, 2002
�
A Single New Mexico Sunset
a yogi�s gift to you
on a difficult day for many
a token for your mental well being
by coach ilg
on the eve of
september 11, 2002
To have you witness the evening before me, is my greatest wish. Another New Mexico evening has just seduced a weary late summer day. Rain clouds, pregnant with their long awaited and precious cargo, have gathered overhead. Bulleting the kaleidescope sky flies a cliff swallow and starts a one-bird show with darts and dives above the Rio Grande. Sunlit poplar trees applaud with golden waves from below. The swallow soars with purposed flair, as if scripting a love letter, invisible and inaudible upon the thundering sky. Another swallow joins her acrobatics. He too, dares the wind with graceful arcs and kamikaze plunges. He can flirt with a dogwood willow and frisk celestial cloud in a flicker of a moment. Maybe heaven is to feel like the way swallows can fly.
As if on cue, both birds exit the scene with a seductive snap of wings. A bewitching theater of wind, land, and sky remains. Pale cottonwoods and a few pathetic pinyons, both weary with drought, receive the spirit of the evening and slowly begin to dance. A Townsend�s solitaire, fidgets an apache plume with delighted fluttering. Perhaps he too, senses the rare treasure of rain. Beside me a black sage absorbs lingering pastel light and fingers the wind, as if reaching for the rain. I am quick to run my eyes over as much of this canvass as possible...past San Luis Cabezon, beyond the pueblos of Santa Anna and San Felipe, past the tendrils of pines pressing down on Sandia Peak. I want to grab it all hard. I want to yank every smell, each shaft of light, every splinter of stone into my memory in a wild, lovemaking way so I never forget it. I am willing to be greedy here. I know this moment will soon be over. Thirty feet from me bristles a rabbitbrush, her withered limbs shiver in a portrait of death. Time takes it toll on all flesh be it plant, mineral, animal, or human. But this evening, the feeble foliage and scrawny creatures of this mesa all dance. Rain has begun to fall and life on the mesa arises in ovation as the needed wetness drapes itself over the land like illuminaria.
Why should raindrops smacking dehydrated red dirt touch me so? An achingly intense spaciousness spreads over these volcanic mesas and pinyon punched mountains. This ocean of space was created by a million evenings just like this one. This one sunset is but a fragile twitch within one eon of an eon of eons. Mountains may flicker, planets may stumble, but as humans, fragile twitches are all we get. Our entire lives are created by moments. That�s why i try so hard to make people pay attention to them. It is the very nature and ability of any given moment to sustain what is best and sacred within us.
To me the lessons from a year ago are the same as from this sunset:
Appreciate what you have already,
produce that which makes others smile,
do what you cherish doing,
be with the one whom you know you deserve,
be courageous enough to at least try,
and
be brave enough to always,
endlessly love.
no matter what
no matter whom.
From this New Mexico evening, I bow to you, Noble Warrior. May you soar into your moments as a cliff swallow before a sunset. May you always be free, strong, and sincere in all you do.
coach ilg
rio rancho, new mexico
9/10/02
September 07, 2002
Namaste Noble Warriors!
Besides missing my beautiful bodhisattva of a wife, it is wonderful to be back in New Mexico. I�m a few days into my book writing intensive and starting to gather some much needed southwest chi(li). I�ve been riding my bike on my favorite ol� routes and having some great HP Yoga and pranayama sessions in the pinyon scented, high desert air. I�ve had a headache since I�ve been here. Thought it was from staying too long in sirsasana, but then realized...it must be the fresh air!
The population growth out here north of Albuquerque is crazy. Developers guiltlessly keep �developing� like there is no tomorrow. And also like there is water. Which there isn�t. Fresh new ribbons of asphalt continue to slice the windy mesas into neatly folded parcels for ever more housing �developments�. They might be developing more houses, but not more common sense. For road cyclists like me however, these black, sensual endless seams of flawless pave are a road cyclist�s heaven. Life is change. No sense in getting bitter.
