August 31, 2006
Student Coop Inspires Other Warriors To Overcome Their Fears
photo by coach of Online Student Todd Bishop and the Vyanic Princess; Amy during their recent WF Intensive which will be profiled in DL soon. Below, Student TB was touched and inspired by Student Coop's conquering of limitations set by eyesight challenge in this morning's DL.
***
Namaste Coach,
Tell Coop she's a STUD, way to breathe into the fear Dragon
and move past her.
Dude, if people only knew what it felt like to have a Coach of your
caliber that will lovingly take the dull end of a rope for them or be trail side
with a big smile and a blast of teaching and encouragement for them...
Man! ... there wouldn't be a front door left on the temple home for all
the people beating on it trying to get in.
i hope your ready for it, cause i feel that day is coming soon.
Love
Student tb.
***
COACH RESPONDS;
i Teach what i know (5)
Growing weary of grasping (7)
Love is all there Is (5)
om so ti,
el coache
* above; chillin' in Moab this summer
WF Mother Warrior's Private Intensive With Coach; Set To Zen
"The trouble is that you think you have time."
- Jack Kornfield, zen teacher
***
zen quotes provided lovingly by HP Yogini Leslie
superb effort during her Private WF Intensive provided by
WF Online Student (Clan Haku) and Sunrider Herbal Warrior Mother; Wendy Cooper of Indiana who also takes HP Yoga-inspired instruction under WF Teacher Chris "Ko" Roche.
photos provided by Ananda or Coach
***
"Begin at once to live."
- Seneca
Ananda and i finally meet our several year Online WF Student "Coop". After our initial Powwow, Ananda lead Coop on their 3-mile "cardio yoga" along Rocky Ridge. Along the route, Ananda provided customized meditations for Student Coop to Practice which immediately yielded profound performance and emotional insights for Coop, who is President of Promotion Fitness, Inc. The Transmission is strong up here, beneath the Sacred Peak.
"Stillness-
soaking into the rocks,
the cicada cries."
- Basho
"Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul."
- Simone Weil
after a heart thumping and heartspace opening effort on Rocky Ridge, a picnic meeting with coach ilg and wildflowers beneath the dacite cliffs of Mt. Elden was enjoyed.
"There is no end to the opening up that is possible for a human being."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, zen practitioner/writer
Challenged by depth perception, two things seemed nearly impossible to Student Coop; rock climbing and mountain biking. Well, she came to the right Temple to overcome those Fears. "The best way out is straight through." Tapasaya, baby. To straighten by fire.
"Men cannot see their reflection in running water, but only in still water."
- chuang-tzu
Coop must have been rooted beneath this initial overhang for 30 minutes before she found the answer within; CHI!
the WF Warrior must learn to see beyond the obstacle. body, you see, follows the mind. 
having thus Danced with exquisiteness one of her two Fears, it was time to return to the Temple H(om)e for a bodywork session and meditation clinic before an Evening Mealtime lovingly prepared for our noble Student Coop.
go(o)d thing; because tomorrow Coop would be invited to Dance the Mountain Biking Dragon.
i looked forward with much might to coaching biking skills to someone who 'couldn't see'.
so, i began my coaching dialogue with call backs to our work in Meditation. turned a few knobs here.
adjusted a couple of things there. tweak some Yang with Yin. i never understood why people pay so much money for 'retreats' and 'workshops' and 'outdoor performance' camps where the Coach to Student relationship is sometimes 1 to 15 or worse! for this mountain yogi, genuine Teaching Transmission can only be done in the way of the Ancients; one to one. Teacher to Student. Our WF Private Intensives usually are done in reverse to the monetary-based retreats. Our Students get both Ananda and myself to themselves.Maybe it is because our Love for you is too spoiled; we want you ALL for ourselves!
the result of such close training together?
well, take a look at Student Coops smile and aura in these shots and you tell me if one-on-one ain't the true Way of Teaching!
"For others to approve me is easy; for me to approve myself is hard."
- Yuan-cheng
Student Coop would reveal to us after doing Ai Imawa beneath the Sacred Peak;
"You know, i know all about the ongoing failures of other Online Fitness businesses. Though many other Personal Trainers, and athlete coaches attempt to do what you do but they fail. They might try to mimic WF, but they can't. You wanna know why?"
i smiled at Coop's growing radiance in that alpine meadow and responded, "No, why?"
"It's simple," she smiled, "You simply cannot Teach what you do not embody."
With that, Ananda, Coop, and i pedaled off into the Kachina Wilderness whereupon we learned how to do a paceline workout among Wapiti, Hawk, and shimmering aspens leaves beneath a Padmasambava sky.
***
have you scheduled YOUR WF Private Intensive? taking reservations now for time spots in 2007. Significant price increase for these utterly unique and unmatched Intensives anticipated in January, 2007. make your Deposit for 2007 now to lock in your price and date.
"The trouble is that you think you have time."
August 29, 2006
DL Is Al(l)right By Me!
- click on photos to enlarge - 
note; wholisticfitness/SUNRIDER nutrition at work...
our daughter
is 21lbs and 32inches tall at 11months..
very lean,healthy, strong, flexable,
happy, funny, inquisitive
and lastly..very mobile!
talk about cv training! 
"i've learned from the humble teachings
you've graciously imparted each DL to us.
each word hides a gem,
and each paragraph holds a mother lode
and beckons us to find it.
i need no fancy designs...
just your words..."
- Student "Dansan"
above, long time WF Warrior Dansan's puja table including coach ilg's calligraphy prayer flag that is no longer available; Breathing Into The Heart of Spiritual Fitness.
Dansan supports the "no frills" DL vibe below.
***
dear coache',
it's all a matter of "finding" or "seeking"
"concentrating" or "grasping"
most people will try to seek order..
in other words they will look superficially
at a situation, a place, or a person..
and to try change/improve them..
and impose this with grasping.
the Wholistic Fitness student finds the pattern
in every thing - and appreciates
each situation, place, person -
for their uniqueness and concentrates on the lesson they are imparting to us.
i refind the lesson for me often,
i watch my breath, and where my minds goes...
and to concentrate...
staying calm and enjoy any chaos...
this i've learned from the humble teachings
you've graciously imparted each DL to us.
each word hides a gem,
and each paragraph holds a mother lode
and beckons us to find it.
i need no fancy designs..
just your words
love from the waves of the pacific,
student dansan
NEW LOOK FOR iDL!
Noble Temple Website Manager, Hakado Ru
has finished the touches on our complimentary blog:
inDirect Lines
check it out at:
http://indirectlines.blogspot.com/
yup, that is the Sacred Peak, taken just the other day with snow on it by Ananda from our backyard.
let me know what you TAF and perhaps we'll revamp the DL Cave...although, i don't want you all to
go to DL for the glitz; in this Warrior Tribe, we are all about SubStance (that which we stand under, or understand)
DL ain't about illusion through fancy graphics.
please visit Hakado Ru's fantastic blog;
http://www.theoutdoorjourney.com/journey/
Hakado Ru is a very clever writer and in his humor we can all smile at our own Practice ebbs and flows!
head bowed with Temple Cat Being Jasper to Temple Website Manger Hakado RU! shot during footage for my "Rock Vinyasa" project! just WAIT till you get a load of this utterly unique Self Healing Routine!
enjoy and may the WF Dharma help many...
om so ti
NOTE: Ananda and i are in a Private WF Intensive with Noble Online Student Wendy Cooper from Indiana for the next two days.
please keep her in your Prayers! ;-)
August 28, 2006
THE DL TRANSMISSION; feeling and flowing
Hello my Loving Coach and Teacher,
Many times I learn so much by going back in DL and flowing through with you as you expand and explore a certain teaching. I TAF one very beautiful tapestry was woven starting with the mental cleanliness question I posed, through to your Sutra teachings and your state championship Race experience. Thank you. I ALLways inJoy going back over and over again as I more deeply understand why WF was crafted the way it was. Reinforces my devotion to my Journey with WF as my vehicle. I am blessed.
in Love and Light,
Your ss
You ARE in a RACE, and.. It's AllWays a win/win if you go for it!
From the bitter taste of not winning a competitive race,
comes the the sweetness of personal health."
- Coach Ilg
I offered the first of the season's changing Aspen leaves to the WF Temple H(om)e's Backyard Buddha, 'Shacky'...short for 'Shakyamuni'. truly, i've only had two major spiritual goals in my life;
1) to age as gracefully and beautifully and powerfully as a single Aspen leaf in autumn..
and
2) to, by the time my Teachers tell me, be able to have the balls to sit down upon Mother Earth, cross-legged, and not flinch my body or mind until Enlightenment like this Guy did, back in 483 B.C.E. not one human being has had the sheer toughness, guts, fitness, or spiritual tenacity to pull that most Greatest Feat of Human Capacities off since He. Shacky did it when He was only 39 years old.
i offer my entire lifetime of multi-disciplined sweat and stillness to this most Amazing Spiritual Athlete.
Think you're tough?
Think you've got it going on?
Think all your money, shelter, possessions, and 'accomplishments,' are really something?
Let me tell you bucko, you don't have shit unless you are dialing in the Nuts-and-Bolts of Enlightenment and know precisely what to work on after God says, "Okay, time's up...thanks for playing again!" and thus extinguishes your final inhale...
will you KNOW where to take the final filaments of your Consciousness?
have you trained your Subtle and Refined anatomy as much as your physical anatomy?
for what, pray tell, ARE you TRAINING??!
that is why i race.
even if i lose, like at the State Championships last Saturday, i still win.
i am the 6th fastest bike racer in the state of Arizona in my age category. and even though i did not win a State Champion's jersey (god damn it), here is what i did win:
Health.
Perseverance.
Self Reliance.
Faith in myself.
Strength.
Mental Tenacity.
WillPower.
Fitness.
Forgiveness.
Compassion.
Sacred Joy.
you see, Oh Noble Warriors, my body/mind/spirit was in a Yin Cycle last Saturday.
