My Most Potent Prayer Of All...

Dearest Teacher,

I've just started teaching yoga, attempting to bring some of your 'mountain yogi spirit' into my classes. It's hard. I feel like a fool and I don't know if I should continue. If i get too "out there" and say the "G" (God) word too much, I get reprimanded by both students and gym management. I know you began teaching Yoga out of gyms long before it became fashionable. I cannot imagine the barriers and resistances you have dealt with to forge the way for the rest of us. Thank you. If I could ask any one question to you it would be, "How can I bring a sense of Go(o)d - as you write it which I LOVE! - to my students without triggering their religious senses?"


For all that you have done and continue to do in Kali Yuga; may this Spiritual Dark Age bless you and your family with all of your Highest aspirations.

Lee
CA

***


Most Beautiful Yogin Who Is Noble Enough To Serve The Dharma As A Living,


Listen closely.
Due to your Bravery i will let you know precisely how ilg has long dealt with the narrowed minds of those who confuse religion with spiritual cultivation. This may be perhaps, the only Prayer you'll ever need to know. Know it by heart. Sing it to the Wind. Mesmerize your mind by it's potency. Ride the blissful waves of Divine Joy as they wash over your Being as you recite this Prayer in Meditation. Yes, you may read it to your Students but only during Shavasana. It has been my Blessing to receive it from my Jnana Yoga Teacher during deep communication. Do not abuse it by throwing it away after reading it. Fall in love with it...the type of Love that makes you cry which is the Highest Love there is on our Plane(t).

My Teacher did not say this was a Prayer. He just ran it off as He is so easily capable of, during a Dharma Download... It is feeble ilg that made it into my most Potent Prayer of All...This is surely a most beautiful "Lords Prayer"...

May you use this Prayer as an inner hoist to elevate your Sadhana to a High Enough Vibration that praise and slander, glory and reprimand all look and feel the same to you...

10,000 Dharma Blessing to your Students,
Train them well by training yourself wisely...

head bowed,
coach ilg


***

DUE TO THE HIGH VIBRATION AND SANCTITY OF WHICH I'VE RECEIVED THIS PRAYER,
PLEASE SEE TODAY's DIRECT LINES for it's proper Transmission
out of the eyes and abuse of the General Public...
this is truly a Spiritual Fitness Warrior's Prayer and thus must remain so...

thank you for your understanding and
i look forward to you reading the Prayer in the Tribal Firelight of the
Ancient Band of Fitness Warriors since time immemorial....the Tribe of Devoted
WF Yogis...

Uniting Posture of Body and Confidence of Mind

If you are sitting, and your mind is not wholly in tune with your body—if you are, for instance, anxious or preoccupied with something—your body will experience physical discomfort, and difficulties will arise more easily. Whereas if your mind is in a calm, inspired state, it will influence your whole posture, and you can sit much more naturally and effortlessly. So it is very important to unite the posture of your body and the confidence that arises from your realization of the nature of your mind.
- Sogyal Rinpoche

***

Perhaps the largest advantage of securing a WF Blessed Mala and Mantra from the WF Temple is that once received, the Transmission from the Higher Ones quickly infuses our motivation to sit. This combined with knowing an exact mental and postural drill when we do sit, gives rise to the subtle energies, making meditation a much more engaging Practice. Without Higher Guidance and Dharma Blessings from ones Lineage, the spirit of perseverance in meditation is often quickly lost.

We must all-Ways remember that we are citizens of Two Worlds; an Outer One which is full of temporary happiness and relationships that are doomed to....

DO NOT MISS THE ENTIRE TEACHING ON TODAY's DIRECT LINES! $10/month for a WORLD CLASS PRACTICE PARTNER TO HELP LIFT YOU HIGHER!!!

ps; snowboarding was SICK yesterday! 15" of fresh POW! right now, that "Blessed Slope" is utterly dope!


photo of coach in Mala Meditation by Melissa Grimes
2 types of WF Blessed Malas are available in the Special Products section of the

WF Pro Shop

All You Really Need To Know To Stay Motivated To Meditate

January Buddha by coach, WF Temple Grounds

Feeling Snowed Over With Confusion? Well find out why on today's DL!


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you get access to the WF SanghaLounge 24/7 and over 2,000 WF Teachings in the DL Archives as long as you remain an Active DL Subscriber...