Well, I�d write more, but my fingers and forearms are already getting worked over by the steady typing. So, I�ll leave you with some insights into Wholistic Fitness Strength Training like I promised a couple of updates ago and an herbal post and some beautiful Student input. I am so Blessed to have a life that includes so many amazing people like you...thank for your support of Wholistic Fitness and High Performance Yoga!
Wish me good favor with the book writing gods...
From beneath Sandia Peak and under a shudder of stars, I wish your Practice and Pranidhana (dedication) to be strong and sincere....
Coach Ilg
in New Mexico
���
Even if you are not a formal or informal student of Wholistic Fitness, here are three meditations to prioritize in ALL of your gym workouts. These are the first things that determine - and define - a Wholistic Fitness Warrior in the gym:
1) Less Is More; Prioritize Elegance, Not Resistance.
Each set in the gym should be done with an emphasis on elegance. It�s what sets Wholistic Fitness Warriors apart from the mindless lifting of the masses. Forget about the amount of weight you can lift! Shift focus to how you are lifting it! The key to functional strength training is learning how to make less feel like more!
2) Establish Lifting Rhythm; Focus On The Yin & Yang.
Every repetition in the gym should express three distinct qualities; yin (female), yang (male), and neutral (transition). Nearly every injury and training staleness in the gym is due to ignorance of this rule. A yang or male phase is explosive and occurs on the concentric contraction - as the muscle fibers shorten as they contract. This happens as a barbell is lifted toward the chest during a barbell curl. The yin or female phase is a slower, more controlled motion which occurs on the eccentric contraction - as the muscle fibers lengthen as they contract, as when the barbell is lowered from the chest during a barbell curl. The neutral or transition phase, links the yin and the yang together. It parallels kumbaka in yoga, or the moment between inhales and exhales.
3) Coordinate Breathing Rhythm; Merge Into The Breath
Exhale on yang phases (explosive, concentric,shortening). Inhale on yin phases (slower, eccentric, lengthening). Since most yang phases occur as the weight is being lifting upward (as in the bench press, barbell curl, seated press, etc) a good way to remember this principle is to �Blow The Weight Upward�...exhale as you push! Inhale as you attempt to control the descent or the lowering of the weight.
�
�Dear Mr. Ilg,
After a year of sitting on the side table your book (THE WINTER ATHLETE) has become an important part of my life. The balance and depth of your approach is very encouraging.
Serving as a Scoutmaster and high adventure leader at age 53 it is important that I be prepared. As a Father and husband it is important that I reduce the probability of a heart attack while becoming a better person.
Scouting needs are significant. Our troop has monthly outings. I will be taking our troop to Minnesota in December for cold weather camping. In June I will be leading a two crew canoeing contingent to the boundary waters.
It is interesting to me that mindfulness, appropriate action and practice are principles explicitly embraced by Scouting. Breathing and posture are at least an unconscious part of our outdoor activities.
The Winter Athlete will be my guide for the next 8 weeks.
Thank you very much your wonderful instruction.
Karl C. Kerschner
�
A special congratulations to beautiful Rae who gave birth to Lindsey Katherine Machado on August 26, 2002 at 5:14 p.m. Lindsey tipped the scales at 6 lbs. 2 oz. at 19 1/2 in.
�
Due to popular request, here is some more information about what I call the �Big Three� herbal healing formula�s from SUNRIDER herbs. The first two, JOI and ESE are elite healing formulas for any joint or muscle pain. The third formula,TOP, is superb at relieving everyday, chronic type of anxiety.
Whole Food Formulations that nourish our mental- emotional health.
We add them to the Basic Foods of Calli, NuPlus, Quinary and
Sunny Dew.
JOI - Specifically addresses the musculoskeletal system.
This concentrated, regenerative whole food group of
vegetables is specific to the body's ability to soothe
soreness and tension in its entire frame. Certainly
one of the joys of life is to live without the stress
of body pain. The foods in JOI can strengthen the
body's capacity to deal with pain especially related to
muscles and bones. May also give relief from degenerative
conditions in the spinal column.