Bike Racing, if you want to win at it, requires a WHOLE LOT OF YANG.
timing is everything.
all a coach can do for you is line up the chronic and acute training variables in such a way so that on a given day, you perform your best.
you may not win the performance,
yet,
in looking back over the Journey;
you will see and inJoy a different Perspective;
you see the trail of sweat,
the long, studied silences,
the twisting curve of continual Forgiveness and Compassion,
you see the great Heights of Self Understanding and glimpses of your True Mind.
what you See and begin to Feel Deeply is that
you are not following any one else's Path...
you are not pursuing any one else's Fruit...
you see that your Dharma is yours al(l)one...
you see that the Path is created step by step, breath by conscious breath...
you see that
there is
no way you can Lose...
just having this Precious Life
is
a
win/win.
so, enter a race...train for it with the verve of ol' Shacky...
go for the victory,
because
much Greater Spiritual and Physical Health and Fitness is going to
be a Training Effect from your effort;
thus, no effort you make along the Journey is EVER wasted.
besides,
you are already in a Race whether any one else has told you or not.
you are in the Human Race
and the Race is toward: Enlightenment.
need a Coach?
WF Online Training.
quit dinking around.
now.
death comes faster than getting dropped in a bike race, baby.
so, go for it!
om so ti,
your lovingly fierce coach
because you deserve the Podium of Personal Training;
Wholistic Fitness Online Studies.
***
special thanks to WF Online Student; Hakado Ru for the second photo
August 26, 2006
Coach Gets 6th at State! Bids farewell to his summer season...
The Real Trophy is LOVE:
after a tough day in the saddle, i came home to a beautiful, though a slightly misspelled, sign from Ananda and the Temple Cat Beings congratulating me on my first racing season way up here beneath the Sacred Peak.
Top Ten Reasons (Excuses) Why Coach Did Not Finish On The Podium
At The State Championships Today:
#10) i've been climbing so high on so many podiums this season that i've come down with a case of altitude sickness.
#9) A State Championship Jersey? whippety doo...been there, done that...who cares?
#8) lats were still so pumped from flashing a 5.11 sport climb (true) the day before they screwed up my aerodynamics.
#7) didn't want the local bros to think i was showing off after only one season of racing here...
#6) had a mechanical failure (true...front wheel)
#5) had a spiritual failure (true...Dharma Wheel)
#4) too many of those damned "Secret Herbs", not enough EPO. note to self; make phone call to Floyd Landis and finally get some damn steroids into my system!
#3) need updated Mantra. those Ancient Guys never raced bikes.
#2) the little hottie at the Feed Station distracted me right when i was going to launch the winning attack...
and the Number One Reason why i did not finish on the Podium at Today's State Road Racing Championships...
I need to find myself a good personal trainer, that's why!
***
well, all's well that ends well!
this morning, i brought my summer bike racing season to a close at the Arizona State Road Racing Championships.
i finished 6th. it hurt. i did my best. today was not my day. five guys, three on the same team, attack hard into a killer headwind after 23 miles. i went with them. almost. actually, i came to less then 20 damn meters from bridging to them. then my legs and lungs could carry me solo into that driving wind no longer. within a minute, the first chase group of 4 caught up to me. we huddled like ducks with us each, taking only brief pulls into the monster wind as the Lead Group of 5 dangled tantalizingly a mere 10 seconds in front of us. i did my best to organize our chase. i tried really, really hard. we all did. one of the five fell of the pace and came back to our flying duck formation. after two brutal hours bucking into that wind, we never bridged to that leading group of 4. that's road racing.
i wanted to at least finish as best i could out of our group up the knee-cracking steep Finish Hill of 15%, i got a late jump and was last in our group at the start of the one-minute-of-lung-and-leg-busting effort. by halfway up it, i had reeled in all but two guys. with 80 meters only one guy was in front of me. he held on to finish ten seconds in front of me.
that's road racing, baby.
i got to reflecting today, that after racing this course for two consecutive years at these State Championships, i am beginning to think that the only way your mountain yogi coach is going to get on the podium here is if they hold a Pull Up Competition after the Race!
all right, so i didn't get on the podium today.
yet, i tried really, really, really hard. that is all i can do. today i just did not have that extra 10% PIZZAZ. today , i got beat by better Warriors on the bike today. i'm cool with that. hey, after breaking my spine 25 years ago, let me tell you...at least i am still out there, through chronic pain, trying my best. i got beat fair and square by others in my same age range (i'm 44, and i raced today in the 40-44 group). i'm cool with that.
hard days come. hard efforts often go unrewarded on the Outer Level.
on the Inner Level? we are allWays rewarded when we apply our spiritual tenacity during times of intensity, pain, suffering, and seeming "bad luck"...like the way i had a front wheel mechanical today.
hard times pass.
besides, there is always next year.
it's time to go rock climbing in the changing Aspens.
after today's race, i took Ananda up to Veit Springs for a Recovery Hike among dacite boulders, hidden springs, native petroglyphs, and splashes of wildflowers sprinkled in God-measured dosages across cascading alpine meadows.
right now,
it's time to rest after a long season and climb some rocks, explore some ruins, find new canyons, and help keep the deer and elk away from the hunters. it's time to chop some wood, lace on the ski training skates, hit the Iron Temple, and deepen my asana practice. it's time to hang with my parents while they are still alive and go camping with Ananda before the frost gets too heavy. it's time to ride my mountain bike among the slickrock of Sedona and feel the crunch of cold, starlit skies wander into an elegy of an amazingly beautiful and miraculous summer.
Namaste, my noble warriors. i can only trust that you approve of my efforts this season to, "walk my talk."
head bowed and humbled once again,
your loving coach
***
Coach's 2006 Race Results Thus Far
From..."The Coach That Still Does, To Serve You From Sweat and Spirit"
2006:
1/22 Snow or No Snowshoe Race 1st Place Snowshoe Division
2/18 Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon 1st Place Overall Team/2nd Consecutive Team Title
6/4 Sandia Crest Hill Climb 4th Place/1st in 40+
7/29 SnowBowl Hill Climb 6th Place/2nd in 40+
7/30 Wupatki Road Race 8th place/1st in 40+
8/19 Old Fashioned MTB Race 3rd Place/1st in 40+
8/26 AZ State RR Championships 6th place
August 25, 2006
OF SUTRAS, SWEAT, and...TROPHIES?! PART II
by coach ilg, ryt/uscf/cpt
If only the Western "scientists" that came up with the word, Aerobic Training or CardioVascular Training would have been yogis!
Just think of the spiritual headway we ALL could have made by now, if "They" would have called "CardioVascular Activity" what is truly is; a form of Pranayama!
I mean, really, is it not absurd? Let's say we go out for a run. Running is a typical form of what these modern experts call, "Aerobic Activty" or "CardioVascular Activity." I don't know about YOU, however, when i lace on my running shoes and head out the door for a run along Rocky Ridge Trail, it ain't just my "Aerobic System" or worse, my "Heart-and-Veins System" that is being trained! My leg muscles are firing with millions of neural input, my brain is being nourished with a jump in oxygenation, the concussion of my joints upon Mother Earth starts secreting joint fluids and my endocrine system, my digestive system, my immunology, my ocular fitness, my sense of kinesthesia, and most obvious of all; my entire relationship with the Prana-vayus ; the currents of Life Forces within and without me are directly being trained! Why the hell must the infantile sciences of the West go and start trying to Limit the 6,000 year old science of Yoga by attempting to re-invent the Dharma Wheel?
Oh well, since They foolishly did, it is up to us Protectors of the Dharma to attempt to limit the Damage done to our Souls by such sophomoric approaches to the Wholeness Principle that has produced Enlightened Masters since before the first Scriptures of Self Development were etched into pre-historic palm fronds.
Thus begins my commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras II/50-53 as gained through my Mountain Bike Race Day preparations last Saturday.
May it Help...
om so ti,
coach ilg
"The modifications of the breath (life force/prana) are either external, internal or stationary. They are to be regulated by space, time and number and are either long or short."
II-50 Yoga Sutras
The skill development of your breathing known as prana vrtti begins by cultivating and then managing the duration, rhythm, frequency, and precision of the exhales (bahya vrtti), the inhales (antara vrtti) and retention (kumbhaka). What most athletes chalk up as a "stomach cramp" or "nausea" or "headaches" are often more a case of breath-mismanagement.
The yogin should know the intimacies of the breath throughout all forms of pilgrimage; strength training, cardio training in as many forms as possible, kinesthetic/outdoor sports, lifestyle, pre-sleep, post-sleep, eating gross foods, asana, and pranayama (meditation). Only through regulation of the breath does become the regulation of prana in all her ten wardrobes (vayus). Without such knowledge of the multidisciplined breath, tranquility of mind during intensity cannot be attained, thus continues the soul swimming in the oceans of samsara (death, life, pain, rebirth,etc). To limit knowledge and breath control to one area (such as structured pranayama or asana sessions) limits the Unlimited by self-imposed limitations.
***
"There is a forth kind of pranayama that occurs during concentration of an internal or external object."
II-51
Here Patanjali smiles at the Wholistic Fitness yogin. He is saying that when we concentrate upon an outdoor skill such as mountain biking a challenging trail or getting higher and higher above our last piece of protection while rock climbing, or when skiing a triple-diamond gully, our minds are so firmly established in dharana (concentration) that a particular modification of our Life Force (prana) arises spontaneously. This is why elite outdoor athletes that travel fast and light across nature, are firing on more astral cylinders than say a hiker or worse, a six-pack toting ATV'r. When an athlete is in a state of concentrated performance,
his or her lower mind (manas) achieves a state of ekagraha (one pointedness). In fact, often, the outdoor athlete does not know where the Breath is when he or she is about to fall over the handlebars or take a screamer off a cliff. The breath (prana) is thus suspended. This suspended breath, says Patanjali, offers the yogin a spontaneous state of 'seedless' (nirbija) pranayama. Such a suspended state of being fires the energetics of kundalini like no other. This is why i have always in-couraged my Students who do not already come to me doing them, to do outdoor sports - preferably solo sports close to nature such as trail running, climbing, mountain biking, nordic skiing, etc. Given the higher percentage of prakritic prana (nature's life force) coupled with the mathematical odds of increased likelihood for nirbija pranayama or at least ekagraha made necessary to ward off possible injury...i have found Students to be offered Divine Gifts of inSight and authentic Transformation much more quickly and profoundly than if the Student is asked to keep concentrating on the breath during say, asana or 'meditation.'
