Saturday, November 28, 2009

A PRO'S DUCK OF TIVITY

photos and links may only appear for DL Subscribers


that's right,
whenever someone comes near ilg wanting to make me more productive?
i reach for my gun.
well, really,
i reach for either my daughter
or my zafu!




awlright,
awlright,
ilg knows he told you that i'd quiz you on your WF mastery during Thanksgiving...
however,
something called SNOW got in the way of the productivity for that particular Teaching.

in fact,
ilg wants you all to take that lack of productivity as a Teaching.

"There is more to life than merely accelerating its speed," taught the great Karma Yogi Gandhi.

in this age of ever-increasing speed,
you know what the ol' ski and rock climbing bum
parts of ilg makes me do whenever i see or hear some advertisement trying to get me
to 'increase my productivity'?


you know what ilg does whenever some advertisement or 'time effectiveness guru'
tries to get ilg to 'become more productive' by way of the next friggin' cell phone, or interface compatibility gadget or this or that?

that's right,
when someone comes near ilg wanting to make me more productive?
i reach for my gun.
well, really,
i reach for either my daughter
or my zafu!

you can quote me on that
as
you SLOW DOWN YOUR ROLL
and
try to edge your meditation discipline in the vicinity of
at least 3 hours per week*...

thus, on this snowy night of nights beneath the Sacred Peak of DokoOsliid,
your feeble Teacher is coaching you
to
Undo.

don't become a Buddhist.
don't become a Catholic.
don't become a Hindu.

Become an Undo.

Undoism, baby.

Undoism.


Om Mani Padme Hung,
still trekking the Path of the Ancients for the Sake of Thee...

your feeble Teacher

* Coach's Meditation Volume last month: 34 hours.

Labels:

Friday, November 27, 2009

a Thanks-Giving To Practice From...quiz yourself against Coach's ThanksGiving Practice





Cloud Sisters over Wing Mountain, by coach on Thanksgiving Day from his front porch, Kinlani, AZ.




Ladies & Gentleman,
thank you so much for flying with us this (w)holiday...
you'll be back on the (spiritual) ground shortly with Coach
so...
please make sure your trays are in their upright position and that all your 'carried on baggage' is securely loosend for our final approach back to the one Coach who keeps your spiritual fitness right where it needs to be:
PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR!

And...
wherever your final destination may be,
we wish you a very peaceful, powerful day...



(ps; if you are going to take tomorrow's WF Test Quiz against Coach?
you better re-check how deeply you are buckled!)




Labels:

Thursday, November 26, 2009

The Most Yogic Of "Mainstream" Holy-days...HAPPY, WHOLISTIC THANKSGIVING!


When you spend each day with a 2 year-old Rinpoche? It's easy to feel and treat each dawn as another blessed opportunity for Thanks-Giving.

Dwelling in the UniVerse of Dewachen, outer worldly comings and goings fade like evening night into meaninglessness. i must shake myself like a dog out of a lake, re-ground myself...
force myself to
ratchet
flowing Beingness
into the Marketplace.'



***


Last week, Ananda asked Dewa;
"So is Elmo a boy or a girl?"
Dewa shot Ananda a look straight from Padmasambhava...then, smiled and replied, "Dude."


For the Awakened Fitness Warrior,
many of our Western economically driven "Holy-Days-turned-Holidays" dredge deep confusion...even sadness or bitterness arise.

Fortunately, today, ThanksGiving Day, holds little philosophical snafu for the yogically inclined. In our humble, powerful Tribe, we are trained to sit in meditation; stabilizing our Mind Waves in an attempt to lose ourselves in love which inevitably shakes off layers of egoic pretense and strips us, nakedly, toward the shining quality of Gratitude.

Even if you are not a formal WF Student, perhaps today is a wise day to revisit my notion of a Gratitude Journal as described in my most recent book, TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION.

At least, today, before absorbing the 10,000 efforts and lives associated with our HolyDay Meal, pray at the table.

Be the Leader of a Gratitude Meditation for your meal...one of the Traditional WF Mealtime Blessings, which i learned in Japanese during my formative Zen years and is now passed onto my Online WF Students goes like this:

PRAYER AVAILABLE FOR DL SUBSCRIBERS ONLY TO ENSURE TEMPLE TRADITION - coach ilg


May you practice well other important WF Teachings such as; Earned Sustenance, Rasas Eating Assignment, Eating Elegantly Assignment, et.al.. The artful self science in WF offers an immense banquet for Self Cultivation in the hours before your gathering. Be it a solo, small, or enormous family gathering does not matter. Here is what matters; How well can you Love today? How deeply can you cultivate Gratitude today? How willing are you to let go of silly things that do not lead you Higher?

