Saturday, October 31, 2009

HAPPY, WHOLESOME (yeah right, right?) HALLOWEEN...



From the Can Do Clan beneath the Sacred Peak to our Most Treasured Sangha who make this Most High Temple Of Wholeness so utterly fun, unique, powerful, and mysterious to the masses!





Halloween used to be my biggest partying night of Nights,
so have a ton of fun out there...
just keep the Spirit of our Tribal Drum calling to you -
Dance

Dance
Don't be stupid to the rhythm of your Sacred Sense

Dance
Dance

and let Grandmother Moon call to you...
For all the Ghost Spirits...
May all Beings in all Realms

Dance
Dance

and let our Family Tribe chant...

Happy Halloween and THANK YOU
for choosing to Sweat Here Now,


coach 'scarecrow' ilg



photo 1: by Dara's husband of steve, Dewa, and Ananda
Heritage Square, Flagstaff


photo 2: this is classic. having never tasted refined sugar in her two years of life,
Dewa just vibed with her black balloon, red football, and was puzzled at the candies
being placed in her Elmo trick-or-treat handbag. not once did She even bother
about wanting any treat. meanwhile, we saw parents filling tiny kids strollers
full of M&M's...illnesses surge after Halloween because of the steep decline in
natural immunity as response to candy eating.
WF pushes nothing away...
just Practice c(om)mon sense and moderation.





Thursday, October 29, 2009

Kinlani's First Snow of 09/10!

click on pics to enlarge chi hit...
text from Steve Ilg's
personal journal entry, 10*28*09





"A lot of my Inner Work revolves around praying for more attention
than paying more attention. It's sad to admit i require Higher Help just to
dive deeper into everyday moments, yet it's true."

above photo this morning by steve; snow detail on Bala





"For me, the Miracle of Mindfulness (WF Lifestyle Principle #2) is as elusive
if not more so than for my Master Students of WF and many, many others, I reckon. And my Mindfulness Fitness is certainly fathoms lower than my live-in Rinpoche, Dewachen."


above photo by Ananda; Dewa looks forward into 20-degree weather,
and Her life.



"Still,
ilg does his Best to Pray For More Attention..."

photo of DokoOosliid this morning, right after a herd of 19 Wapiti Beings
traversed the field outside the Temple H(om)e. by ilg





READ THE REST OF THE TEACHINGS AND BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS on TODAY'S DL SUBSCRIPTION FORMAT...

and...


Until we can meet and gather again,
may your Instinct For Enlightenment
pull your Heart and Soul
Uphill,
away from the common
and
toward the Highest,
the Most Pure
Summits Within...

Yah Teh Heh!!!!

keep trekking,

coach ilg
feeble chief of the mighty WF Clan

***


COMING UP in NOVEMBER ONLY FOR DL SUBSCRIBERS:

A GUIDED WF JOURNEY THROUGH THE YAMA's and NIYAMAS with Coach!
tell your friends and get them Subscribed Today!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Evolution, Abuse, or a Kick Ass Chi-ld?

Personally?

ilg is just sitting with this, sent to me by WF Devotee Andrew Ferguson:


i've created a forum in the WF SanghaLounge in the Direct Lines chamber for your input. i am collecting data for a book on Conscious Parenting and would love to know what your Heart feels while watching this four minute video, what type of terrain your Mind covers while watching this, and then, after reflecting on this video what are your TAF's (thoughts and feelings) about this video.

head bowed,
ec

Monday, October 26, 2009

Obstacles On The Path...

all text and photos by coach ilg...taken today...click to enlarge the chi hits...




When a mountain biker, or more appropriately for this time of the year; a cycle-cross racer encounters an obstacle on the path, we do not lose faith and begin to doubt. We have, through Practice, learned to recognize obstacles and difficulties such as long climbs, heat, cold, wind, etc., for what they are: just intensification of a Noble Effort, nothing more.



When an expert cyclist arrives at the point where difficulties and obstacles are recognized as such, they stop being 'obstacles' and actually become linked series of beautiful empowerment opportunities.


So, how do use this same type of non-dualistic grocking when obstacles crop up on the spiritual path to harness difficulties, whatever they may be, toward our quest for Higher Growth, Deeper Awakening?


FIND OUT ON TODAY's DL!
ENJOY MORE CYCLECROSS RACING PHOTOS!
COME ON IN! REGAIN STEP WITH YOUR WARRIOR DANCE: SUBSCRIBE TO DL TODAY!


photos:
1) HP Yogi Ben "Patki Dass" during the run up in the Men's Pro race.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Yogi Squat (and story) Of The Week



my yogi squat (aka; 'the ilg wheelchair') at the 13,150' summit of this years Imogene Pass Race...i took this m(om)ent to do a quick Pranayam and relieve my lumbar compression from the preceding 2:36 hours of uphill running before taking flight down the 7 miles and 4,000' descent. photo by elevationimaging.com


send in your pic and story for Yogi Squat! there is movement being made by some WF Devotees to get Yogi Squat into Wikipedia due to my embrace of its simple and powerful healing capacity since breaking my spine.


the below story comes in from WF Warrior Roberto Crespo of Pasadena:

***
Coach, just read this in the LA Times and I think the tribe may get a kick out of it:

'So how did Lawrence Peter Berra get the nickname Yogi?