Thus, the "external object" of which Patanjali speaks here can be the BattleDance of the outdoor athlete; rocks in the trail, the lip of a ski jump, the rear wheel of the bicycle in front of you in a peleton, the swim stroke, the foot or pedal cadence, the glide of a nordic ski, the poling action of a nordic skier, etc, etc., etc.
The "internal object" can be breath, internal locks, mantra, or energywork visualizations.
***
"As its result, the veil over the inner Light is destroyed."
II-52
Once again, like Meditation itself, the Truth is not "attained" by effort. Freedom is never gained, Freedom (mukti) just happens as a result of training. As i have Taught you many times, Meditation is not something you can "do." Meditation (dhyana/absorption) is a training effect from dharana. Thus, our work remains forever the same; learn to sustain our concentration! If we can seamlessly link our concentrative skills from one task to another until there is no one really doing anything; Meditation happens.
Same with the arrival of Truth. Pranayama allows us access to the Oneness that is, as John Muir put it, "...hitched to everything else in the universe." Pranayama, because it erases breath-by-breath, the clutter of the egoic structures (manas & ahamkara), purity and mental nakedness arrive. Where there is Clarity, Truth arises spontaneously because Truth, like the Sun, never wavers...It's allWays there.
Of all Personal Fitness Disciplines, certainly, pranayama is most Sacred and Potent Spiritual Weaponry. Pranayamic Fitness cuts through all restrictions of body and mind to impart what the Ancient Enlightened Ones called, Mahavidya (Great Wisdom).
Thus, i created "At-Sink Pranayama" specifically for Westerners. Why? Because we are too lazy to do what is required to sit in a firm meditation sitting posture to practice breath control. I tried for years to get my Students, even my most sincere ones, to sit in Pranayama regularly. No go. Since the advent of At-Sink Pranayama, however, my Students have catapulted the velocity of their Inner Power and continue to strengthen their 'nuts-and-bolts' of Transformation thus empowering and re-Fining their unique engine of Enlightenment.
***
"And the mind becomes fit for concentration."
II-53
Classic!
God i love this rascal, Patanjali!
For the preceding 50-some sutras He has been setting us on this unique
blueprint for Awakening our Life Force, right?
now the Master says,
"Okey-dokey, Smokey! Now...IF you can manage to regulate the intricacies of
your breath throughout an endlessly changing paradigm of dynamic waves of
the UniVerse, then, and ONLY THEN is your mind fit enough to PERHAPS sustain
one-pointed concentration capable and equipped one day for the REAL DEAL: Meditation!"
humbling Sutra, don't you think?
It really does not matter however, for should the aspirant gain access to the refreshed illumination and inSight afforded to the Warrior by steadfast practice in Pranayama, then all the effort to get out of bed and do Cardio (pranayama) and other Practices is replaced by an ever-acclerating gumption for Self Knowledge.
Thus, motivation is never an issue from this point inward.
As the veil of spiritual ignorance is blown off the roof of the ego by Pranayama, then only the Dance remains...and what a beautiful, seductive Dance it becomes; each moment of life enkindles new opportunities for MahaVidya...essentially, at this point, the Warrior is firmly Hooked on Enlightenment and shall never look back.
This ends my commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras II/50-53 as gained through my Mountain Bike Race Day preparations.
i will let you all chaw on that for a bit.
that should keep you off the streets for a while.
me?
after my Mountain Bike Race victory, i am returning to the streets tomorrow;
i'm off to go get clobbered in the Arizona State Road Racing Championships.
send me a spiritual tailwind, okay?
August 24, 2006
August Snow!
snow upon the Peak (5)
though my moccasins are wet (7)
they walk me with Chi! (5)
***
photo by Ananda; The Sacred Peak smiled upon my KinHin Walking Meditation this morning with SNOW!!
did you hear me?
SNOW in AUGUST!
oh man, where are my inline skates and poles?
time to start NORDIC TRAINING, baby!
Trapped Again in Duality...
i devote this DL to Most Noble Online Students Cerame and Feather and NWSM.
Why should it be so much more difficult to weed out baby Ponderosa trees from my garden,
than
Clover?
it shouldn't be.
yet, to this feeble mountain yogi, it is.
just another reason why i am not Enlightened.
Attachment, even when it comes from Love
is still Attachment
and must be overcome
before True Seeing through Maya
occurs.
"Cliffside flowers
sometimes fall
on a robe that's sitting in zazen."
- Ching An
***
photo 1) this morning after puja; with a heavy heart, i weed out one of the hundreds of baby Ponderosa seedlings currently blanketing the grounds of Two Tree Manor. note my use of Jnana Mudra during this violent action upon a living Being so that at least i am Conscious of the Dharma and karmic consequences while extinguishing the incarnation of this Being. coach ilg photo.
photo 2) i sit zazen in a volcano caldera in southern Ute-Tah. ananda photo. 
Ching An poem contributed by stalwart Flagstaff HP Yogini Leslie who came to class last night, elbow injured so she did all her chaturanga and down dog postures on her forearms! i bow to "no excuse" fiftysomething Leslie. What if Turtle Island had more Leslie's? InnerAttainment would be our fun and our focus, instead of the current era addiction to bullshit Entertainment. photo of Two Warrioresses; HP Yogini and SR Leslie with Ananda after a private Practice session at Two Tree Manor.
August 23, 2006
WF T-Shirt Sale continues; Coach explains the WF Logo
Noble Coach Ilg and Temple Manager Ananda-
Please send me 2 t shirts in XL! They look too cool!
My cells are happily beginning to stew in Phase I SR herbs - i am 'in process'.
i just wish to add my humble voice to the many, many, many who are grateful for what you are doing, all that you provide, and all that you Are.
i feel truly Blessed to know that you are part of my Journey, or that i am part of yours.
namaste' and Blessings upon you both.
in Love and Service,
new student steven
NYC
ps what does the bar through the yang half of taiji mean on the WF Logo? and is that the sunface from one of the pueblo tribes- like on the old NM license plates? (i thought Sandia pueblo)
***
COACH RESPONDS:
Noble WF Online Student Rookie Weiss of Clan Haku,
head and heart bowed to your Metta.
you are in for the 2 XL's you will dig them! Ananda uses hers as a sleep shirt. she loves it!
the explanation of the WF Logo is on page 9 of THE WINTER ATHLETE.
the horizontal and vertical lines of the "Zia" - the Sun symbol - represent Rain in the Southwest Native American philosophy. Rain, if you have ever lived in the American Southwest, is far more precious than gold, thus Rain represents Abundance. The direction of the lines radiate like the Sun, providing Abundance in all directions. Just like having the Fitness of a Wholistic Fitness Warrior; our multidisciplined fitness allows us the freedom of health and fitness in ALL DIRECTIONS, not just one.
yes, i did integrate the "Zia" from my southwest upbringing with the Yin/Yang symbol to express my Eastern Studies/Lineage, matched with the Dumbbell to denote my Western karmic work in this lifetime. my Sva-Dharma has been to express Ancient Yogic Teachings stylized in the form attractive to the Western Fitness Warrior. a few of you "get it." for most however, they cannot quite 'grock' the notion of seeing a versatile, balanced approach to lifestyle fitness as yoga. yet.
glad to hear your cellular purification has begun with the SUNRIDER Phase I herbs...proud of you! if the cells don't have chi and clarity, their function is tamasic and no amount of training will change that. That is why WF begins at the cell level and why Nutrition is the Kingpin of my Five Fitness Disciplines.
may your Online Studies within my humble, Powerful Temple remain strong and full of enLightened inSight...
om so ti,
coach ilg
August 22, 2006
DL SUBSCRIBER ONLY SPECIAL!
Okay...
Because you are a valued DL Subscriber, you guys get the Hole Shot on our new batch of
very,
very,
VERY
COMFORTABLE
KICKASS
WHOLISTIC FITNESS T-SHIRTS!
we expect arrival within two weeks.
sizes M, L, and XL only
"natural" color only (goes GREAT with jeans!)
i have put my stamp of ILG-APPROVED QUALITY on these babies (i found this particular brand
of T-Shirt at a bike race) and these shirts are sooooo comfy they are sick!
limit; 3 per student.
unadvertised until next week in the WF Pro Shop Online Catalog.
these WILL go fast and i don't want to hear complaints if you lose this DL-Special Notice!
i wear a Large and it is roomy on me (however, i have lost weight for this weekend's State RR Championships!).
you'll dig the graphics; front breast has both the WF and HP Yoga Logo
and the rear has a large WF Logo with a classic WF Quote!
be a Light of the Path that has helped so many...support your humble Temple and grab a few of these
while they last!
Online Students: we can take your pre-order immediately and place it on your WF Account.
Non-Online Students; email Ananda at:
joytrain@npgcable.com
with your visa or mc info including the expiration date
or call the WF Temple at 928*774*9205
only $15 each + WF Standard shipping/handling (usually $8 per order)
zero pitch; Alert Student Sasso Tracks the Teacher...
Beloved Coach,
Nice tracks in the snow in this morning's DL!
Nice zero pitch (one of the first lessons of a WF intensive!). Weight distributed more heavily on the outsides of foot, heavier on left foot than right. Head was looking down ...
Cool.
Love, A
"Becoming the person I always hoped I would be..."