* (For when you ache and hurt from going too hard and too
fast with the pace of life!!)
ESE - A supplement that provides "food for thought", a unique
blend of herbal concentrates complementing the body's
ability to maintain focus and clarity.
A grouping of whole foods which are regenerative and
specific to strengthening the function of the body's
central nervous system. The body's ability to concentrate
and focus on the task at hand, whether that be study,
competition, or sleep, is strengthened. There are
no chemical type side effects such as drowsiness or
hyperactivity. ESE is a food to calm and allow full
mental capacity to focus clearly. Drug and alcohol
withdrawal can be minimized.
* (For when your thoughts are scattered...start one
sentence and can't finish..helps bring thoughts
together!)
TOP - Contains herbs which nourish the body so it can better
maintain mental and emotional balance.
This food helps the body balance the brain chemistry
which can help the body to reduce discomfort. This
formula can strengthen the body from the shoulders up.
Relief of drug withdrawal symptoms and can help relieve
migraine headaches. Helps nourish endorphins in the
brain. Thought processes.
* (For when someone is uptight.. intolerant and
"set" in their thinking; rigid)
ESE & JOI are best used in conjunction when dealing with soft tissue inflammations. According to Dr. Chen, healing cannot occur unless the nervous system is calm. ESE calms the nervous system, and allows JOI�s healing properties to reduce muscle, connective tissue, and joint bed inflammation. Both have remained staple 'standbys' of mine for as long as I've been with SUNRIDER. They played an instrumental role in my recovery from smashing my spine/pelvis. Let me know if you want to get on them! It's easy and these formulas should always kept in stock!
�
"Steve -
Thank you for the energy and enthusiasm you bring to teaching - it's truly inspirational."
-Michele Ringler, LA
�
�Dear Steve -
You have spoiled me completely with your amazing yoga teaching! After taking you as my first yoga teacher, I recently did a �grand tour� of all the yoga �stars� of LA. Not to toot your horn, but you are so MUCH BETTER! You have the body, the wisdom, the athletic background, and the sincerity. Thank you!�
- CF, LA
�
Next DIRECT LINES; a great fitness story by Wholistic Fitness Warrior Student, Sean Madine, more New Mexico vibes, and your Student input! Thanks for all your letters of support!
September 02, 2002
For yesterday�s flight from LA to New Mexico (where i�ll be until mid month
working on my book), i scheduled an early morning flight. I always do this
to take advantage of a most amazing perk of modern technology; air travel. I
totally love soaring miles above the ground through blue sky and dancing
clouds. I�ve parapetted, hang glided, parachuted, and bungee jumped. But
planes...wow. So much land passes beneath so fast. Particularly to those of
us who practice bicycle commuting, air travel has lost none of her
astonishing charm. Wholistic Fitness students don�t complain about airline
travel. That is so predictably ungrateful. Instead, we choose to reflect
upon whose shoulders we stand upon. Any complainer of air travel would do
well to remember the dehydrated pioneers aboard their jolting Covered
Wagons. And the horses that pulled them. Why do we get so ungrateful so
fast?
Following a tender and touching goodbye to Kathy, i boarded my plane. Soon,
like magic, i once again soared through lenticulated clouds as Grandfather
Sun warmed Mother Earth, dawning another miracle day. Looking out the tiny
window, i gazed with wonder at the unfolding ripples of desert ravines mixed
with wavy pine colored mountains. From my high perch i can easily spot many
of my beloved sacred southwest spots. The roughly textured canvas of the
Grand Canyon yawned at me as she began her day. Her vastness made me smile
and i lingered, caught in a distant memory of a trail running race i once
did there.
The race started at the lip of the monstrous canyon and dropped us right
down some hoary burro trail for a dozen downhill miles onto the disheveled
banks of the Colorado. There, we made a U-turn around a dancing Havasupai
native and started all the way back up!
Back then, i was a hot shot course record holder in high altitude trail runs.