Berra told TBS that Bobby Hoffman, an American Legion teammate in the early 1940's gave him the moniker.

"We didn't have benches to sit on, so we sat on the ground," Berra said...


READ THE STORY ON TODAY's DIRECT LINES!


Thursday, October 22, 2009

Yeah, Well...so is Enlightenment!

Guruji,

tee hee hee hee....
:)
Shakti

Begin forwarded message:

This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't. It's preprogrammed in your
brain!

1. While sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.


COACH RESPONDS:

Most Precious Shakti,

RE:
"It's preprogrammed in your brain!"


yeah, well, fortunately so too is our Enlightenment Potential!


head bowed and Dharma Blessings upon thy Practice and May you realize your Practice everywhere,

coach


Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Don't Waste Time




in my Zendo, prying deeeep into my pectineus/quadratus femoris/piriformus
with MahaBanda engaged and spraying Ujjayi Pranayam directly into this
most potent spiritual workplace; this type of deep asanic-prying
while in a variation of swastikasana is vital for endurance athletes
to free the energetics of the power chain musculature
within the hips...


ARE YOU CONFUSED ABOUT HOW TO FLIP
YOUR PASSION FOR FITNESS
INTO A VEHICLE TOWARD ENLIGHTENMENT?
DON'T WASTE YOUR SWEAT,
DON'T SCREW UP YOUR STILLNESS:
APPLY FOR A 6-month WF ONLINE TRAINING
WITH COACH TODAY!!!

Apply Here


Steve;

I will be ordering your new IRON TEMPLE DVD just before I head down to Sun Valley for skiing in December so I don't have to deal with Canada customs. It sounds like you are doing quite well and your family life sounds wonderful.

I turn 64 in 2 weeks and have to figure out what to do at 65 . At 60 I convinced a friend to climb the Grand Teton in Wyoming and who knows what is in store for me in a year ? Maybe you will play a role in that phase of my life . I still have great memories of the first time I met and worked out with you in Santa Fe and especially our few days in Durango.

I do want to get back into the fold and getting the new DVD should be inspiring . I'm still in the gym 3 -4 days / week.

Keep well;

J.


COACH RESPONDS...ONLY FOR DL SUBSCRIBERS BELOW:
Learn what the podium that
all spiritual athletes must attain by age 75 and start TRAINING FOR IT NOW!


coach responds:
Most Precious Warrior J!

always go(o)d to hear from you!

well, according to the science of Enlightenment,
you only have 11 more years to...


SUBSCRIBE TODAY and SAVE YOUR SWEAT AND STILLNESS
FOR YOUR HIGHEST SUMMIT!

Friday, October 16, 2009

JUST RELEASED! my new; IRON TEMPLE DVD!

i invite each of you to a rich experience that will forever
change the way you workout...

My newest Wholistic Fitness DVD




which comes with a world-exclusive "ITT Workout Program"

Train your body to train your mind ...

This hot-off-the-presses DVD showcases my pioneering and proven

Wholistic Fitness®
Strength Training Techniques



200+ Podiums in 23 DIFFERENT Sports
Can't Be Wrong: Now YOU Can Learn The Techniques
That Transforms Commonplace "Weight Lifting" into a Penetrating Spiritual Practice that Demolishes Ego as Skillfully as it Creates Beautiful, Fat-burning, Functional Muscle







Most Noble Fitness Warrior,
Many of you have traveled long and far with me. For those seasoned warriors, this announcement will be like a sweep of wild wind through your favorite tree.
And even you rookies along the Wholistic Fitness® Path, if you've read my book Total Body Transformation, you're already familiar with the "five fitness disciplines" I melded together in the early 1980s to create Wholistic Fitness®.

If you've been practicing these disciplines on your own, then you probably also know first-hand why I view strength training as the most important discipline of all.

If you've ever struggled to learn or master any of the unique Wholistic Fitness strength training techniques (or ever scratched your head, wondering if you were doing them "correctly"), then I have some great news for you!

I recently took Ananda and my daughter Dewa (my "Can Do Clan") up to The Peaks Resort in Telluride, Colorado for a down-and-dirty guerrilla filmmaking video shoot. I took my camera up into the mountains and deep within this amazingly resplendent mountain adventure resort ... down a hallway to a door labeled "Strength Room."

(I know what you're thinking. Another weight lifting DVD. So what, right? Well don't be fooled. A room full of weights is only a room full of weights if you're not trained to see it through the eyes of a Wholistic Fitness warrior! Keep reading to see what I mean.)