"The Path narrows."
this succinct observation from the Ancient Masters has long fueled my own spiritual quest as the Inner and Outer Terrain became more inhospitable to those who do not Practice, who do not "stand under" themselves enough to realize, "Hey, my Teacher(s) can only lead me so far...it is i alone who must walk my own Journey." and so i, like you, continue to walk upstream, up the Steep and Direct Path, one foot in front of the other be it a cold step, a wet step, a tired step, a doubting step, a frightening step...one step at a breath, you and i keep walking the Go(o)d Road.
below i respond to a young Warrior who has been touched by TBT...
i will continue the Sweat and Sutra Teaching in a moment...
***
Coach Ilg,
Thank you so much for...everything. I recently finished the Green Tara
program and more than anything, it has really made me aware of the person I
really am and what I want to be in the future. Throughout the plan, there were
several times I wanted to write you; in fact, each time I felt enlightened there
was an urge to compose a novel of gratitude. Instead, I am writing to you to
let you know that the path so far has worked for me too. I simply confirmed
what you knew was going to happen. With this weeks rest to focus on school, I
will be ready to tackle Cosmic Yang in addition to becoming the person I always
hoped I would be. Namaste!
Sike
PS: coach, I was wondering if you knew any other wf warriors that go to the UoA,
b/c it would be great to have a workout partner. I frequently try to convince
my friends to try some of these exercises with me, but none of them will have
any part of it. I guess when the student is ready, the teacher will be there
huh?
***
COACH RESPONDS:
Most Noble Young Warrior Of The Inner Light,
i bow to your HeartSpace which Feels the Unseen behind my feeble words.
though i do not know specifically of any WF Warriors attending UofA,
i Trust that the Sacred Hoop will hook you up with those that are Appropriate to your Ascent.
i know all too well how few genuine open-minded, strong limbed and lung'd Warriors there are out there these dark days.
the Masters warned the aspirant who continues to Climb Upward, Onward, and endlessly Inward;
"The Path narrows."
May your studies - both academic and spiritual - be Blessed with the WF Dharma Light
and may your Practice remain strong and sincere throughout the headwinds of life...
i give you this Gift of a spontaneous Haiku inspired by your letter to me:
head bowed into wind (5)
one foot after the other (7)
such pain! such delight! (5)
namaste my Brother Warrior and thank you for picking up the quill,
you are why Warriors like myself write books...
in the shadow of your Radiance,
coach ilg
August 21, 2006
OF SUTRAS, SWEAT, and...TROPHIES?!
"A race is, to me, a devotional sutra. While racing, words no long clutter nor come between Truth and Self. A racing season thus becomes an ongoing scripture of Self. And a fully-lived life becomes our most intimate Sacred Song to God."
- coach ilg
Coach, 1st place trophy, and "Lord Gunther" his mountain bike after the Award Ceremony on Saturday in downtown Flagstaff. Note the WF "TrackPack". photo by Ananda.
OF SUTRAS, SWEAT, and...TROPHIES?!
Part I
by coach ilg, ryt/uscf/cpt
***
You may have just read in DL yesterday that i did my first mountain bike race in over a decade. Due to a steadfast "off bike" practice in Wholistic Fitness - including the SUNRIDER herbs and High Performance Yoga - i did pretty well = 3rd overall and 1st in my age category (40+...i am currently 44).
Really, i entered this race because 1) the Start/Finish was right across the street from the WF Temple H(om)e, and 2) i just wanted to do my bit to feed some hungry children. Our Race Entry Fee's supported the "Care and Share Food Bank." For four years, Absolute Bikes, a local bike shop that also has shops in two other great power spots: Salida, Colorado and Sedona, Arizona, has produced this "Old Fashioned Mountain Bike Race" as part of the Flagstaff Mountain Bike Festival each summer:
http://www.absolutebikes.net/flag_frset.html
***
Above and beyond these outward intents for racing, i allWays have an Inner Intent when i enter a competitive event.
Sometimes it is a Technical Intent, such as practicing Patience and not attacking until a particular spot in the race, or to launch some crazy ass effort and see where it goes, or support a teammate, etc. More often, however, my Inner Intent is a spiritual one, such as engaging a Mantra, a breathing technique or an internal lock. As i Taught you long, long ago; "Racing is not about winning, it's about knowing ourselves." What that means is that whenever you grab deep into your lower chakras and pull out the You Know What to Do What Is Required to even TOE THE START LINE of a competitive event, you will achieve spiritual gain, purify karma, and Learn Things About Your Higher Self. Our Higher Aspects lie hidden behind the rubbish pile of our cluttered minds during everyday life. 
Racing peels away the "Veil over the inner Light," as Patanjali and the other Great Ancient Masters of body and mind called it. The yogic term for this mental veil that is stripped away by steadfast concentration upon the prana is "prakasa avarana." {photo: i shot this picture of our Backyard Buddha on the morning of my mountain bike race after Early Morning Ritual}
So really, although it is certainly nice to hang out with my racing warriors and even be fortunate enough to climb on top of the podium after we slobbered our blood and sweat upon the world class Ponderosa singletrack, for me, racing is truly about one thing:
i race to erase prakasa avarana.
i race because racing endurance events in particular is not my natural talent so in strengthening my innate physiologic weaknesses, i also strengthen the character and discipline of my mind. In essence, through racing, i empower my own yoga. i develop Union of my physiology in ALL her capacitiesand thus strengthen my physiologic weaknesses by strengthening my psychologic weak links.
This 'mental training' through fortification of the body's capacities is known as Yoga. Well, at least, it is known as High (Divine) Performance (Action) Yoga (Union)!
***
So, perhaps to others, it looked like i just jumped into a local challenging mountain bike race and did pretty good for not racing mountain bikes in so long. Perhaps to others, my effort and result once again proves the validity of that which i teach.
To me? i was just Practicing Yoga, baby. Though i was inDeed on a mountain bike, truly, i turned my mountain bike into my 'yoga mat' for 1:57 over a 20+mile rock-strewn course with 2,000' of climbing.
In fact, my entire race was chiefly an embodiment of what i consider to be four most vital Sutras in the science of Yoga. You can find these four Sutras in the Second Chapter of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali:
"The modifications of the breath (life force/prana) are either external, internal or stationary. They are to be regulated by space, time and number and are either long or short."
II-50 Yoga Sutras
"There is a forth kind of pranayama that occurs during concentration of an internal or external object."
II-51
"As its result, the veil over the inner Light is destroyed."
II-52
"And the mind becomes fit for concentration."
II-53
***
COMING UP NEXT IN DL:
Coach provides unique winning race insight to each of these pivotal Sutras!
where the HEAVEN ELSE will you EVER find stuff like this??!
No where else but the home of America's Native Form of Yoga produced by a World Class Athlete; Steve Ilg's WHOLISTIC FITNESS! and DIRECT LINES is YOUR tap into the Rasas of this Amazing Path!
* - in Wholistic Fitness, it is crucial to not limit our comprehension and practice of yoga to "sticky mats" and yoga studios.
August 20, 2006
Coach NAILS SECOND VICTORY OF SEASON; On His Mountain Bike!
we guess Coach is just into Heavy Metal this season! Another 1st Place Trophy - made from an actual bike cassette - was earned by "The Coach That Still Does," yesterday at the Flastaff Annual "Old Fashioned Mountain Bike Race."
Moments after bringing the wood to the local bulls, Coach wheeled into Two Tree Manor with a 3rd Place Overall and a 1st Place in the 40+ category!
The last time Coach raced a mountain bike was in the early nineties, when he earned a Silver Medal in Angel Fire, New Mexico at the New Mexico State MTB Championships.
"Hey, i know i sound like a broken record," Coach said after his astonishing and quite spontaneous victory of the season,
"All i can say is that the Path works,
when YOU work the Path!
I just woke up, called my bike mechanic to see if Gunther - my mountain bike - was ready after i blew out
the bottom bracket training in the rain in Telluride. he worked hard to fix Gunther for me, so, i jumped into the race just so i could donate some money for hungry children which is what the race money goes to, and, well, i guess i proved the Velocity of the WF Path...once again! I attribute my victory solely to the WF Practices i do OFF the bike and the SR Herbs...i am really not that great of a mountain biker."
we will have the exclusive and exciting Race Report from Coach in DL as soon as he finishes his "recovery ride" up in the high country today!
Coach will be racing against professional cyclists next weekend at the Arizona State Championships...stay tapped to DL for great insights and teachings directly from MultiDisciplined Sweat and Stillness from the creator of Wholistic Fitness, Coach Ilg, who is still cranking with top body/mind fitness after 25 years of multi-sport diversity all backed by Wholistic Fitness + SUNRIDER Herbs!
August 18, 2006
Nothing is little...
"Nothing is little to him who feels it with great sensibility."
- Samuel Johnson
Coach leads visiting Intensive Students; Todd and Amy from Oregon through an Ujjayi-based Ai Imawa session on 'Red Fox Deck' after a morning meditation focusing on this pivotal "Vayu Amplification Breath," known as Ujjayi Pranayama. This posture shown above is called, "Meeting the Dragon," and teaches us to meet those challenging circumstances in our days with the fierce grace of elegant posture and conscious breath.
Ananda and i are off to go rock climbing today at Northern Arizona's premier "traditional" crag; Paradise Forks. i'll be back soon to extract some of the potent Dharma moments from Todd's and Amy's remarkable Private Intensive. Amy left this morning with tears, remarking, "Thank you both SO much. This Intensive has changed our lives forever."
Which should reMind you; have you schedule your 2007 Private Intensive yet? we are booking into 2007, and i would suggest not delaying that which can fuel your Practice for a long time, perhaps, like Amy and Todd who left the Temple
H(om)e today, forever.
World Class Private Intensives unlike anything else available on the planet.
On Belay...
CLIMBING!
CLIMB ON!
{Second Photo; WF Intensive Student Todd, attempts to follow in Coach's footsteps up some world class dacite at Mt. Elden, across the street from the WF Temple H)om)e.)
August 17, 2006
Chi Hit From The RJ Side of the Tribe...
-720949.jpg)
"Ragin" RJ after another sweat-soaked HP Yoga class at Mark Blanchard's studio in Studio City, CA. Below, he sent us a
wonderful, inspirational moment through one of his former ultra-racing teammates.