Come To Where The Dharma Flows Naturally For Awakened Fitness Warrriors...come to DL!

Columnist Coach Helps HOMEGYM Magazine's Great Lift Off!

Hey Coach!

Home Gym Magazine was named among the Top 30 launches of 2007 by Mr. Magazine, Dr. Samir Husni. Thank you for your all your help in making this venture become a reality.

You got the fire in your words. Viva la bench press!
Charlie
Publisher/HOMEGYM MAGAZINE featuring coach ilg as columnist

"the desire to meld more of that with my life and practice."

Hello,

A quick note to say thanks for taking the time and effort required to produce Total Body Transformation, as well as the InDirect Lines Blog.

One of the wonderful things about the book is how applicable it is across levels of fitness. I am no stranger to hard training and initially saw the workouts as a decrease in my overall activity level. Last October, after week one, I thought otherwise. Taking my own mindfulness to the next level during workouts was a wonderful challenge.

My girlfriend Zenu was familiar with the yoga (as she is from Delhi and has practiced since childhood) but in terms of her general conditioning she was a novice. The friendly, motivating tone of your book and the clear instructions really helped. Her body has transformed and she loves being able to go out and run for an hour for no reason at all. She is more confident, motivated, and motivating. She loves how she looks.

In December I purchased a second copy of your book and took it to Salt Lake City to give to my best friend, an extremely talented but generally undisciplined ex-rock climber turned couch potato. Jason has innate athletic talent but not a lot of inner drive. I am concerned for him because he, like me, is aging (we are both in our late 30's) but unlike me he's doing a lot more sitting. I got a text message from him yesterday. He loves the book, is completing it, and is super motivated.

My dogs are also fitter than they ever have been. :-)

In the very near term I will subscribe to Direct Lines. As a PhD student living on a small stipend money is tight, but my current plan is to run through the entire book a second time, sell off some items that I picked up from storage in Salt Lake City during my trip, and then send in an application for coaching. I have been coached before for specific events and have used various training plans in the past, but I have find them unsuitable compared to self-coaching because of the broad range of things that I like to do--and do well in, if I am racing--over the course of the year...and the desire to meld more of that with my life and practice.

In any case, thank you again for what you have created, and continue to create.

Expect an application in late spring.

Rob W.
Troy, New York

Skunk Medicine

Okay, so i guess i'll wait a little while before feeding the birds this morning. photo of Sammy, by coach. geez, the things i risk for you...

"Whatever harm an enemy may do to an enemy, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind inflicts on oneself greater harm."
- Dhammapada 42

Meet Sammy...Sammy the Skunk. he is Two Tree Manor's resident Reputation Keeper. Having no known natural enemies, Skunk carries a big medicine bundle including, Reputation, Sensuality, Respect, and Self-Esteem. Like Snake, Skunk is an unmatched Teacher of how to


LEARN ALL ABOUT SKUNK MEDICINE AND HOW IT CAN IGNITE YOUR APPRECIATION OF FITNESS...
only in today's DL!

The Most Beautiful Web Site In The World...to me...

On Tonights DL!

USSSA Qualifier Pics and Teachings...

Steve,

I just read your chapter 2 race report of the TOUR de SKI CHRONICLES.

"After the first drop of 1,500' feet (can you say, EARNING YOUR TURNING?), there was a, get this, 8-minute tuck section! That's right, bucko! Chair Pose for a solid 8 minutes on 3-hour pre-fatigued legs? And you wonder why i teach HP Yoga in the manner i do?!"

Yowza! Now that hits home with me. I can only imagine the lactic acid joy coursing through your quads and lower back at this point!

You're da man!

love,

hak"

click to enlarge. this and the other race photo by wwww.myracepics.com

New daddio ilgo attempting to break the spirit of our first chase group at last Sunday's USSSA National Qualifier. right on my snowshoe tails is the ever smiling WF Devotee and Bronze-medalist at the World Championships, Laurie Lambert of Red River, New Mexico. Laurie and i both switched snowshoe sponsors from Atlas to Flag's local and very tragically hip, www.kahtoola.com. just WAIT till you see what ilg + Kahtoola (Tibetan; means "directly") are working on!

by this point in the race, Sly Coons, the defending champion (and 8th place finisher in the 2007 World's) had already launched an insane pace from the Start Gun. as our Chase Group entered the singletrack, i knew i had about 8 minutes of rolling terrain before i could attack on the first climb which was...