Where most athletes see machines and dumbbells, my students and I see elemental iron. A mere "Weight Room" becomes an "Iron Temple," and all sorts of magical transformations happen inside. You see, an Iron Temple is a place just as sacred as a yoga studio or a Zendo! It's all a matter of perspective.

I've just finished editing all the footage we shot at The Peaks into a DVD called Iron Temple Teachings: The transformational strength training techniques of Wholistic Fitness. I think it's one of my best DVDs yet, and I know you'll agree once you see it!

Pop it into your DVD player and you'll witness my revolutionary transpersonal approach to strength training in action. You'll see me and Ananda crank out reps the Wholistic Fitness way, just as if you were standing there beside us. It's a behind-the-door glimpse into a powerful practice that improves your body's structure and function while simultaneously allowing you to practice mindfulness and cultivate focus. Seriously, the chi off this thing is as intense as a set of 1-minute Jump Squats!

Each time you watch the DVD, more and more Wholistic Fitness strength training secrets will reveal themselves to you:
  • The counter-intuitive benefits of prioritizing elegance over resistance.
  • The natural lifting rhythm that develops as you move through the three phases (yin, yang, and neutral) of each repetition.
  • The benefits of merging your movement with your breath.
  • How to transform sterile and predictable gym workouts into a colorful explosion of inner and outer strength
  • What a weight room has in common with a swimming pool or a ski slope
  • How a Wholistic Fitness yogi transforms strength training from a mere physical practice to a "protection of the mind" that allows the spiritual journey and personal growth to begin.
  • To be clear, this DVD is not about the biomechanics of strength training movements. It's about my proprietary stimulative and recovery phase techniques that can be used across all strength training movements!

In a brief introduction to my strength training philosophy, you'll discover:
  • How the techniques are designed to zap in your mental focus and rattle your ahamkara (egoic shell).
  • What's already happened the moment a Wholistic Fitness warrior's fingers wrap around a barbell.
  • How these powerful techniques "re-tether" your mind to the moment, again and again.
  • Why the Iron Temple is the best place on earth to train your focus, and how that indoor training easily transfers to outdoor sports.
  • The importance of a "strength training sangha" (like-minded community).

Then, you'll witness me and Ananda demonstrate the techniques themselves:

Stimulative Phase Techniques (Done DURING a set)
  • Staccato Technique® to enhance blood flow in muscle tissue/prevent hypoxic mechanisms and teach elegance through difficulty.
  • Three-Stage Technique® to improve mental focus, lifting form, and postural awareness.
  • Shivaya Technique® to pre-exhaust/fatigue a specific muscle at its strongest contractile range (and destroy the ego in the process).
  • Envelope Technique® to increase muscular endurance/deep fiber recruitment and to teach perseverance and mental stamina.
  • Swan Medicine Technique® to increase mental concentration while promoting muscular endurance and isometric strength.

Recovery Phase Techniques (Done BETWEEN sets)
  • Entré Nous® to maintain a connection with the weights on a physical level to access the spiritual level, keep the mind with the muscle, and provide an anchor for the mind.
  • Kin-Hin® to bring mindful awareness as you walk between sets.
  • Ku Top Form® and Ku Bottom Form® to continue to contract your musculature even as you rest between sets.

You'll also learn:
  • Why a simple stopwatch is an instrumental part of a Wholistic Fitness strength training practice.
  • The benefits of sharing your Wholistic Fitness strength training with a partner.
  • Exactly when most people get hurt in the weight room (and how to avoid it).
  • How every movement and machine in the Iron Temple has a spiritual life (and how it can take months or years to really dive into each machine and movement to cultivate the spiritual essence of each one).
  • How Wholistic Fitness techniques transform a room full of sterile machines into a very fluid spiritual workshop.

Then ... watch Ananda complete a short and powerful ITT (Iron Temple Teaching) full-body sampler workout...which is sent to you ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!

You'll see:
  • How to use the Wholistic Fitness strength training techniques to deepen your training effect within your own Iron Temple.
  • How a yogi needs to use intuition to compensate for strength machines built for football players.
  • Ananda focusing as fiercely between sets as she does during them (the secret key to creating your own Iron Temple out of a common weight room).
  • The principle of "less is more" in action ... when Ananda spontaneously prioritizes elegance over resistance (you go girl)!
  • The multitude of ways I've been "confusing muscle" since 1982.
  • How 2-Bench Triceps Dips (and the 3 "escape plans") teach the art of perseverance in one minute (if you've tried this you know it works).

But wait, there's more!

As if that's not enough, you'll also hear Ananda's take on the Iron Temple and how it's helped her as a new mother. Then you'll get to see me do 3-Stage Technique with my daughter Dewa instead of weights!

One DVD, a lifetime of possibilities to explore

The real benefit of learning and mastering the Wholistic Fitness strength training techniques taught in Iron Temple Teachings will come after a few viewings.