***
Hey you all!
Just heard from Ignacio Aronovich. Ignacio (i call him 'Iggy') is the photographer for Team Brazil I still keep contact with. He sent me a fabulous link that summarizes his photos for 2005. Iggy and his wife Louise are professional photographers that cover everything from war zones to bikini covers to street art. Great people with even better chi. See link and INjoy!
http://www.lost.art.br/yip2005_sound.htm
Ron Jones, MS-LLC
Atlanta-Los Angeles
ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor
Corporate Wellcoach
ronjones.org
*** Coach adds;
Ignacio was a teammate of Ron Jones when they broke the Course Record for the RAce Across America. Of "Iggy" RJ says, "Ilgbro. . . friggin Iggy has the garra chi brother! What a tribal Bro that guy is man. I could tell some stories about this guy man as we battled across the US for days on end. go(o)d times!"
August 16, 2006
Discriminating Awareness can thwart negative moods
The more often you listen to your discriminating awareness, the more easily you will be able to change your negative moods yourself, see through them, and even laugh at them for the absurd dramas and ridiculous illusions that they are.
Gradually you will find yourself able to free yourself more and more quickly from the dark emotions that have ruled your life, and this ability to do so is the greatest miracle of all.
The Tibetan mystic, Tertön Sogyal, said that he was not really impressed by someone who could turn the floor into the ceiling or fire into water. A real miracle, he said, was if someone could liberate just one negative emotion.
- Sogyal Rinpoche
photo above courtesy of HP Yogi and National Class Mountain Biker, Ben Sullivan, during a recent mountain bike race near Flagstaff. Such are the Practice Grounds from where Wholistic Fitness was borne and continues to evolve.
COMING UP SOON IN DL: ANOTHER DL FAVORITE: TIMARI, our Tribal National 24-MTB Champion cranks out another effort in the Northeast!
August 15, 2006
Coach on; Mental Cleanliness
blessings my El Coache and thank you for your wisdom,
A question. mental cleanliness? I am taking your teaching that mental cleanliness precedes other states like calmness to mean something akin to "the body follows the mind." Mental chatter, busyness , distraction, confusion all lead to those states in the body as well. Is this what you mean? Thank you
clean living and loving,
ss
photo by www.waynewilliamsstudio.com
COACH RESPONDS:
"Yes! Most of us want to meditate, we really do. We have an Intuitive Wisdom that KNOWS, beyond a shadow of doubt, that we must 'be our own best friend," and to be our own best friend, we must tackle that crazy thing known as our Unenlightened Mind. The ONLY way toward Enlightenment is Meditation. There is no other route for those of us who have taken a body (Form).
So, we sit down, cross our legs, straighten our spine, and resolve to "meditate." That is our Noble Intent, right?
The Practicality of the situation is something quite different! As we attempt to "fall into a meditative state," that everyone seems to be bragging about these days (just pick up a recent issue of YOGA JOURNAL or something similar and man, it seems like EVERYONE is "A Master of Meditation"!)...in our own Inner World, however, things could not be worse when we attempt to meditate!
First of all, there is the Body Obstacle preventing our meditative bliss; our spine hurts when we attempt to keep it elegant and uplifted. Our legs and feet go to sleep...kinda hard to be in "bliss" when we are grinding our teeth in pain trying to out endure the pins-and-needles stinging our legs!
Secondly, there is the Ego Obstacle. That iron clad silk veneer of "I" and "mine" that holds our True Self (purusha) captive from the Boundless Light (prakriti). Though the pain of the Body Obstacle in meditation is hard to overcome, the Ego Obstacle will more than likely take most of us the rest of our lives (if we are lucky) to overcome. It is the Ego that prevents the Mental Nakedness from enjoying its true Nature of Diamond-like Reflection and Clarity. It is the Ego that identifies our purusha with the Body pains and the mental chatter like, "Oh shit my legs hurt, this sucks!" or "How long have i been doing this crap, can i stop now?" I will tell you something about the Meditative Process; if 5 minutes seems like an hour to you, you ain't meditating!
On the other hand, on those rare and beautiful occasions when you do your Warrior Best and stumble once again into your Zendo or sacred sitting place and sit down to concentrate solely on your assigned Meditation Anchor from your Teacher (counting the breaths, for instance, or a mantra) then suddenly your Sitting Alarm goes off and you say to yourself, "Wow! 20 minutes has already passed!" then, my Friend Along The Path, you actually DID fall into a bit of a meditative state! Concentration (Dharana) requires efffort. Meditation (Dhyana) is effortless. Dhyana cannot precede Dharana. Dharana must precede Dhyana. Gruntwork required before bliss. Get used to it. There are no shortcuts.
Remember, Meditation is not something you "do." Meditation (Dhyana) is a Training Effect from Concentration (Dharana). That is why it is so important to CONCENTRATE whenever you are doing your Fitness Practices! That is why i do not use iPods when i run or cycle. That is why i set my Breath & Posture Beeper Gurus for myself throughout the day. That is why i use my Non-Dominant Hand Assignment...all of these WF Teachings are designed to achieve one thing for us; A More Conscious Life...a more Aware Life...a more Awake and Concentrated Life....
Most of us do not need to "meditate."
Hell, let's be honest here...most of us do not HAVE THE CONCENTRATION SKILLS YET to actually meditate!
Most of us need to learn how to sustain our Concentration. i call this effort in maintaining more Concentration throughout our workouts and daily life, Dharanic Fitness.
As the quality and purity of our Dharanic Fitness develops, then our Higher Mind grows more clean, less cluttered by the distracted, dis-eased, disjointed thought patterns that create turbulence (rajas) and ignorance (tamas) to the naturally sattvic (illumined state) mind.
One moment of concentration is one moment of purity. Increase the moments of purity (concentration) and sure enough, our Mental Cleanliness produces an ongoing state of Mental Peace, Serenity, and Clarity.
I designed all of the WF Lifestyle Principles to produce Mental Cleanliness.
I designed all of the clever WF Strength Training, Cardio, HP Yoga, Early Morning Ritual, etc., to produce Mental Cleanliness.
Mantras produce Mental Cleanliness.
Pranayama produces Mental Cleanliness (very effectively!).
Just focusing on being Sattvic (radiant and happy) produces Mental Cleanliness.
Ishvara-Pradnidhana produces Mental Cleanliness (see TBT).
Non-judgmental Awareness produces Mental Cleanliness.
You, Oh Noble Shishya, writing me a Mindful email about Mental Cleanliness practice
produces yet another Smidgen of Upward Movement for you toward Mental Cleanliness and eventually an ongoing Meditative State.
"By lessening the natural tendency for restlessness and by concentrating on the infinite, posture is mastered."
II-47 Yoga Sutras
"Thereafter one is undisturbed by the dualities."
II-48 Yoga Sutras
May this help,
om so ti,
your loving coach
August 14, 2006
To-Hell-U-Ride Training Camp...Min(d)ing The End
after my effort on Imogene Pass, it was hang time with Ananda in my beloved Ouray...since water seemed to be the theme of this trip, a gentle "Active Recovery" hike with Ananda up to Cascade Falls seemed to be in order...we sat right beneath the falls and did some Pranayam before splashing about in the crystal clear stream...
before finding a place to camp...
as has been the Teaching of my Teachers throughout my outdoor athletic life,
i always prioritize the instructions of the entire WF Bible to guide me:
"Just Listen."
so, as Father Sun slipped behind the towering cliffs surrounding this high mountain hamlet,
A and i took a wander downstream,
and "just listened," for Signs of where to camp...
sure enough,
the Signs could not be more clear as Deer welcomed us to our h(om)e for the night...
fortunately we still had time to do a sunset soak in the world famous "hot mineral springs" just outside of town...
http://www.ouraycolorado.com/Natural+Hot+Springs+Pool
the Healing Waters of this spring was the ideal, native Way to erase the contraction and acids from my tissues
before returning to our own little "Deer Grove" for a night next to Mother Earth and beneath a startling night sky of cascading stars...
as Father Sun punched through Brahamurhurti, the Eastern sky bloomed into a blue that soon looked as if all seven oceans hovered above our heads!
no better way to warm up the joints for another Warrior Day than by opening the hips and coordinating the eyes and legs than by a good round of "hacky sack"...
http://www.footbag.org/
i tried to teach Ananda how to 'sack' yet, truth is, i suck at 'sackin''...even when i was a sponsored rock climber and sackin' was supposed to be second nature to all rock climbers, when my bros gathered about to play their nightly and morning sackin' sessions, i would cower away to do more bouldering or something...these days, without the pressure of 'the boys,' i find myself enjoying and learning the game at my own (lack of) coordination pace...it truly is a GREAT workout...by the time A and i got done sackin' for a half hour? our hips were open, our bowels needed to be moved, and sweat glistened upon our skin...
after we broke camp and pumped our SUNRIDER herbs for the day, we were planning to go rock climbing at the local crags of Ouray, however, that gorgeous blue sky soon became a gorgeous thunderhead and a refreshing rain began to fall, drowning our climbing plans. however, as any seasoned wandering WF Yogi knows, being able to Adapt To Circumstances is what makes traveling so fun! what a perfect opportunity, i thought, to do something i have always wanted to do; explore a real mineral mine...so, i convinced my faithful companion into signing up for the Bachelor-Syracuse Mining Tour... 