UH...Trust Us On This One; you do NOT want to miss this account in today's DL Subscription Format! DON'T GET GAPPED! GET TAPPED into your Highest Spiritual Fitness each day FRESH as subscriber to Coach Ilg's DIRECT LINES!!

Tour de Ski Chronicles: Pictures! plus; i qualify for USSSA Nationals!

Flagstaffian and famed "Cave Explorer" HP Yogi Jut out there 'getting it done' with breath and posture at the USSSA National Qualifier Sport SnowShoe Race on Sunday. photo by coach.

Most Noble Ones,

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."
- Martin Luther King

Namaste Noble WF Yogis!
i trust this email catches you recovering from another great winter weekend holiday!

so stoked am i at the following HP Yogis who "took their yoga off the mat" and into another Yogic Discipline of Competitive Endurance Skills to test their breath, posture, and mental focus at 'my' National Qualifier SnowShoe Race on Sunday:

***

5k Women:
Rachel Blievernicht, 6th place. age 20. FIRST EVER SNOWSHOE RACE. time: 54:33

5k Men:
Mitch Driebe, 6th place. age 50, FIRST EVER SNOWSHOE RACE. time: 45:20


10k Men:
4th place; steve ilg, age 45, 1:01:36
8th place; Jut Wynne, age 38, 1:21:17

***

Special acknowledgment to HP Yogi Ben "Patki Dass" Sullivan who came out to add support even after racing his mountain bike for 40 miles the previous day!

what the above Yogis did on Sunday, just by TOEING THE START LINE, was expand their notion of yoga to include precisely what yoga (Union) really means; EVERYTHING! The Kundalini Shakti will not rise correctly through an unpurified spine...actually sushumna (subtle anatomical spine; carrier of Kundalini). For sushumna to be purified, Cardio Training is essential. Besides, a more fit CV System means more powerful lungs for your Pranayama (breath science). InDeed, the yogi who does NOT do regular and intense cardio training as part of their Yoga Practice, would not ever WANT the Kundalini to begin Her ascent of sushumna! i'll tell you more in an upcoming presentations. For now, just do this: participate in a sustained Cardio Activity (30 minutes of an elevated heart rate) at least once every day! Answer the Call...remember; you come from a Hunter/Gatherer Tribe; CV Fitness is IN YOUR CELLS!

***
TOUR DE SKI PHOTOS!

thank you for your patience (hey, this is why DL is only $10/month instead of $10/issue....DL is really hard on me, however, trying to lay my original sweat and spirit out in this forum for you all each day is really my offering of Love for your Atman...please know that!).

i actually had input that the story was so good by itself, pictures would have dampened the effect of it!

that was very kind.

perhaps we all, since children, get too attached to pictures. too attached to drama instead of deeper, slower, more "you-have-to-hook-up-the-dots-yourself-you-lazy-twerp type of (l)earning.

if such is the case, it's gonna be Dumb into Dumber as you enjoy these photos taken by Jamie Weink, the Race Director. she asked me not to let people republish them. i told her, i would only publish them on my Subscription Blog and i know that if i tell my DL Subscribing Warriors not to re-publish them in any form without your permission, they won't.

and you won't. i know that. we are Yogis.


enjoy her shoots and imagine the Pain...and the Mystical Journey of Sacred High Altitude Sweat...

TOUR DE SKI NORDIC HIGH ALTITUDE MARATHON PICTURES AND CAPTIONS ONLY FOR DL SUBSCRIBERS

Tour de Ski - "Durango's Nordic Ironman" - Chapter 2; The Start Line Arrivith

my ol' friend, Graysill Mountain, a stalwart warrior rising up and out of Cascade Creek. the Race Course strode gallantly very near this 12,504 beauty. photo by ilg.