You'll quickly discover that the stimulative and recovery phase techniques taught on the DVD can be combined with any strength training movements in creative ways, for an infinite choreography of mindful movement.

Join me in the Iron Temple!
Until now, "in-person" coaching on my strength training techniques has only been available to my private students ... for hundreds of dollars. Ask any of them, and they'll tell you that actually watching me work out was pretty eye opening.

Wholistic Fitness strength training is different. It looks different. It sounds different. It feels different. You gotta experience it to understand it!

Watching a DVD isn't quite the same as being there in the gym with me, but it's close ... and it's a lot less expensive!

Grab your copy of Iron Temple Teachings: The transformational strength training techniques of Wholistic Fitness®
for only $21.95!



(If you're new to Wholistic Fitness I encourage you to also order my book Total Body Transformation. With both the book and the DVD, you'll be on your way to experiencing fitness and self-development from a totally new perspective that will, quite likely, change your life if you put it all into action.)


THANK YOU for your support!

Head bowed,
Coach Steve Ilg
Founder, Wholistic Fitness®


P.S. One of my students recently related the following story to me:
Coach,
I was at the gym yesterday and I overheard a woman at the next weight bench talking to her boyfriend.
'How's your workout going?' the boyfriend asked.
'Not so good,' the woman replied. 'I'm a stress case! I can't stop thinking about work. Maybe I should take up meditation.'
It was all I could do not to walk over there and tell her about Wholistic Fitness. There she was, lifting weights with a scattered mind, not even aware of the fact that she could have turned her strength training into a meditation.
I love it when my students "get it" like this!


steve ilg's Wholistic Fitness® since 1982
www.WholisticFitness.com
928-774-9205
steve{at}wholisticfitness{dot}com

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Karma As Our Mirror...Ice Climbing As My Karmic Reflection

"No other outdoor athlete can put the "Om" in Extreme Sports as has Ilg for so long."
- Craig Templeton




Whatever is happening to us now mirrors our past karma. If we know that, and know it truly, whenever suffering and difficulties befall us, we do not view them particularly as failures or catastrophes, or see suffering as a punishment in any way. Nor do we blame ourselves or indulge in self-hatred. We see the pain we are going through as the completion of the effects, the fruition, of a past karma. Tibetans say that suffering is “a broom that sweeps away all our negative karma.” We can even be grateful that one karma is coming to an end. We know that “good fortune,” a fruit of good karma, may soon pass if we do not use it well, and that “misfortune,” the result of negative karma, may in fact be giving us a marvelous opportunity to evolve.
- Sogyal Rinpoche

Photo; Vince Anderson on the mirror-like intimidating ice of Bridalveil Falls, above Telluride.
For my buck?
Leading difficult Ice Climbing routes provides the Highest Mirror to access our deepest fears...and the opportunity to penetrate them with courage and self-confidence.
Ice Climbing is High Yoga.
Back when i was an ice climber, this particularly gorgeous ice fall was regularly patrolled by authorities and forbidden to climb....

READ COACH's TALE AND TEACHING ON TODAY's DL SUBSCRIPTION FORMAT...
"No other outdoor athlete can put the "Om" in Extreme Sports" as Ilg."
- Craig Templeton
photo by HP Yogi; www.JamesQMartin.com

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Chi-ldren are miraculous

only available on DL Subscription Format; don't miss it!

Buddha's Deer Park, beneath the Sacred Peak

For DL Subscribers Only

"WF has made me see the value in a lot of things..."

Namaste Most Noble Coach Ilg ~
knock..knock on the temple door...."knock...knock" has inspired me - what an incredible post on your facebook page!

steve and i have received a big "knock knock" on our door and are fostering our twin nephews during this time of confusion and heart ache in their lives. we are here to serve them during this time where all they need is love. every day i am challenged, every day i am taught, every day i am nothing compared to what those young men are becoming.

thank you for your inspiration always.
much love,
student s

***

Hi Steve -
We haven't met. I'm a fan of your WF coaching, and working week 3 of Green Tara from your TBT book.

I also bought a couple of your DVD's and read you mentioning your Facebook page in your DL blog.

Anyway, I would like you to know your coaching has had a positive impact on me. It's made me see the value in a lot of things I've thought were true but had never made conscious priorities.

I'm a 51 year old accountant in the Chicago area, non-athlete most of my life. Always been a reader and developed my mind at the expense of my body. I took up tae kwon do when I was 39 and did that for 5 years, then nothing for a year but put on weight, then took up running. Did 9 marathons in four years, and started triathlons and adventure races, but that was curtailed when a herniated disc killed a nerve in my left leg, which activates the calf raise/ run push off. That nerve has not regrown in three years and may not. Got the herniated disc clean up, but the doctor said I had another disc bulging that I need to watch, and advised never running more than half a mile.