"...I've been a miner for a heart of gold..."
yeah well, lemme tell you, this mining tour is the real deal...DO NOT MISS IT if you ever get to Ouray, okay? you travel 3,000' - yes, that's 3,000'! - INTO the heart of Cascade Mountain on the actual mining 'rail' that served this mine into the early seventies. it is WAAAY freaky if you are in any way claustrophobic or a wuss. fortunately, me and my pard'nr here are neither of those and we rattled our way into Cascade Mountain on the rickety ass rails that hauled out millions of dollars of silver ore...this mine began as a 1,000' hole in the ground right next to the silver-ore rich vein (known as the "Bachelor Vein" because it was staked out as a claim by four bachelors from...Syracuse, NY!). as the mine hole got waaaay too deep and dangerous and slow and since the Vein itself was only growing BIGGER (at times 4' wide!), the Bachelors went back to New York, got some investors, and then began 'single and double-jacking' their way into the mountain to intersect the Vein and begin hauling out the riches...
here i am, 3,000' feet into Cascade Mountain with my Mine Tour leader...Ananda and i marveled at the capacity for hard work in dangerous places our species has when Greed For Money is the motivation! incredible! at the peak of the pre-electricity era of "Colorado hard-rock mining", a professional miner would work by candlelight in tunnels like this one and pound an 8lb sledge into a steel rod into solid granite for 8 hours! if he was lucky enough to be teamed up with a partner (called "double jacking")... then you held and twisted a longer steel rod while the other guy (no women were hard rock miners...they were waaaaay too smart for this crap) endlessly slammed a 13 lb, 3' long sledge by candlelight. if he missed? your fingers would pay the price! a "Double Jack" team, might, if they were good, pound an 8' long hole in the rock by day's end into which dynamite would be placed in a semicircular fashion to blow out more of the mountain next to the Vein...the average life span of a Colorado Hard Rock Miner was 39 years old...their young death was attributed to "Miners Lung'...a disease of inflamed and scar tissued lungs. next time you go and sit down for a cozy little time in the HARD ROCK CAFE, you best be a Warrior and give a moment of gratitude for these real HARD MEN...i would not be able to last one friggin' day in that occupation. by the way...a Hard Rock Miner might earn about $6/Day for his effort. that wasn't bad for the times, equivalent to about $16/hour today...however, 39 years old to enter the Bardo ain't the best retirement plan in my book.. 
Here, "Miner Ananda" shows us what all the fuss was about...this is the actual "Bachelor Vein"...one of the nations most lush silver veins ever found...at this section of the mine, the Vein was only about a foot wide, however, my Tour Leader took Ananda and i aside and shone his light at a particular section of the Vein and i swear to Captain Jack Sparrow...the purest, most beautiful silver glinted at me in a way that even my Yogic eyes were trying to see ways to bring some home! it struck me in that moment, so deep within that beautiful Colorado mountain, that right here, in this glinting liquid like silver ore was the reason behind wars and countries and murders and all of the Outer Worldly stuff that goes on and on....just crazy...all this fuss over...sparkly rock! wow.
that is why it is so important, Oh Noble Warriors, to get out and LEARN...don't just sit in judgment of things like mines that scar mountains...go and learn and get a FEELING to match up with your Opinions...you might be surprised at how much respect you can gain - regardless of the intent - of a human soul when a "joe" is just doing his or her best to make a living in the era in which they live.
i know for a fact, that this Mountain Yogi's mind has been broadened and i will never look upon a Colorado mine ruin with quite the same eyes ever again. let me see if i can find you a website for this particular mine tour...hold on...
oh man! WHO LOVES YOU, HUH?
i got your DL HOOK UP, baby! you are even getting some DISCOUNTED TOUR TICKETS!
go here:
http://www.ouraycolorado.com/bachelor
well kids,
i could go on and on about our trip...the mine tour was just our first stop of the day...yet,
well,
we got more Training and Practice input to go over in the days ahead in DL and soon enough, i will be making another
Training Run up to Telluride, so i'll pick up the Colorado high country ball again then...
in fact, i am thinking about doing a WF Tribal Gathering in T-ride or Ouray next year...
sound like fun?
we are Blessed to live in a free country,
a country where we can practice Mula Bandha
and train like a champion in our own ways
and broaden our minds and spirits
without
ANYONE
saying
we
aren't allowed...
it is my wish that you injoyed and somehow benefited from my T-Ride Training Diaries...more coming down the DL line...so stay close to the Tribal Fire!
Colorado Hard Rockin' in the Land of the Free...
your mountain yogi
August 12, 2006
To-Hell-U-Ride Training Camp...PART III
the picture quality of the photographs below relates to two things;
1) i could only use my camera phone, and
2) my effort so great, that only my Love for you produced the extra chi to stop and take these few pictures...
* special thanks to Ananda for picking my ass up in Ouray and
to HP Yogini Leslie for many of the Dharma quotes below...
enjoy...
"Sounds of the valley stream
wash your ears clean;
the canopy of pine trees
touches your eyes."
- Zen
(above photo; i begin climbing into "Ajax Basin" to gain altitude on the historic "Tomboy Road"...an old 'burro path' that was built in the late 1880's to access the mineral ore wealthy "Savage Basin", home to the million dollar mine of Tomboy and other mines that still teeter in the elements at around 11,800'. required reading for ALL OF YOU: "Tomboy Bride" by Harriet Fish Backus. Trust me.) 
DAY TWO TRAINING INTENT: 13, 114' Imogene Pass from the Telluride side. Ananda will pick me up in Ouray. if i make it.
DAY TWO CONDITIONS: rainy, 52 degrees in Telluride. the summit, 4,000' higher is cloud soaked with rain; 39 degrees.
(above photo; just beginning the ascent, looking back toward T-ride and some of the ski runs that drop like a brick directly into downtown. don't worry, you can't see more than a fraction of the world-class ski runs that loom for thousands of feet above the tiny town. i devoted my effort today to the 'sad-eyed' warrior beasts...the burros that pulled unfathomable amounts of mining machinery and timber each day, each year, even through winter up this part of the pass to get to Tomboy Mine.) 
this ancient tunnel marks about 3.5 miles into the climb. it took me nearly an hour to get here. that is how steep and difficult the pass is right from the start. i bow to those ol' burros. i could hardly haul MY own ass up here...let alone pull a freakin' city of steel behind me!
you know, more than a few spiritual elders have said, "We can learn a lot about the spiritual maturity of a society by the way they treat animals." 
i finally make the left turn into the Savage Basin and immediately start encountering Mine ruins...everywhere. The pass is pretty much a streambed from here all the way up to the summit, another 2.3 miles over my head. my effort has manufactured more doubt than i cared for...i could see the summit, still cloaked by dense thunderheads and it seemed FOREVER away...using WF Meditation Techniques and a whole lot of Pratyhara - developed through the WF Early Morning Ritual - i kept drawing my senses inward and allowed the stunning, historical chi of these Sacred Grounds to erase physiologic fatigue. i had, to this point, only seen one person; a solitary runner at mile 2.8. i felt al(l)one up here among my family...wind, high pure air, and Father Sky sitting so close to wet Mother Earth. loved it...i cherish being al(l)one, training al(l)one, feeling al(l)one...Bardo Training; "Only in solitude do we find ourselves," said de Unamuno. 
"It is our mind,
and that alone,
that chains us
or
sets us free."
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
an instant self-portrait classic...one of the many long stretches above timberline - and snowline - that i could not possibly ride and had to walk, and walk, and walk. right here, in this shot, is how much i love you. i have pushed myself hard, really hard, all these years and across all these crazy sports in order to be One Thing:
A Genuine Teacher Of Yoga...
i push myself across the physiologic spectrum so that i know - by direct experience - my personal edge in internal and external, East and West, Yin and Yang polarities. my Teachers will not allow me to teach that which i do not know by Direct Experience. i know that YOU deserve the Mt. Everest of Personal Fitness Training. i make sure that i not only RAISE the Standard of what a Personal Trainer or Yoga Teacher should be...i attempt to broaden all minds, all bodies by broadening my own by using, trusting, and TESTING that which the Ancient, Enlightened Ones taught...
during this section, the rain was pelting me in freezing bullet ways, the summit seductively yet excruciatingly kept lingering, lingering...never drawing nearer...so it seemed. step by wheezing step it was Doubt that ran through my system more than oxygen...
"What would my Sangha expect from me in this moment?" became my moving mantra up into the rarefied Zone Of The Mountain Gods.
i could not turn around...what is the worse thing that could happen? death?
sign me up if i were to die up here; feed my limbs to Raven yet tether not my Soul
for that which does not die is developed up here, rather it is nourished in the fields of Great Doubt.
even Doubt,
oh Noble Warriors,
is trainable.
"The body is the most gross manifestation of Prana."
- Yoga Sutras
i feel that if i can develop my body - across the physiologic spectrum - to world class levels of pain/purification,
then my Prana will have to be - by inference and Scriptural testimony - world class.
that is what WF Training produces; world class personal pran...straight from the Mountain Yoga Tradition, stylized to adapt the current era. There ain't nothing like Wholistic Fitness...and there sure as Heaven ain't nothing like a Wholistic Fitness Warrior or Warrioress!
ACROSS THE SPECTRUM WE DANCE TO DEVELOP WORLD CLASS PRANA! 
i was as high as Brahma's kite here...the final half mile to the summit was actually drier and more ridable than the previous 6.5 miles...however, even here, the summit ridge in view..you can see how steep the pass is!
nearly moved to tears by my effort, and feeling sooooooooo sacredly potent, even proud, of my effort and overcoming of doubt i was nearly hit by a motorcycle within 800 meters of the summit, then, 3 more huge jeeps carrying fat people nearly barrel rolled me...as i turned the corner to gain the summit of the pass what was supposed to be...and ALWAYS HAS BEEN a very austere and silent, sacred vortex...looked like a red-neck party at a KOA...i mean, motorcycle punks and lard asses were ripping back and forth across this fragile, fragile alpine tundra that i first ran across under my own foot and lung power from Ouray in the seventies!! i counted dozens of tourists from three different "JEEP TOUR" companies discharged upon my beautiful summit, drinking beers, sodas, smoking, and the noise from all these polluting machines and people was worse than LAX before the weekend. i was appalled...
i looked around at my once sacred terrain...
and cursed the profane...
i apologized to Father Sky and Mother Earth...
"i am sorry for my Tribe...i am doing my best to restore Consciousness to them...yet they do not Hear Me..."
i apologized to the deer, the elk, the birds, and the marmots...
i apologized to the mineral kingdom...and the plant kingdom...
i looked out over the idiotic spiritual ignorance of My People
and cried...i really do not know what it is going to take to bring My People
back to their once cellular respect and honoring of nature...