"So it has come about that all moral and spiritual values are expressed in terms of altitude...The mountain is not merely something externally sublime. It has great historic and spiritual meaning for us: it stands for us as the ladder of life. More, it is the ladder of the soul, and in a curious way, the source of religion."
- Jan Smut

***

As Andrew and i shared a chairlift ride up to the Start Line, the lightness of our nordic skis dangling in air seemed an analgesic balm to our pre-effort nerves. The historical imagery of these mountains and my relationship with them permeated and lengthened my memories. i found it nearly relaxing to realize that i would soon be racing nearly 25 miles on my skis up and down through this transcendent snow-choked wildness. The San Juan Mountains all-ways affect me thusly. It cannot be stemmed. Their friendly, seductive aloofness shifts my feeble brain easily into a higher gear of symbolic and metaphoric fancy. ilg alone, in these Sacred uprisings of granite through which ambrosial creeks and provoking pines grace, is content in ways unspeakable.

As my ski tips kissed the unloading platform, however, all my greater concepts of what these mountains stand for came to a scraping, very disconcerting stop...

DO NOT MISS THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THIS WORLD-CLASS NORDIC SKI MARATHON ACCOUNT BY COACH in TODAY'S DIRECT LINES SUBSCRIPTION FORMAT!

Student Input - Tour de Ski Race Report Waiting For Photos

icicles frame my Beloved "Twilight Peaks" on the evening after my nordic ski marathon at Durango Mountain Resort. Oh, the backcountry experiences which leap from deep chambers of my soul whenever my eyes are cast upon these San Juan 'hills'! i love ice. the word, of Latin origins, means 'assimilated from other sources.' isn't that great? just like you and me! i am gonna give my friends in Durango another day to get me Race Photos before posting my Race Report...cuz, well, you know, one picture is worth a million of my feeble words! so, here is some WF Student Input that you can use for some CHI FUEL today in your Noble Practices of the Wholistic Fitness lifestyle...May Love Abide.
photo by ilg.

***


"i have always considered the skeleton as the Sherpa carrier of the spine - not the spine carrying the skeleton. it is my maxim therefore to develop the Subtle Energetics of the spine (sushumna) and let the skeleton shift for itself."
- coach ilg,broken spine self healer, 9/26/06
yogini b. in ustrasana

***

Coach, I read DL every day, seeing all those pictures of snow is very motivational to me, I am really trying to make a move to the mountains myself this year and your blog is such a big motivator for me in so many ways!!!! For example, I was the only on Ohio Street Beach on New Year's Day in the middle of a snowstorm here, running up and down the sand hills that have gotten created by the wind and loving it!!! And I have to say, I love the Dewa pictures too!!!!!!!!! SO good luck in your race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopeful, soon to be mountain dweller...
Jeannie

***

You should know that I am laughing hysterically right now.
Do you know why I love you...?
DUDE.
I've never had a yoga teacher call me dude. I love it!
I'm all over the antibiotics, dude!
:)
Susan
Flagstaff HP Yogini

http://www.susandetering.com/index.html


***


hi,
Random emails from random people...

I saw your posts on the snowshoe racing webpage,- Coach Ilg's Column at USSSA - which led me to WF and your book The Winter Athlete. I purchased it because their is nothing else out there about training for snowshoeing. I'm just a recreational/fitness athlete but I like to know what I'm doing and make the best use of limited workout time. I race, when I race, more to see what I can do then with any great expectations about winning. I have always been fairly active, but did not start a regular workout routine until I was 41 (8 yrs ago). Something about not liking being out of breath just going for a walk. I have never been coached but I have lots of books (running, mtn biking, triathlon, xc skiing, and even 1 for swimming). I have to say, I had no idea what I was getting when I bought your book. But it is fantastic! Serious sports training but a lot more. And even though it is not the most recently published book in my library, it has more useful information in it than any of the newer ones.

I'd love to attend your yoga classes or even get actual coaching, but I'll have to content myself with the book. And I just purchased your other book - TBT and the HP Yoga DVD to extend my exploration of your WF program.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for the book (and other material on its way).

best wishes,
Bob Newman
Petersburg, ND

-22F this morning and only crusty old snowdrifts to run on!

The World's Fittest...WHAT?

i've been called
"The World's Greatest this-or-that" for some years now,
however,
never,
not once,
not in a trillion jillion bibillion years did i
EVER think i would EVER be called:

See Today's DIRECT LINES; Subscription Format...


Only for those Warriors Who Choose To Sweat Consciously...