In the Spirit of All Yoga Teachers who dedicate their lives to reflect the integrity of the Ancient Enlightened Masters,
this feeble messenger sends only my deepest Gratitude for you...




May All Beings Be Happy And Know The Causations Of Happiness,

OM SO TI,
coach ilg

Labels:

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A Supreme informal WF Training Weekly Program by Student BG

It's very easy to 'overthink' WF.

Those who are overwhelmed by the notion of WF need to stop overthinking...a predictable tendency among us Westerners. Instead, read the WF Sutras as i've written TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION. Read the chapter on WF Lifestyle Principles. Or, even less expensive, visit the WF SanghaLounge and read my Introductions to each Noble WF Fitness Discipline and Lifestyle Principle. Do that? You will never workout - or work within - the same way ever again.

TBT has now become the bible of personal fitness trainers and even some open-minded yogis that understand the genius of Wholistic Fitness®. Most of them don't acknowledge publicly their embrace of WF and that is sad to me as it's creator, then again, i put out WF back in 1982 to help people as my Karma Yoga path, not to become famous. So, on the spiritual level, it's all go(o)d to me. Ripples make waves.

WF is a most practical, simple, powerful yet very steep and direct Path toward Personal Transformation. I say it's steep because the 4 Lifestyle Principles of WF constantly ground and re-ground our 'spiritual work' through continual Awareness of very mundane actions such as Word Choice, Conscious Breath, Conscious Posture, etc. It is also a very available Path...with just the purchase of a book and a couple of DVDs you - like student BG below - can create an amazingly effective fitness week that immediately begins working right where we suffer most...that is what WF is all about; attacking our weaknesses and promoting passionate balance.

check out BG's self-made WF Training Program below and let me know how YOU respond to it!

Happy, wholesome (w)wholidays to all of you who treasure sweat and spirit...

coach ilg

***



El Coache,
Here is my revised WF Training Week based on your input:


Monday- OFF

Tuesday- HP PROP (FULL)

Wednseday- Kinlani Flow + Cardio (Short & Sweet)

Thursday- HP Prop (ABS) + Zazen

Friday- HP Basic Strength

Saturday- Kinlani Flow + Cardio (Long)

Sunday- Kinlani Flow + Cardio (Tempo/Interval)


Will try and work in more Zazen as I TAF possible. Awareness all-ways!!!


Head Bowed,

humble student bg

Labels: ,

Monday, November 23, 2009

WF Opens Up Uncovered Parts of Self - Yogini Julie Cranks The Tour de Tucson!





WF Devotee Yogini "Petticoat" Julie at Haridwar ("door" to Shiva), northern india after being blessed by a Hindu priest by the Holy Ganga. photo courtesy Julie Mueller.



Dearest Gurujilg:

PY's first el Tour de Tucson, first time riding more than 100 miles, second ever century, first true bike "race"-- done in 6:33:57. With one small crash and only one other time off the bike in the entire ride. What an event!

Many Teachings learned including:

• watch out for speed bumps!! and if you hit one and crash, it's no big deal, just fix up your bike and keep a goin

• i pushed it HARD, especially the first 70 miles trying to keep up with packs of dudes who were generally way stronger (and obviously way bigger) than me. it was fun! but that last 40 or so i rode like i always ride--alone. just couldn't find the right pack that i could keep up with--i did NOT want to be at the back of those 60 person lines. SO if i really want to get platinum at el tour (under 6 hours) i need to practice and ride with a team or group who stick together. the platinum folks don't seem to do it alone.

• BUT we all die alone so there's nothing wrong with being in no man's land for a while out there. it's training for that last m(om)ent (and there is no drafting in triathlon)

• i need to add interval training on flats and not just "intensity" training on hills for the half ironman in march because of traiing in altitude. i got the burn long before my lungs wore out, and that does NOT happen up here. so i am worked today like i haven't been since my first few HP PROP CLASSES. i will need to train my legs for the lactic acid buildup, or else ride slower than i will want to in Oceanside.

• your EMR and Kinlani Rituals are essential to 4am focus!

• the Mantra helps at all times, but especially around mile 90+. i was chanting it and i think a Bike Patrol thought i was crazy because he came and rode beside me for a while and asked me if i was eating and drinking enough...

• Smiling helps your own focus and stamina but seems to make some guys angry :)
those chicks at the front are totally badass and gutsy--also few and far between!


I've been with Wholistic Fitness® for just over 1 year, and in this one year, despite several in-juries, I have pushed my body and spirit to levels I would never have even imagined before. A year ago, I had never rode more than 45 miles. I had not imagined that I would travel to the Himalaya alone. My job had the potential of becoming way too large a part of my life. And while I continue to learn how to keep that super fine balance in check, I have pushed myself mentally, phyisically and, most of all, spiritually more than I ever thought possible, with each push opening up some part of me that had remained uncovered, but also reminding me of how much more work there is to do.