Few could outrun me over long, high, and treacherous terrain. I had
distinct advantage however, because i grew up with a wolf, Apache, who taught
me very well how to endlessly and skillfully run up and down mountains.
So, with conditioned bravado and sense of reputation, i charged off the start
line and blitzed the descent like a frightened deer. Even a few of the
local Havasupai racers - members of the Native American tribe whom lived in
the Grand Canyon - couldn�t match my downhill speed. Part of my swiftness
was accounted by my Nike sponsorship; those Nike �Daybreak's� were damn
good trail running shoes...
Running down the heavily switch backed descent into the sandstone abyss was
for me, heaven. I loved running fast downhills...something about it. Unique
also to my running style was that i did not drink much during races. The
logistics of carrying water were too bothersome to me. I just liked to run.
Instead i practiced yogic techniques during both running and climbing to
need less water than others. Has to do with learning the reversal of apana,
one of the vital vayu�s or winds of the energetic body.
Anyway I was having a ton of fun on the spectacular descent into the bowels
of the Grand Canyon. At the turnaround point at the Colorado River, I waved
and smiled at the dancing indian and received the applause of a few gathered
there. Shortly after that moment, however, the hero that i was busy being
quickly shrunk in size. My heaven soon turned into hell as i began running
up; scores of other racers were thumping their way downhill, kicking up a
dense vapor of 110 degree heated dust. I could barely see three feet in
front of me and breathing that much dust was suffocating me. Maybe that
dancing Indian had cast a shamanic spell on me...
Reality bit into me at that moment like a pissed off rattlesnake; i was faced
with a lung searing, throat choking nine mile, two thousand foot climb back
to the upper rim through sauna like dustdevil with only a half drained,
single water bottle. Real brilliant hydration philosophy, ilg. Worse, for
all my finesse and wolfish flair at downhill running, i had gained only a few
minutes ahead of the group of Havasupai who had easily taken command of the
chase and now had me staggering in front of them like a gut-stuck pig.
Funny how i didn�t notice that war paint on their faces before.
I continued my determined ascent and did my best to be a brave and noble
warrior in the fight to ward off my capture, or worse my total meltdown.
The racers that were still running downhill began thinning out, which was
good. The trail was far too skinny and rocky for two-way running traffic.
That�s right about when one of those racers coming downhill took me out like
a cheese omelette.
He was big too. Enormous, actually, for a race like this...he looked like a
genetic experiment gone awry from the DNA of Rambo and Edward Abbey. He was
wearing combat issue boots and had all of his joints taped up. A blood red
bandana contained long, matted hair accented by chopper pilot sunglasses. As
he literally fell into me, his hairy, broad shoulders bulldozed my 138 lb
frame off the trail and into a thicket of omnipresent cholla cactus. Hate it
when that happens. The up side was the cactus acted like a spikey guardrail,
saving me from a several hundred foot precipice. Now, you�d think even a
militant naturalist would stop if he accidentally took out the race leader!
Not this dude.
Oh, i made it. Didn�t win though. My race leadership skills that day
weren�t the best. The Havasupai caught and dropped my dehydrated, cacti p ricked ass about three miles from the finish line. �Nice shoes,� they
laughed as they overtook me in the way cliff swallows overtake cows.
Bastards. See, the way it works is first your race leadership skills
dwindle, then out goes the whole yogic kindness and cheerfulness thing.
Hell, i bet even Ramana Maharshi woulda let out a few good cuss words if he
was in the same situation! Left alone to swallow my ego with my swollen,
dust caked tongue, i thought maybe i would ask that Rambo guy to monkeywren ch the adobe bread ovens in the Havasupai village. That�ll teach �em.
I can only guess what the other airplane passengers thought about me
yesterday as I stared out the window watching the world unravel beneath the
jet engines like a little kid. What the hell could be so fascinating down
there? It�s just a bunch of dirt and rocks!
Then again, they probably have never tried to outrun Havasupai in their own
backyard...
Be Brave in your efforts today and keep your Practice strong...
coach ilg