Pro Shop Back Online

Noble Ones,
we got the Pro Shop back up,
however, the audio file upgrade and service will still require
another few days...

head bowed,
ec

WF Pro Shop Down Temporarily

Noble Ones,

for 2008 i am attempting to install a SoftGoods module to the Pro Shop so all of you can easily download Audio Files; i want to do all sorts of Audio Files on SUNRIDER, Meditations, yoga audio sessions, etc. for some reason, Noble Website Manager Hakado Ru is encountering a series of challenges on the installation which keeps bonking the entire Pro Shop.

please practice patience and know that your support is vital for our humble Temple...we ARE working on it!

head bowed,
coach ilg

GodSpeed, Oh Noble Climber, In The Bardo...

i'll get back to the Tour de Ski Chronicles next.

right now,
a DL M(om)ent of Silence for a climber/adventurer whose humility knew and embraced one of my
guiding mountaineering quotes;

"Though man can climb to the highest summits,
he cannot dwell there long."
- Shakespeare.


For the Atman of Sir Edmund Hillary now on the greatest adventure...without a sherpa:

Sir Edmund Hillary; may your Bardo Navigation be accurate, fast, and preciously victorious...
thank you for not forgetting the mountain people of the Himalaya...may we recognize your reincarnation
by the shining, loving, guiding radiance for all Beings in All Realms.

Om Mani Padme Hung

fellow ascentist...ilg

coach race telegram

read the very touching report in telegram style from a very tired coach about his high altitude nordic ski marathon today in the San Juan Mountains...only on DL Subscription Format.
come to where the real mind/body champions of diversified fitness gather...subscribe today; feel the CHI tomorrow!

>

Team Norway Takes The "Tour de Ski", as i leave for my own "Tour de Ski"!

MY JOURNEY AS A NEW FATHER WARRIOR BACK TO MY H(OM)ELAND OF DURANGO, COLORADO TO COMPETE IN A 40 KILOMETER, 2,300' NORDIC SKI MARATHON STARTS TODAY IN DL SUBSCRIPTION
AND CONTINUES THROUGH SUNDAY...

JOIN DL AS A SUBSCRIBER:
WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU!!!!



DL SUBSCRIPTION: BRINGING THE DAILY CHI INTO THE BUILDING OF YOUR FITNESS!

A Mountain Yogi's Typical January Commute To Brahman's Yoga Studio...

on todays's DL Subscription Format!

VitaDophilus® - One of SUNRIDER's best kept secrets!

VitaDophilus®
One of SUNRIDER's best kept secrets!

coach ilg, ryt/uscf/cpt

SUNRIDER HERBS Lead Director since 1983

At less than $12 for a package of ten, VitaDophilus has been an early morning mainstay of mine for as long as i have been "Riding the Sun" of SUNRIDER Herbs...over 20 years! it is beyond Doubt's terrain that i know that VitaDophilus has kept my immune system at peak operating efficiency. Why? Because a daily dose of VitaDophilus supplies a minimum of - get this - 20 million live culture bacteria to the walls of my intestines. So what's the big stinkin' deal about having all these millions of "bugs" as one Student called them, imbedded in my gut? I'll tell you why. Because Intestinal bacteria form our FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE against illness! Naturally occurring lactobacillus acidophilus in the digestive tract are known as 'probiotics' - "for life"...as opposed to "antibiotics" or "against life" - pretty simple; which do YOU choose? Probiotics are foods that nourish and replenish our intestinal bacteria supply to help break down food molecules so the body becomes more efficient at nutrient assimilation.

My daily intake of VitaDophilus is a leading reason why i can get away with tremendous caloric output vs. minimal caloric intakes (you DL Subscribers know my Monthly Training Stats! i can average only about 1,500 kcals per day, yet expend many times that much in my training. How? Well, yogic breathing has a lot to do with it, however, the fact is that my nutrient uptake is extremely efficient so if i eat a PowerBar or a VitaShake or a veggie stir-fry, my capacity to USE the nutrients in those foods will be many, many times greater than other people not using my 3-Phase Approach to SUNRIDER Herbs.

Additionally, - according to the SUNRIDER literature; "the presence of this beneficial bacteria in the digestive system can help displace or decrease non-beneficial micro-organisms, some of which can lead to fermentation, thereby causing bloating and gas, or rob the body of necessary nutrients. VitaDophilus® helps the body maintain proper digestion."