"Let us try to recognize the precious nature of each day."
- the 14th Dalai Lama
(looking down my descent toward Ouray; 13-miles and 4,000' below!)
"Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."
- Georgia O'Keefe
as you can tell, the descent was hairball; wet, muddy, rocky, talus-filled, and the god-Damned JEEPS and MOTORCYCLES were INSANE!!! here i am, basically naked with my self-effort and hypothermic on the descent, and these JEEPS and ATV's were just friggin' coming straight at me while the motorcycles ripped by my elbows like i was Jeremy McGrath on an off day! JESUS!
i am taking Engaged Appropriate Action to stop this insanity.
to me, particularly now, the high country should ONLY BE ACCESSED BY SELF-PROPELLED EFFORT!
FUCK EM!
if you want some polluting machine to haul your fat, ignorant ass up into the Throne Of The Mountain Gods, than by god you better be willing to cough up a HUGE PERMIT FEE...
if you see that i have been thrown in Jail..
smile,
cuz i swear to Lord Milarepa of the Himalaya,
i will give my LIFE to stop this Earth Abuse of our tiny, treasured alpine lands!
I GREW UP HERE!!!!!
WHO ARE ALL THESE POLLUTERS, THESE ABUSERS!??!?!
AND WHY,
WHY,
WHY cannot they respect their Mother enough to
sweat with Her?
breathe with Her?
get cold with Her?
get wet with Her?
Love Her?
"The sound of the stream,
after all,
is without present,
without past."
- Ching An
(i stopped here to wipe mud from eyes...this is looking back UP toward the summit from the Ouray Side. the reads simply; "Imogene Pass".)
Lower Camp Bird Mine, looking toward Ouray...the route takes a mile long traverse across a 400' cliff band here before resuming a steep downhill joy ride into town...i reached 48 mph during one section of this descent. those big piles are "tailings" which are continual scars across my San Juan Mountains...tailings are refuse from mineral ore extractions. you may not like the look of it, yet, you probably like having a car and a home and a countless amount of other 'luxuries' in your life that come directly from The Mineral Kingdom. am i wrong? 
tired warrior ilg.
Ananda caught me inspecting my inner eyelids here as i crashed on a sidewalk bench in one of my most beloved of all San Juan mountain towns; Ouray. you and i will be visiting Ouray this winter for ice climbing!
my time from Telluride to the summit of Imogene Pass was not too feeble, given the conditions; just a few twinks past 2 hours!
the descent was half that.
the training effect from this Ride Among The Mountain Gods?
pretty darn go(o)d...today, in fact, i cashed in a little Telluride Training Camp gold with a 2nd place, 1st place, and 1st place on our Training Race this morning! the resultant pranic effect upon my current capacity to work with the five major vayus and nadic channels has produced an ongoing Shift that is, to me, worth more than gold could ever buy...
so,
are the Colorado High Mountain Mining Camps still not producing gold?
depends on your definition of gold, i reckon.
for Ananda and myself? i tell you for certain; we struck it rich, once again among the ether of my Beloved
Rocky
Mountain
High...
i'll seal up this Telluride Training Diary next with another bow to what's truly valuable about
getting
out
and
doing the Do...
even through the Doubt...
may my words, borne from genuine effort and love for you,
be of some possible benefit to make your Practice more potent
and in turn,
make All Beings More Awake...
namaste for now,
your mountain yogi
August 10, 2006
LOVING THE TELLURIDE TRAINING DIARIES!
Dear Coach,
just read Part 2 of the Telluride Training Diaries on DL. love the waterfall image!
check out the image i've attached:
look familiar? 'course, the artist had to use paint to create his image; you use sweat, breath, Pran, effort to create your Work of Living Art.
your DL entry of today..., this Teaching you shared is now one of my favs (as much of a fav as a simple Yoga might have).
Way to go Teacher Ananda! i bow to you, Sister.
Love to you and Ananda,
WF Teacher ko
To-Hell-U-Ride Training Camp...PART II
"Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace."
- Elbert Hubbard
photo by coach of "Trout Lake" on the descent into Telluride from Lizard Head Pass
"Ananda gaze." The town of Telluride hunkers in the wet valley below as we begin the ascent of Black Bear Pass.
As we climbed toward the massive waterfall, often cloud-hidden, we could hear, sense, and feel the thunder of the vortex created by Bridal Veil Falls...within the 45 minutes of tricky, wet, "granny gear" climbing up Black Bear Pass toward the base of the falls, Ananda's grin grew ear-to-ear as she churned up the jeep road. i could feel her begin to tap into the ether of the High Country; due to her solid WF Practice which includes daily Pranayama, her system was able to switch from the less superior muscle glycogen/oxygen physiology and tap into the far superior yogi's physiology of Prana/Nadi. in fact, the higher we climbed into the clouds, the more empowered she became...
"How you feeling baby?"
"Go(o)d...let's keep going," she said between rhythmic breaths on her bike. Her climbing form through the rain was exemplary.
"Okay, however, we can turn around whenever you want," i replied, knowing full well the Reverse Psychological effect of such a statement to a WF Warrioress the caliber of Ananda. to myself i thought, "Shit, there is no way on this Mother Earth that this woman is going to stop before reaching the waterfall, i don't care what kind of storm comes...she ain't gonna stop."
....and she didn't quit.
Warrior's...true ones...never do.
hey, the waterfall is great...however, check out those WF GUNS on Ananda! man! look at the tricep jumping out!
can you say; HP Yoga and Chaturanga's!?!?
{in this unique moment, you can literally See a 'chakral effect' above me created within the velocity of the sushumna like waterfall energy. i was, at the time, meditating in the Ai Imawa Posture; "Holding Up Moon" and sublimating my own subtle anatomy within the waterfall. This shot is what occurred. Let me explain more: our subtle anatomy also houses a waterfall within our physical spine known as the sushumna, within the sushumna lie our own chakral energies like invisible "CD" disks that have stored every moment, every thought, every action of our countless lifetimes. the yogi's duty is to Rise Above these stored impressions (samskaras) toward jivamukti...spiritual enlightenment THROUGH the body, not around it! please do not republish this unique photo. it is my Gift to you as a faithful DL Subscriber. thank you for your respect.}
Ananda and i took turns 'copping the CHI' at the thundering base of Bridal Veil Falls...HUGE CHI...the literal 'intercourse' of the Yin (water) pounding into the Yang (Earth) was sending "Chi Bumps" throughout our bodies...we were crying and laughing together like a couple of babies...MOUNTAIN YOGA BABIES! BABIES IN THE EMBRACE OF MOTHER EARTH AND FATHER SKY! i knew that our subtle anatomy, particularly our chakras, were being Divinely 'spun balanced' as i have come to call it...the effect of such a powerful Vortex as this spot will cause residual emotional and physiologic cleansing/purification in the days, months, and even years that follow. sure enough, even as i write this entry several days from this Vortex experience, both Ananda and i are experiencing body/mind pains as a result from this etheric purification and empowerment. as the yogi learns to Just Listen to his/her subtle physiology through daily meditation, the stunning effect of deep etheral workouts like this waterfall Vortex is, albeit often painful, a profoundly Sacred and intimate realization. 
Ananda, fully loaded with the High Country Chi and Waterfall Vortex energies, did not stop at the base of the falls and instead kept cranking up and up Black Bear Pass until we reached the house on top of the falls (See Part I in DL yesterday) and into the opening of the knee dropping beauty of Ingram Basin...this shot is taken at about 11,300'.
Eventually, Ananda had had enough and we turned around.
What took us over an hour and a half to climb up took all of 18 minutes to descend! 
Even later that night as we partied in downtown T-ride during the Jazz Festival and hung out at my favorite hang, the "Fly Me To The Moon Salloon," Ananda's 'perma grin' from pushing her limits, tapping into the Prana of the High Country, and just plain LIVING THE DIVINE LIFE was still evident on her lovely face. we laughed so hard that night our Obliques started to get pumped!
the key for Ananda's success was my use of the WF Performance Maxim; "The Way To Win, Is To Make It Okay To Lose."
In other words, i never even mentioned ANYTHING about making it to the waterfall as a goal. i just said and kept saying, "No worries, baby...we can turn around whenever you want." When a loving partner creates SPACE for the other partner, it releases pressure and offers individuated freedom of expression for the other partner. This is a Life Teaching, as well as a Teaching in sharing workouts.
Thus ended Day One of our Telluride Training Camp...
Day One was a warm up day for me...i chose to make Day One all about Ananda...and my heart was so happy that i was able to skillfully permit such a "Breakthrough Day" for her...
However,
tomorrow was all about me...it was the day i would return to one of my most Hallowed and Sacred Training Testpieces...i wanted to ride over Imogene Pass, a 13,114' menacingly steep, loose historical pass.
As we laughed into the night, a part of me grew anxious...i knew what lay ahead for me tomorrow and the cold rain thudded into the tiny town's streets like handclaps of Shiva urging me to doubt myself. i was reMinded of years of inner anxiety as a mountaineer...hell, this was only a 17 mile damned mountain bike ride...how hard could it be?
COMING UP NEXT IN DL: COACH's attempt on Imogene Pass!
August 09, 2006
To-Hell-U-Ride Training Camp...PART I
WF FACT:
did i ever tell you that i walked on my hands across FOUR STATES?!
i have done so a few times!...
at the Four Corners National Monument!
photo by Ananda as she said, "Oh geez, here we go again..."
Friends. This is Ananda's first view of my old training grounds, Telluride. To heighten the impact of her first view of T-ride, we stayed overnight at mid-mountain, then rode our mountain bikes down the 18% ski road known as "Boomerang" a HELLUVA climb that we used to RACE UP when the Colorado Mountain Bike Racing Series would visit T-ride. This very bridge over the San Miguel River which flows exquisitely through town, was the sight of many a mountain bike crash (including myself) as over 100 racers would sprint to get the 'hole shot' over this bridge and set pace up Boomerang.
the scintillating "River Trail" bike path runs along the San Miguel and is the main cardio commute for all the outdoor athletes that make up most of the 1,700 lucky beings that live year round in this gem of the Rockies town.
