Thursday, December 10, 2009

Judge a Teacher by his or her Students...from the Himalaya to the Sierras and inbetween...more beautiful seeds of WF sprouting...




Coach,
Amazing energy as always jumping off your email page.

I am excited to see that more Ai Imawa is on its way!

I just completed a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training (with Zuda Yoga in Sacramento) and will open up “On purpose coaching and yoga” in the next week or two. My father in law lived with us in a small cottage on our property until he passed in May (92 and lived a wonderful life…. ). We have converted his cottage into a yoga studio and iron temple. And will open up a community garden in the spring with ½ of the output going to shelters around town. So much in the air. SEVA at the core.

My coaching practice will be working primarily with people 45 – 50 and above. Like me at 56 and getting younger each year. I bow to Wholistic Fitness and setting me on this path. I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin.

And the view from the front window here is of the snow peaked Sierras. Amazing and beautiful.

So all is good. Soon.

Much
Karl Weiss





"Coach Ilg - I am a WF student and wanted to say thank you for your efforts, they have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. I have been involved in competitive athletics all my life, and currently work as a Christian minister and personal trainer, as well as taking on my first Ironman in 2010. I started working through your programs about 2 years ago, and completely support the wholistic philosophy.
Thank you ... keep beastin!

Jon Sherwood
Atlanta, GA."





Coach - Namaste from the Himalaya! Seems there is a bit of a Himalayan time warp. I've only been gone for 12 days yet it's seems like a lifetime has already sped by. Time is different here. It is impossible to be anywhere but HERE NOW. Each moment, breath, bite of food, drink of water, step forward, meter up and kind word require, demand and deserve my full mindful attention.

As I walk amidst the highest peaks on this earth - Sagamartha (aka Everest) and her sisters and brothers - Nuptse, Lhotse, Pumori - I am so full and so empty and open at the same time. I wonder what I've done to be so lucky to be able to transform these pictures from my childhood dreams into reality. How is it I find myself strolling through their light, sleeping in their shadows, feeling their power?

Each day I find my inner terrain closely mimicking what is called "Nepali flat". Nepali flat means rolling hills more or less with some steep uphill and downhill. My inner self resembles this as at times I have one or more rise up within me - joy, sadness, laughter, crying, being overwhelmed, finding complete and effortless peace...However, thanks to my practice, my breath, the mudra and mantra - i roll with these hills and enjoy what they teach me after which I am able to return to the flats and reconnect with my equanimity.

I am so grateful for the time, energy and love that you, Joy and your little one invested in me to help me prepare for this pilgrimage. I am so grateful for all you have given me and am pretty sure i would not have come this far without it. The mantra has served as the soundtrack for each part of this trip and i have turned on what i like to call - "my internal ipod" - at both the challenging and joyous moments (and believe me there have been plenty of both so far).

My breath and the mudra guides me and also serves me in each moment - getting me through unpleasant midnight trips to the lieu (luckily these have been rare so far) and energizing me during my first view of Sagamartha. I have even employed the visualization you so often use in class on the toughest hills: I reach out one hand for Shiva, one for Brahma and can feel Vishnu pushing at the back of my heart - lifting me, guiding me over whatever terrain (on the trail or in my heart and head) lies before me.....thank you for all of this and for your support and love from thousands of miles away.

One last thing, Raven brother. You asked me to tell the Himalaya that you miss them. Yesterday, I did as you requested and the message came back loud and clear: they miss you, too and they'd like for you to visit them again and have said they want you to bring joy and dewa with....and soon. Om Mani Padme Hung!

Love and light and mountains of gratitude for you, joy, and dewa

ck