Now, the crazy thing about VitaDophilus from SUNRIDER - and what makes this product so unique - is that Dr. Chen 'carries' the millions and millions of "bugs" in a delicious apple base which 'coats' the "bugs" for safe passage through the acid nature of the upper intestinal tract into their new home in the lower intestines where the "bugs" get busy and help me stay world-class lean and fit at age 45! If you buy other forms of lactobacillus acidophilus - and there are HUNDREDS of them - guess what? You are wasting your money because all the "bugs" never make it to your lower intestine!


The VitaDophilus® powder is great tasting; just tear open and pour down your throat and let the FRIENDLY BUGS keep away all the NASTY ASS BUGS!


Order a few boxes today to get you through a month and you tell ME one month from now how much Higher you are Vibin' on BUG POWER!

head bowed,


coach ilg
SUNRIDER HERBS Lead Director


need to Join SUNRIDER HERBS under Coach Ilg's Downline?
at either of my blogs,
just scroll down in the right hand margin for the SUNRIDER Join Up section...
or email me at;
ilgtrain@npgcable.com

What Makes Stevie Happy...and "a wee bit nervous"...

ARIZONA SNOWBOWL Ski Report

Updated: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 5:51 AM

Snow Conditions

Storm total
31-49"

Settled snow depth at 9,500 feet
45"

Settled snow depth at 10,800 feet
75"

Season to date snowfall
123"


okay, so when i lived in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, my local ski area of Wolf Creek would average over 600" per year...
however,
for Arizona? those above Stats? ilg can live with that!
where are my boards? i gotta go!!!

Oh,
it looks like New Daddy ilg has got himself into another fine predicament...up until yesterday, i thought i was training for a 10k Snowshoe National Qualifier on the 20th. then, Andrew Ferguson, my outdoor athlete bro from Durango, got me onto a Top Secret List of only 20 Durango locals to compete in the first ever test running of a new high-altitude Nordic Ski Marathon which will snake up and down along the alpine ski runs of my childhood ski area of Purgatory (now called, Durango Mountain Resort)...

on... THIS SATURDAY!!!

oh yeah, hell, yeah. like THIS is really gonna work...
yet another world-class test of the power of WF training; will i survive to finish?

ilg is a wee bit nervous...

stay tuned; you know i'll do my best to take you along with my (mis)adventures...only for DL Subscribers!

keep on keepin' on, okay?

love and cold sweat,
ec

photo above; last year, pressing strength and aerodynamics from all those HP PROP YOGA classes, into a 3-sport win of the Flagstaff Winter Triathlon

Pada Dewa...and...SNOW DAY!

okay, okay...here are a couple more Dewa pics!...
geez, you guys are like me, can't get enough of this lil chicky...

at the foot (pada) of Dewa...
any more questions on whether or not the breast milk from a mommie on the regenerative whole-food herbs of SUNRIDER plus BioBuilde Amino Acids transfers that anabolic cellular fitness into her child? check this out; at less than 4 months, i've had to cut out all the feetsie's of Dewa's 3-6 month "onesie's" because Her feet have outgrown the feetsies! we also have to clip Her fingernails daily due to how fast Her cells are regenerating. oh, and how about THAT yogi toe spread, eh?!?!

...hey, what can i say; she is the daughter of a book author! She even turns the pages by Herself...

well, i'm finally off to do what every sane Human Being would do on a SNOW DAY like today; GO SNOWBOARDING, BABY!!!!

don't worry, i first spent a couple of hours at Zone 2 Heart Rate shoveling out the Warrior's priorities ...

Buddha first,



Birds second,


self's and neighbors sidewalks/driveways...

Yeah Baby! Reminds me of COLORADO "POW" DAYS!!!!

outta here...have a TON OF FOCUSED FUN today and be sure to get in your Daily Sweat and Stillness...

you won't believe what's coming down the DL tube this week!

head bowed,
the mountain yogi

Photographer Extra-Ordain-Air; Master Student Shawna invites us into 2008

Namaste Coach,
i am really enjoying reading “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” currently am in the section of Karma and it is shedding a new light. i have been quite aware of my “active laziness” (DL;1*4*08) throughout 2007 and really in-joyed creating time over the holy-days. My husband and i patiently waited for some snow to arrive, so we could celebrate winter with some cross-country skiing.