Subsequent I tried to do weights, some cardio and some stretching, and found your book which picks up those things and adds many other things I know I need, like yoga asana and philosophy, meditation, which I had done since college, nutrition, love of the earth, avoiding alcohol. It hits a lot of chords, including that fact that you rose up from an injury to achieve significant wholeness.

I've made some good progress and hope to make a lot more. Just want you to know that you are helping people.

Peace, brother
Brian

COACH's NOTE: i did respond to Brian's letter and told them that in WF Philosophy, we do not 'avoid' alcohol or anything else for that matter. all we do is what the Buddha advised; Question Everything. so long as we continue to do the Practices inherent to a WF Lifestyle, eat our SUNRIDER Herbs, take our MAP Amino Acids, and keep QUESTIONING our habitual patterns and negative tendencies - including alcohol, Lateral Dominance, obsessive sport specificity or whatever - then our Pursuit of Wholeness shall result in a higher Pranic Saturation/Constitution and, thus, over time...all will become a Path of Awakening and grist for the mill of our Enlightenment. again, in WF, we do not 'push away' or suffocate our desires and tendencies; we Study them like Scientists of Self, accept them as Teachers, do the Practices and Trust that our Prayers shall be answered.


***

Dear Coach,

I was driving home two nights ago getting ready for this weekend's full and half Long Beach Marathon and you popped into my mind with thoughts of thanks. My groups constantly reaps the benefits of training under your guidance. Namaste, namaste, namaste.

Love,

NWSM

PS. I PR'd in the half with a 1:40:57

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

KNOCK, KNOCK

People have been going crazy over the "KNOCK, KNOCK" clip i posted on my FaceBook page, sent to me by Student Priana.

For go(o)d reason.

The clip just demolishes me...five times i've watched it...five times, ilg is left bent over at the knees.

Twenty Five years of EarthWalking reduced into a potent 2 minutes of Human Chi...

Knock Knock?

Whose There?

WE ARE!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Soulstice Shakti: 8th Podium in 7th Different Sport of 2009


after riding my mountain bike to the Start Line in sub-freezing temps,
i, photo right, attempt to squeeze onto the
singletrack at Soulstice, which comes only 12 seconds after the Start Line!
the summit of the course is at 8,900'...a climb of 1,100' in only 1.5 miles.
you gotta be ready to go Red Line off the line!

i ran only two times in three weeks before this race...
what i did do?
HP Yoga® and living the WF Lifestyle Principles...

***


"if we really want something sacred from our Fitness,

we must risk comfort.
we must risk becoming more whole and finding Santosha in what i call, "being an Endless Beginner"...

Sacredness is a training effect from Wholeness.
Ego is a training effect from Specialization."

- excerpt from Ilg's Race Report from Soulstice Mountain Trail Race, this past Saturday;
you
DO
NOT
WANT TO MISS THE DHARMA OF THIS TEACHING!
it transcends podium athletics
and dives you into the SPIRIT WORLD!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Ahe´ hee´

Ahé hee'
for ALL your kind comments about my DL entries over the past couple of weeks...

oh, and in response to popular request,
i've updated the Dewachen photo album on my Facebook page...

beyond words,
your feeble coach


ps; Ahé hee' Navajo for "Thank you!"

sunday Zen; 1 and a half minutes of Wapiti Dancing...




startling, beautiful footage of Elk Dancing shot this morning by coach...
only for DL Subscribers; please support thy Temple and keep the Daily Chi
incoming for your Highest Sweat and Stillness.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Off To The Races; Soulstice!




i've run twice since Imogene Pass.

twice.

this morning is the Soulstice Mountain Trail Race...right here; beneath the Sacred Peak in Kinlani:

the 10k race takes place just out of photo right.
i'm gonna make my traditional Duathlon out of it.
let the other runners drive.
to me, it just seems like the Wholistic thing to do.
last year, i finished 2nd in my AG.
this year? ilg is just celebrating the potency of this amazingly beautiful time of year in the mountains
which i love so dearly...


MY RACE REPORT AND RESULTS COMING ONLY TO DL SUBSCRIBERS


wish me chi
and do something noble this weekend...

the mountain yogi

photo 1: early morning - the Gear for today's final running race of another fantastic season of sacred sweat
photo 2; Doko Oosliid, with a touch of snow, last week. by ilg

Friday, October 9, 2009

Grandmother? ilg is soooo sorry...

Grandmother Moon rises over Elden Peak, outside the WF Temple H(om)e two years ago. by ilg.


***


Most Precious GrandMother, ilg is so sorry... on behalf of my Turtle Island Tribe of the Two-Leggeds, ilg is sooooo sorry.

as a boy with a wolf,
you empowered my courage to fight the scariness of backcountry night.

as a climber i would ascend sandstone spires, naked, taking unfathomable joy in my simian strength beneath your glow among the pines.

as a yogi, never does a day go by where i worship you not, Oh Precious 'Tha" of HaTha Yoga! For you are my Ida Nadi inside!

as a father,
my own Daughter has grown up giggling, screaming with Love for you... "Tha" the Sanskrit word for you, was our Daughter's first Spoken Word.