Photo by "Jackie" from San Diego whom we met. she had never really been on a mountain bike and was attempting to
go down Boomerang in wet conditions...with a little spontaneous coaching and escort from myself, Jackie made it all the way down to this bridge without falling until...she proudly took her hand off her handlebars to wave at me in self-congratulation and promptly crashed right in front of Ananda and i. hate it when that happens. 
The object of our Desire for Day One; the utterly magnificent Bridal Veil Falls located mid-way up the notoriously heinous "Black Bear Pass" of jeeping fame. So steep and dangerous is this Pass that the jeeps are only allowed to go dowhill (toward Telluride) on it, because there is no way two jeeps could pass each other. The 'house' perched on the very edge of the cliff at the top of the 375' falls was a hydroelectric plant that harnessed the power of the falls in order to supply electricity for the various mining operations that forever scarred this beautiful cirque. yup, a family does live in this home during summers...what you do NOT want to hear from this home is the question, "Uh, honey...have you seen little Jimmy recently?"
ironically, one of the things in the yard of this home was a trampoline...is it just me, or is having your child play on a trampoline exactly the best idea when you live on the edge of several hundred foot precipice?
i have a long, lustful history with Bridal Veil...i ain't gonna embellish any details however...let's just say...uh...well, i know more about Bridal Veil in winter than i am willing to admit in this forum!
here i am "looking pro" on my bike, 'Lord Gunther', after the first mile or so of climbing up Black Bear Pass. Ananda and i were just huddling under some creekside bushes in the moments preceding this shot because the San Juan skies opened up and the rain at over 10,000' is a bit, well, invigorating. That's Bridal Veil in the background. This is my standard "go to" cycling pose...it's meant to express a statement of, "What..you talkin' to ME? What...you wanna piece of ME? Huh?...i can kick your fat ass up this climb so, bring it on!" whether or not that is true is beside the point. it's just a guy thing, i reckon. 
getting closer to the falls...nothing - and i mean NOTHING - is more Sacred to me than a Colorado alpine creek...if you appreciate the grounded wisdom of Wholistic Fitness...then, you should know that these high country creeks are the birthplace of my first sartori's and gave energetic impetus to introducing to the world a Conscious, Balanced Approach to the necessity of Personal Fitness. growing up as i child, i would spend entire days yogi squatting near and splashing around these creeks without reason save to fall into an intuitive awe of Mother Earth...fortunately, i have never lost that Sacred Awe of our precious Mother Earth and Father Sky...i let nothing stand in the Way of my soul nurturing time within the embrace of my Mother and Father. Nothing.
COMING UP NEXT IN DL:
ANANDA ENTERS HER FIRST ALPINE WATERFALL VORTEX!!!
DL: The Exclusive Diary Of A Mountain Yogi targeting your inspiration to Rise Above the mediocre and the addiction to the thick of very thin things...DL will keep you grounded and moving Ever Onward, Ever Upward, and Endlessly Inward...
thanks for choosing to be a Warrior...a Wholistic Fitness Warrior!
August 08, 2006
The Sun of Fierce Devotion...
"When the sun of fierce devotion shines on the snow mountain of the master, the stream of his blessing will pour down."
- The Tibetan Saint, DRIKUNG KYOBPA
COMING UP in DIRECT LINES SUBSCRIPTION:
COACH's PRACTICE IN TELLURIDE...The Mountain Yogi Returns H(om)e
DO NOT MISS IT!
(self photo from cameraphone; "What would my Sangha expect of me in this moment?" became my mantra as i found myself fighting doubt, freezing rain, and fatigue as i had to consistently push my mountain bike, step by step, toward the 13,114' summit of Imogene Pass...perhaps the most difficult mountain bike ride in the nation...how did i do? what did i Practice? what did i Learn to better serve YOU as a Teacher?...find out only in DIRECT LINES from the Coach That Still Does.)
August 07, 2006
"Back Pain? Joint Pain?
"Back Pain? Joint Pain?
It's just another form of self-induced purification.
The pivotal point is to Accept the pain as your Yoga.
If we can just muster the gumption to do the "Outer Work" of accurate, wholistic exercise and nutrition,
then the Way of the "Inner Work" will arise naturally...
and, arriving with it?
A Higher Form of motivation that 'magically' makes you enjoy DOING the Work!"
- coach ilg
"The World's Fittest Human."- UltraCycling Magazine
***
During this decade, nearly 100 million people will be battling the pain and disability of osteoarthritis, the most common form of the disease.
And every year, a half million suffer so much they replace decaying joints with devices of metal and plastic.
During this decade, over 100 million people will NOT be combining a Wholistic Fitness lifestyle NOR be introduced to Coach Ilg's 3-Phase Approach to using the regenerative SUNRIDER Herbs.
And every year, a few very, very wise Warriors will finally begin the 20+ year old Proven Path of Wholistic Fitness + SUNRIDER Herbs. Nearly instantly, these Warriors will prove to be another Radiant Light that flips the consciousness switch on what was once considered, "impossible."
Take it from a Coach who elevated the science of personal training to world class levels and raised his own level of fitness to unprecedented levels....while overcoming severe spinal and pelvic injury and arthritic, frozen joints naturally, without surgery, drugs or any other external.
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TEMPLE NOTICE #2: Online Student Account Adjustment
Namaste!
i was able to speak with our Online Billing system coordinator and all Online Student Accounts will be
appropriately adjusted within 72 hours.
thank you for trusting in our humble Temple and having Faith that we will ALWAYS act speedily and
appropriately in situations such as these.
i bow to your Practice of Patience and Understanding and, on behalf of Coach, i apologize for any turbulence
this electronic kink may have caused you!
yours in Service,
joy "ananda" kilpatrick
WF Temple Manager
TEMPLE NOTICE; For Online WF Students
Namaste!
Dear Beloved Active Online WF Students...
Coach and i have returned from the High Mountains of Colorado and Coach is loading up with all sorts of great DL's for you...
however, our "welcome home" present was an error in our fancy new Automatic Credit Processing System which erroneously
double billed our Online Students for their monthly charge.
i am on the phone today with the company and all of your accounts will be appropriately adjusted at the fastest time possible.
i see that i have many emails from you regarding this billing issue, please trust that this will resolved. i will not be individually responding to each of your emails on this subject.
Yours in Service,
joy "ananda" kilpatrick
WF Temple Manager
August 02, 2006
T-Ride Training Retreat...
Noble DL Sangha...
i am taking Ananda (her first time) to my ol' h(om)etown hallowed birthplace of Wholistic Fitness...
TELLURIDE, COLORADO!
we will be up in my ol' hood training...i, for the State Championships coming later this month, and
Ananda to deepen her own Practice of WF. i am planning on cranking the famed Imogene Pass on my
mountain bike (18 miles and climbs up to 13,000'+) over to Ouray, Colorado. we'll see how that particular
"yoga session" goes...i've only ridden it once before on my mountain bike a long time ago and 'bout near died.
i used race the Imogene Pass footrace quite often in the eighties and placed in the top 20 consistently 
see:
http://www.imogenerun.com/
so i thought,
"Shit, how the hell hard can it be to RIDE a damn bike over this thing?" 
answer; desperately hard. in fact, riding Imogene is one of the nation's most highly sought after prizes. i'll let you know
how it goes.
so, enjoy the DL Archives; there is PUH-lenty of chi, wisdom, and gems in those thousands of meditations and...with the
Mountain Gods of the Uncompadre willing...
A and i will be back in Flag on Sunday night, raring to go with enhanced CHI from the Ceiling of Southwest Colorado...
oh,
and we will be checking out a few places for a WF Tribal Gathering in T-ride...
more on that later...
and i have not forgotten...
PART II of my Wupatki Road Race coming up next!
until Monday,
may the Conscious Breath animate your Dance upon Mother Earth
and may you release into your Sacred Spirit and SOAR!!!!!!!!
from high above,
your mountain yogi coach
Hypnotized by the Dhamma
Dear Coach,
Today's DL and this SUNRIDER Dharma arrow (1) really ring true. So does the soreness in my hamstrings from yesterday's jump squats. Nobody tells it like you do.
i bow to you,
chris
***
1 = here Chris is referring to my regular SUNRIDER Missives that are emailed out to every one who is using SUNRIDER herbs in the Coach Ilg Downline.
August 01, 2006
An Open Letter To The Flagstaff HP Yogis
"A yoga practitioner should continue to concentrate his mind until
he masters his mind and body,
and thus experiences a state of solitude wherever he may be;
then desire and possessiveness drop away."
- Bhagavad Gita, 6;10
[photo of HP Yogi Ben Sullivan racing up the Snowbowl Hill Climb on Saturday to an excellent time!]
Some people keep their cars very clean, even at the expense of using precious water in an arid land and era.
Some people never clean their cars, even at the expense of costly repairs due to poor maintenance.
Some people keep their bodies superficially clean, using all sorts of expensive lathers and lotions yet do not exercise wisely or meditate regularly and do not see the dirt that veils their vision.
Some people rarely clean their bodies and dishonor the beautiful instrument of the self.
Some people over exercise in one discipline, thus creating imbalance and weakness...
it's like not rotating the tires on their cars... eventually the Imbalance catches up with them and their wheels fall off in one way or another.
Yoga is the only Pursuit that is a complimentary Balancing Agent to everything you do, say, or think.
Yoga is never at contraindication to anything you do, say, or think.
With enough yoga practice, we always see the spiritual side of people and things like cars, weather, money challenges, etc.
This appropriate way of Seeing is called, "drishti" or "yogic vision."
Such a way of Seeing allows the yogi to remain unaffected by external things and superficial views.
Can you See the spirit of your (body) vehicle?
Can you See beyond the prakriti (matter) of your (body) vehicle and find the purusha...the essence behind the changing forms of nature?
i will See you in class,
namaste,
coach ilg