I bow to you and am immensely grateful for your INSPIRATION.

See you tomorrow!

Love,
py

Labels: , ,

Sunday, November 22, 2009

my Dad: the ultimate Left-Handed Tantric Master!


my amazing dad and my still-scintillating sister at 51 years-young! taken by me outside the WF Temple H(om)e, Kinlani, AZ last year.


actual cell phone conversation with my mom today:

"Hey, Mom?"
"Steve? Is that you?"
"Yeah, hey listen, Dewa has been talking nonstop about you and "Duck*" coming for Thanksgiving and she wanted to say 'hi' to you, okay?"

{insert an absolutely delicious (or revolting for the devoted single people) 5 minutes of Grandma and 2 year-old Grandchild 'conversation here}

back to steve:

"Yeah, so, i also wanted to tell you that there is no need for you guys to bring coffee, okay? We just did a 'Sam's Club' expedition and i got a killer deal on great coffee...and lots of it, okay?"

Treasured Reader:
you must realize the extent of my father's addiction to coffee and cigarettes. The dude is - without doubt - coming off his cockroach incarnation because i swear to God; this guy is incredibly resilient...he began chain smoking cigarettes, drinking any kind of alcohol and then some, along with coffee when he was 14 years-old after he blew off his left hand (that's a different story...see how he automatically hides it in his left pant pocket in the photo above? every photo of my beautiful dad is like that. i love you, Dad!).

I recall when i was about 17 years-old in Boulder, a Great Condition was laid down by my mom to my dad:
quit drinking or i swear i will leave you.
he quit...
for the most part.
And smoked and drank coffee all the more.
He works at Wal-Mart.
Has for 18 years.
Doesn't need to be at work until 7 am.
He wakes up at 2 am.
Serious.
Goes outside (my mom doesn't allow him to smoke inside) and smokes until he leaves for work at 5:30...leaving an hour and a half for a commute which takes 11 minutes.

Upon arrival in the pre-dawn Wal-Mart parking lot...he...


* - Dewa's name for GrandDad Ilg...cuz he always quacks like a duck for her.

READ THE REST ON TODAY'S DIRECT LINES AND >>>>>>>>>>

***

HOW ABOUT YOU?
HAS THE STRENGTH OF YOUR INNER PRACTICE PREPARED YOU FOR THE HIGHEST OF ALL YOGA's: FAMILY YOGA!?!???!!

i want to hear about what YOU are getting ready to deal with on the Family Yoga plane this holiday season! email me!

Labels: ,

Saturday, November 21, 2009

FANTASTIC "PRO DEALS" coming this weekend to DL Subscribers!

subscribe to DIRECT LINES today...

and tomorrow get "Pro Deal" access to 2 fantastic sponsors of steve ilg's Wholistic Fitness®....always more coming! always more
Teachings,
Training Programs,
New Product Discounts,
and waaay more CHI!
plus 24/7 access to the WF SanghaLounge with 'secret caves'


DIRECT LINES: the "Tribal Newspaper Rock"of Wholistic Fitness® - this nation's original
Transpersonal Fitness Training Service since 1982

Labels:

Resources

  • Move from the Cheap Seats into the TRIBAL FIRE by subscribing to DIRECT LINES; Daily Meditations From Coach Ilg.
  • For as little as $12.50/month (other pricing options available), this acclaimed column with nearly 2,000 archives, is updated each day by the sweat and spirit of Coach Ilg himself. You will literally become privy to the unique, outrageous, honest, exciting, intimate, and impeccably useful inspiration from a recognized Dharma Protector, top selling author, world-class multisport extreme athlete, coach, and mountain yogi.
  • Coach Ilg created DL to function as the "Tribal Newspaper Rock" of Wholistic FItness® and covers absolutely unique documentation of Coach's renown approach to strength training, cardio, High Performance Yoga®, classical yoga, meditation, nutrition, and WF Lifestyle Principles...and soooo much more!
  • Subscribe Today!
  • Contact Coach Ilg

Sunrider
Hookin' Up On The Secret Herbs of WF

  • Need to sign up with Sunrider Herbs to get Coach Ilg's 25-year expertise and guidance using his 3-Phase approach to the herbs?
  • 1) Go to Coach's Sunrider web site: http://opp.sunrider.com/IlgsSecretHerbs/
  • 2) Click JOIN on the menu (left margin)
  • 3) Select VIP CUSTOMER
  • 4) Follow prompts using my info:
    steve ilg
    # 000081735
    steve@wholisticfitness.com
  • 5)Order a SUNPACK Code: 5599050040 Cost: $160.00
  • 6)E-mail me and get ready to SOAR like never BEFORE!