Each night, every morning
we hold her in our arms and search Father for your delightful, illumined Grace.

This morning,
my Tribe pile drove some fancy trash into your navel.


My People...

oh my People.


Oh, my People.

we cannot take Go(o)d Care of our own Mother (Earth) and Father (Sky) so for some inexplicable instinct for demolishing assumed 'frontiers', we sent a crude rocket to literally 'fuck' you this morning. Grandmother, you should not be violently fucked by we, the very Tribe which You sustain in your endless Dance...


Support what's left of your Tribal Soul;
Read the rest of Coach's seemingly lone cry
for this act of violence upon
our Grandmother...

support
coach's
Wholistic Fitness®
by subscribing to DL
and
let all your Sweat be Sacred




Thursday, October 8, 2009

ilg named Yoga Coach to NAU Women's Swim Team

"Technique is less about restraint,
then it is freedom."

- Coach Ilg








The WAC Championship Northern Arizona Swim and Dive Team setting a pool record in the first event of the day and went on to win 12 of 16 events en route to a 176-120 win last season over San Diego.


Flagstaff, AZ -
NAU Swim and Dive Coach Andy Johns is a wise leader. He realizes the inescapable impact of world-class coaching upon his girls - both in and out of the water. "When I first took my girls to Steve's HP Yoga® class last year at NAYC I knew that I had to ask him to be our Yoga Coach for next season. I realized that the wisdom that comes out of his mouth while teaching an incredible physical class would be invaluable for my Team. I am very excited to have Steve in our corner for this season."

So stoked is Head Coach Johns that he called a pre-season pow wow with Coach Ilg and Burt Gershater
- acclaimed counselor to many championship teams. The three of them met, in typical Flag style, at Beaver Street Brewery...

The combined chi force of the trio was soon setting off astral fireworks throughout the outdoor patio area.

"I gotta go get some paper and a pen...i gotta write some ideas down," said Ilg as he bounded off from the table.

On the scrap piece of paper, Ilg scribbled words that may just be the Seeds of another Championship Title for the great Swim Team...ilg's Word Cloud which manifested on the scrap paper from their pow wow reads like a true Champion's hit list;

  • Focus penetration vs. dilution
    • Radiate/shine

    • Swim through the wall

    • Make sweat your Offering to the water element
  • Asana transitions = turns in the pool; BE CONSCIOUSLY POETIC
    Personalized Micro Ritual to thwart pre-meet jitters
  • Befriend resistance in the pool; it's what propels you
  • No matter what; just let it come


All of this coming from an athlete who - regardless of his athletic resume - can barely swim to save his life?

Ilg, long named, "America's Outdoor Athlete," by media has over 200 podiums in 23 different sports. Yet, not one of those podiums were stationed anywhere NEAR a water element...unless of course, it was frozen.

"Yeah, trust me, i realize the irony," chuckled ilg, "Because i have yet to learn how to swim better than a brick, is precisely why i am so honored and psyched to work with these girls; Swimmers and Divers epitomize my own highest Yoga."

Both Head Coach Johns and Counselor Gershater will be sweating alongside the Team during ilg's yoga classes which begin today at 2:15 pm at NAYC. "It's pivotal that the Girls see their coaches sweating with them. Shared sweat is makes a Team," ilg said.

"My duty for these girls is not about Technique. It's about freedom. My duty is less about improving their swim mechanics and more about encouraging them to remain an endless Student of the Water Element," offered ilg as he stuffed the little piece of paper into his jeans.

DL Subscribers will be kept on pace with the NAU Women's Swim and Dive Team throughout the winter. Their first meet is at the end of the month.










Student KK - On Relationship Yoga

Noble Coach,

Thank you for reminding me of the Mula Bandha awareness during daily life.

While the process of Atonement is simple, I allow myself to be caught up in the innumerable details of the ephemeral, forgetting my yoga at times.

Learning to undo the incredible repression of my masculine core started in early childhood and was perpetuated as a lifelong pattern, my current relationships are a very consuming classroom.

LEARN MORE FROM THIS PRECIOUS STUDENT OF WF on today's DL!


photo; open stock images - Two World Class Warriors of the Heart embrace; Hanuman and Ram

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

ilg's Top Ten Bucket List for Boulder, Colorado

ON TODAY'S DL's...
the former Golden Boy of Boulder
gives his Top Ten Must Do's for a visiting WF Warrior

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

WF Teachings: No Such Thing As A "Bad" or "Good" Habit


"If we don't keep fit, our energy and vibrational levels are low and slow. It's very difficult to develop the capacity to Recognize, Avoid, and Transcend our Habits if we are weak." - coach ilg and Dewachen camping near Sedona to help break the Habit of Home-Dwelling. photo by Ananda.