At the moment between 2007 coming to a close and 2008 gracing our presence, it was snowing in beautiful big wet flakes (above image). On New Year ’s Day we ventured out with borrowed skis and this humble rookie was having quite a time in the wet snow. After stopping numerous times to scrape off the snow balls accumulating on the bottom of the skis, finally engaging mula and reciting the WF mantra, i just slowed down and went for it.

as we left the lake at dusk, this image...



...stopped us in our tracks “don’t forget to continue to make space in your day to c(om)e outside”

so on that note, i will now take miss-maddie-girl for a walkie-walk…

Namaste,
student-shawna

coach's note:
please visit Master Student Shawna's website;

schaubphotography.com

Active Laziness

okay, so who am i to speak about Active Laziness? True, i have spent the better part of my adult life, living out of a vehicle; climbing, cycling, skiing, adventuring around Turtle Island. however, the difference between a bum and a wandering yogi? the yogi maintains his or her Sadhana (spiritual practices) and applies their wandering nature to keep themselves whole. That's right; ilg is defending his 'bum-dom' tendencies! Below, Rinpoche's counsel is absolutely essential to recognize, and following His counsel, i offer a Proven WF Technique that has been in my humble Temple for decades to help conquer "Active Laziness." May it help...ONWARD, UPWARD, and EVER INWARD! photo by Ananda, camping near Moab, Utah.

READ RINPOCHE's TEACHING ON "Active Laziness" and LEARN THE WF TECHNIQUE TO COMBAT IT ON TODAY's DIRECT LINES, SUBSCRIPTION FORMAT!

***

HOMEGYM MAGAZINE debuts with Coach! + My Scriptural Reasoning For Accepting Certain Media Exposure

Please enjoy the debut issue of HOMEGYM MAGAZINE featuring coach ilg

HOMEGYM Magazine, a beautiful and noble offering for Fitness Warriors, is now available at most major bookstores...i would LOVE it if you would subscribe to this magazine to help the lift-off of this new venture designed to ultimately not to turn people on, rather to turn them inward! i was one of the first editors and contributors of ROCK & ICE MAGAZINE when that mag was nothing but an idea of scattered papers littering the den of George Bracksieck's home near mine in Boulder, Colorado in the late seventies. So, i figure there is no reason why HOMEGYM MAGAZINE cannot eventually achieve the same longevity and quality that did R&I.

Here is what my publisher wrote me the other day;

***

Good morning Coach,

Got confirmation from Barnes and Noble today that Home Gym Magazine has been
on sale officially since Dec 21. It's also available at 500 plus bookstores,
newsstands and specialty fitness stores as listed here


HOMEGYM MAGAZINE distribution lsit


Thanks for your help.

Happy New Year! Charlie


***

Now, for those Noble Warriors of you that are interested in why i choose to write for only a few magazines these days, i must turn you toward the Sacred Scriptures.

Buckle up, most Fitness Warriors will get dropped over this headwall:

In this case, Verse 40 of Chapter 4 of the HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA was the main reason why i chose to write for HOMEGYM MAGAZINE. This Sutra states:

"Some people are confused by the agamas, some people are confused by the nigamas and logic. They are bewildered, not knowing how to be liberated."

*

Huh?
Precisely.
In our current yuga (spiritual eon) which is the yuga of Kali (eon of spiritual darkness and ignorance), people are confused quickly by the ancient shastras (authoritative treatises on spiritual philosophy and practice). Our confusion and quick tendency towards the recent spike-on-the-graph of such mental dis-eases as A.D.D. and Fitness Warrior's who tend to shy away from anything requiring depth of contemplative study and extrapolation is due to the de-evolution of our inner-attainment fitness. Essentially, as more and more parents who ...

READ THE ENTIRE TEACHING ON TODAY'S DL SUBSCRIPTION FORMAT...

and...

"may the precious waves of reality that feed the Souls of all men in any age arise In The Human Realm Awaken Us To The Necessity Of Life As Sadhana...

oh, and please pick up an issue of HOMEGYM MAGAZINE, another unlikely Dharma Vehicle of your crazy wisdom coach...

Working from the inside,
your loving coach

The Coach That Still Does: DECEMBER's PRACTICE STATS are IN!