***

In the artful, zestful life of a Wholistic Fitness yogi,
there are no such things as "Bad" or "Good" Habits.

A Habit is, by nature, mechanical. It's divorced from Consciousness through samskara...residual astral reverberations from prior experiences. Our Habits are our own doing, made manifest through Unconscious Repetition while we are 'asleep' (spiritually speaking, of course).

When we encounter a Dharma Teacher whose Teachings then 'wake us up' and we begin to real-ize just how many Habits we have. Some classic WF Habitual Awakenings fall within our Non-Dominant Awareness Practices...




MISS THIS TEACHING AND YOU MISS ANOTHER SHARD OF AWAKENING...
subscribe to DL today and real-ize the wealth of wholeness into your life and fitness...


Monday, October 5, 2009

ilg bows; The Most Noble Students In All Of Fitness Reside Here, Ilg Swears!




The metaphor i'm after here? There is no difference between the Temple of a Yoga Mat, or the Iron Temple of a Dumbbell. You can take that to the friggin' Bardo, baby.
Genuine Unity, genuine YOGA requires fitness ACROSS the body and mind spectrum! And if you can't grock this metaphor? You probably ain't from our Tribe of Multi-Disciplined Fitness Warriors Focused Upon Wholeness!
Who gives a poop if your Rajakapotasana is so limber and easy if you can't race up and down over mountain passes or climb beneath a heavy Squat Bar and experience the Iron Element pressuring every joint toward the womb of Mother Earth!?!? feeble ilg says, "Give me Wholeness in my Fitness or let me die in the attempt toward it!" photo from my old Zendo in Los Angeles, ilg archives.


***

"Greetings from Southern California, Coach!
Sign me up for your Iron Temple DVD and please waive Early Bird discount.

I did not want a discount, so I did not responded until now. But your honorable (and honored) DL post gave me the appropriate nudge.

I look forward to your newest DVD becoming available.

Namaste,

Gary"

***
Dear Steve:
Just sign me up for it. Please donate my early bird savings.
Ai Imawa
Fit Kit

***

Coach,
Of course, sign me up for Iron Temple DVD...

No discounts needed on the Ilg program..
Discounts on Ilg products do not reflect its value.

Best thoughts to you.
Tom
Colorado

***

Precious Jeweled Sangha of Sweat and Stillness,

ilg just wants to bow as deep as my Padmasana allows to you all. i read my Students words which i quoted above. wow. you show such faithful devotion to the mission and message of WF by ordering the Early Bird Discount of my new DVD without even KNOWING THE PRICE! then, you encouraged me not to 'lesson the value of wholeness' by even offering a discount!

THAT is sheer nobility and faith during a Great Recession! YOU GUYS CRANK!!!

having been out on the Front Line of the Dharma Protection and Service through personal fitness for all these decades, has indeed, fatigued ilg. i've been pulling into the headwind for a long, long time. sometimes, even i question the absurdity of trying to make a living doing what it is that ilg attempts to Channel...so thank you.

yet, each day as i wade among your new and glorious input and inspiration shining like gems within my Inbox, ilg is once again inspired to pick up my Dharma Swords and start swinging, as lethally as i know, through the ocean of avidya which clouds Kali Yuga - particularly in the personal health and fitness battlefield.

...and do NOT feel poorly if you cannot afford the new DVD. our True Wealth shimmers endlessly within and shall Rise Above all suffering and fear as long as we keep our sadhana strong...together!

so, thank you. if all goes well, my new IRON TEMPLE TEACHINGS DVD will be available for shipping within a couple of weeks! i'll let you know as soon as possible.

now...for another week of DL Dharma, baby!

keep the Faith, keep swingin' your own Wisdom Sword and May All Of You Sever Whatever Negative Tendencies, Addictions, and Lazy Habits abound within your own Karmic BattleDance...

ilg loves Thee

Sunday, October 4, 2009

4 More Hours For Your Early Bird Discount; IRON TEMPLE TEACHINGS DVD!

Final Chance For Early Bird Discount on my "IRON TEMPLE TEACHINGS DVD"



Happy SunDay,

first, i wish to thank WF Devotee Brad Gantt (above DVD Cover artist), The Peaks Resort, and Devotee TH...without your help, this DVD would have not been made possible.

after Midnight tonight,
no more Early Bird Discounts on this very important DVD.


also, i will not offer discounts through my email notices.

these Teachings are too precious to offer any discounts on save for those of you whose devotion to WF is sincere and strong enough to be reading this right now...

and THANK YOU for those Devoted Students
who wish to waive off the Discount!
that REALLY touches me and your money will go to help support Tibetans living in exile and Navajo & Hopi causes.


back to the editing...all i wanna do is get to the gym as i continue working on this project! i trust this DVD will make you feel the same, strong, sincere Way...the Way of WF Strength Training! NOTHING LIKE IT, BABY!
and,
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A WF WARRIOR... Oh Noble Seekers of Wholeness Through Multi-Disciplined Fitness!

to get in your Early Bird Discount,
email me before Midnight tonight at:
steve{at}wholisticfitness{dot]com
with "Iron Temple" written into the Subject Line

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Namaste Iron Temple Warriors!




Don't Forget! If you want your Early Bird Discount on this world-exclusive DVD from the founder of Wholistic Fitness®...(and you know Coach will do you right)...you gotta email right now:
Steve{at}WholisticFitness{dot}com

just put "Iron Temple" in the Subject Line...

Friday, October 2, 2009

Yogi Squat of the Week; SUSAN MINGLES CULINARY ZEN WITH YOGA






there ain't nuthin' like WF,
and there SURE ain't nuthin' like a WF Student...
ilg LOVES ALL my Students soooo much!

i'd stack your degree of conscious fitness against ANY OTHER 'fitness path' on this plane(t)...no other Fitness Path permeates the entire physiology AND the lifestyle of their students as does WF and because of that single, noble flip of consciousness, ilg lives with a sacred heart, fueled by my knowledge that a few of us, simply get what genuine fitness is all about...

just check this out from DL 'celebrity' WF Student, Susan "Shakti" Detering who has been profiled in this Noble Forum. you'll want to click on the pic to really derive the chi from these images sent to me recently by my Precious Shakti;


"Dearest Guruji:

I've attached a few pictures that will (hopefully) make you laugh.
I was at my parent's farm in Pennsylvania preparing dinner with my beau... my job - stir the risotto. If you've never made risotto, you have to stir for 45 minutes, non-stop. I was leaning over the stove and thought, what am i doing?

So, I hopped up on the counter and sat in half lotus, switching hands & legs with every addition of broth..."

DO NOT MISS THE REST OF THIS ENTRY which includes pro pics of Shakti on the American Ganges and my GoodBye to our Girl as she leaves Kinlani for back east...

GET TRIBAL: SUBSCRIBE TO DL TODAY...receive advanced discounts on new products, teacher trainings, online training workshops, training camps, and 24/7 access to the incredible WF SanghaLounge...

Thursday, October 1, 2009

"HP YOGA makes me a more complete athlete -- a whole athlete." 3 Student Reports from the Podium


Dear Coach,
I have to say:
HP Yoga® is the missing piece of the puzzle!
It makes me a more complete athlete -- a whole athlete. It taught me to tune out the noise of the competitive subculture and listen to the inner vibration. It made the role of "athlete" make sense on a deeper, more spiritual level. Suddenly it wasn't something I did because other people thought I had "talent", or to get my name higher on the list. It was to connect, reconnect, and reconnect once again.... thank you for that too.

Love and sweat,
Kristen
Hawaii"
pro MTB'r

***

Coach,
greetings from Warrior Leaf. I hope that you I can be 1 of the few to receive your new Iron Temple DVD!

I did take part in the 10k race at the Flagstaff Nordic Center over the weekend. It was another difficult run with loose trails composed of rocks, branches, needles and wildlife. After the initial steep incline the mountain clan began to separate from the low-land clan. It did seem that by mile 2 that I was alone and the only runner that I could notice was a Hopi brother 10 secs. ahead.

As each ego-weakening moment came up I managed to recite the mantra - "bring more wind, as long as their is wind, there will be life". It proved quite effective in slaying this warrior's ego, yet, I was fortunate enough to receive a boost from the Great Spirit and it came in the form of the Deer-Beings.

It was about mile 3, no one near, only ahead, I heard some branches breaking and hooves thundering. 2 does and 1 buck came flying from the west towards the east right across the trail. Within seconds 3 more bucks came following at full throttle. It was nearly a t-bone collision, yet, they proved more swifter. As soon as they crossed my trail I hammered down all I could and that's when I knew that I was extremely close, I could smell their scent.

That old familiar scent of drum-hides and medicine pouches in ceremonies. It was an inspirational inhalant - a scent more organic than any all-natural, aloe-injected, lotion knock-off. It instantly and momentarily put be back in a tee-pee ceremony, somewhere in my early years.

So along with the scent of buckskin and near collision with the deer strength I managed to glide across the finish in honor of all four-leggeds.

- Warrior Leaf
Kinlani


***

Coach:

Saturday I rode the 80 mile, "Pines to Mines" MTB Race
in a good state of breathing and posture. The heat
was tough on the climb from the Verde to Jerome
(about 100 degs), but I worked it out with the
breath. It was a survival ride for many. This yoga ride got me there in 7 hours, but it only seemed like a couple. It wasn't my intent to "race," I just rode
in my ju-ju zone and ended up being the first lady
rider. I didn't come to Prop class in worries of
being too tired and too sore, but I'll be there with
heavy legs and all Tuesday. Actually, I feel fine
after my salt soak.

Thanks for all you do
in serving others while being a great role model!

See you in the Cave.

Peace,

Cole
Kinlani