Whenever there is a "ROAD CLOSED" sign blocking the entrance to a forest road, then chances are likely that the true reality of the sign is that it is a Winter Warrior's Gateway into a most Blessed Outdoor Yoga Studio of Silence and Cold Sweat. This portal is only a few minutes from my front door. Quick access to quality winter training grounds for snowshoeing, nordic, and alpine terrain is vital to even come close to my Practice Stats below. Just as an actor must move to LA if she or he really wants to break into 'The Business', so too the mountain yogi must move to areas where the Prana gushes forth from high altitudes in order to sustain the imperative training of the subtle anatomical fitness along with the more elementary physical fitness training. photo from my cell phone before a 2-hour snowshoe workout; Wing Mountain FR 222.

LEGEND:
ST = Strength Training
CV = Cardio Training
Y = Yoga (asana)
M = Meditation (includes Pranayama)
N = Nutrition


December is a crux month for a Winter Athlete. with no racing on the schedule, it is crack down time for instilling devoted on-snow training with little room for inconsistency. Winter endurance sports are the most brutal on this plane(t) and without a completely focused mindset and firm dedication during this month of holiday distractions (not to mention a 3-month old baby), each day required drawing the Warrior Sword of Manjushree-like passion for lifelong Practice.

I am very pleased and confident going into my Winter Racing Season with my New Daddy Practice Stats during this month. i managed to ski, snowboard, or snowshoe 13 out of 31 days and nailed my extended-interval sessions (average HR above 165 for 1 hour) once per week while maintaining discipline to keep my other CV Practice Sessions within Zone 2ish. Just the past week i started short/power/speed interval sessions.

NOTE:
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REPEAT THE FOLLOWING MATHEMATICS OF MY TRAINING! YOU WILL GET INJURED AND/OR OTHERWISE PUT THE KIBOSH ON YOUR OWN NATURAL PROGRESSION! THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN MY EXTREMELY LOW CALORIC INTAKE VS. CALORIC EXPENDITURE; I CAN ONLY PULL OFF SUCH NUMBERS SAFELY DUE TO 20+ YEARS OF DOING SUNRIDER HERBS, AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENTATION, AND MOST OF ALL MY YOGIC PRANAYAMIC PRACTICES! I REPEAT; I PUBLICLY POST THESE NUMBERS ONLY TO DL SUBSCRIBERS TO SERVE ONLY AS INSPIRATION FOR ALL 'AGING' AND 'NEW DADDIES' AND CHRONIC PAIN WARRIORS AND EVERYONE ELSE TO GET THEIR INNER DISCIPLINE CRANKED UP IN THE FACE OF OUTER WORLDLY CHALLENGES AND 'OBLIGATIONS.' THE ONLY TRUE OBLIGATION IS STEADFAST TRAINING FOR OUR BARDO ENTRY TO SERVE ALL HUMANITY BY WORKING TOWARD ENLIGHTENMENT.

MAY YOUR PRACTICE REMAIN STRONG AND SINCERE IN THE NEW YEAR...

Om So Ti,
coach ilg


***
bodyweight: 148lbs*
bodyfat: 5.8%

ACTUAL PRACTICE STATS AVAILABLE ONLY FOR DL SUBSCRIBERS FOR REASONS OF SAFETY

* dropped precisely the 3lbs i wanted from November using SUNRIDER HERBS and ahara-jaya (yogic discipline of "mastery of food." i will now slowly build up caloric intake in preparation for my winter endurance sports.

NEW YEAR Meditation Rumination...

Actual shot of my current Practice Journal which, one day, will result in a series of books to help other WF Sadhaka's along their own Way. To celebrate my New Year - which usually involved either intense partying or intense outdoor efforts under the moon - my new role as a rookie Father Warrior saw me take the celebration silently and inwardly. A portion of my recording from last night follows below...please do not republish in any manner...thank you and enjoy!

12/31/07
oh wow.
a Gregorian Calendar big m(om)ent!
hec, these days i smile at the thought of how dramatically
i drove sooooo many "New Years Eve" celebrations -
and tonight,
in my Zendo,
in my smile,
my mind is my smiling friend..."

{hand drawn picture of the OM Symbol}

READ THE WHOLE MEDITATION IN TODAY'S DL and...to all you iDL'ers, thank you for reading the past year(s)...hope to see you 'inside' soon!


***