A New Approved WF Blog

Most Noble WF Sangha,
the alert ones among you have noticed the new WF BlogRoll in addition to Coach Steve Mackel's approved blog;

the first is the welcome return of WF Website Guardian: John "Hakado Ru" Kuhlman's blog; The Outdoor Journey

and it is my pleasure to offer you WF Devotee's Blog from Rick Strong who wrote me the following after hearing i would list his blog on the WF Website:


"Most honorable el Coache,
thank you for this inspiring gesture. I am most honored to have you read my blog let alone link it to your rare and most wonderful portal I will endeavor to live up to WF standards.
My very best, Namaste, Rick"

May the Noble Effort from Coach Mackel, Hakado Ru, and now faithful WF Warrior Rick
help Serve all of you ever Higher, ever Onward, and ever Inward...

head bowed,
coach

When Involved In Worldly Things...

it's so utterly UnAwakened and Predictable...all this stressing out about
'the economy'...come on into your Tribal Cave, gather with your warrior brothers
and sisters...

Coach is speaking/teaching around the Tribal Campfire this week about how to
transform the 'stress' of the Outer World into such precious Inner Rasas!!!

quit acting like a sheep! come soar with the Eagles...soar above your strife!

come on in! we are waiting for you, Oh Noble Warrior!

photo by coach ilg; Hopi Sunflower, WF Temple H(om)e, a couple weeks ago.

Q&A; WF too "Male-Focused" for a female Marathoner?

Mr. Ilg,

I just bought your book and I'm interested in starting the program. I'm a runner and have a marathon coming up in two weeks, so I'm interested in using this program to maintain training intensity. It all looks great-- I love the focus on yoga and meditation in addition to common training methods, like strength and cardio. Reading through the daily practice sections for the next three months, I had some concerns. With only two days of cardio a week, and so much focus on weight training, I'm worried about losing my conditioning in that respect. As a woman, I'm terrified at the idea of using a barbell. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a wimp-- between marathons and four years of playing rugby, I know how to play tough. But do you have any advice about how this program can work for women specifically? The whole thing seems a bit male-focused.

Best,
Elizabeth

COACH RESPONDS:

Most Precious Warrioress Elizabeth,
i'll take this time with you free of charge, however,
i suggest Online Consultations in the future, because the world of WF is very vast.

first, i don't know what you mean by "male-focused." compared to conventional training prescriptions from
other trainers, my Path offers you far more 'yin'/female/expansive training. in fact, given the balance of
Meditation, Yoga, Nutrition, and the 4 Lifestyle Principles inherent to studying WF,
that leaves only the Cardio and Strength Training aspects that are 'male-focused' and from those two Disciplines,
Cardio is actually a female discipline in that it produces expansion of the subtle energetics when facilitated appropriately.

second, two weeks out from your marathon is NOT the time to begin the WF Program as depicted in TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION.
your 3-month Journey into the programs in TBT should begin immediately upon your Off Season.
and, if you are like too many runners and do NOT have an Off Season; get one NOW!

third, i would never assume you are a "wimp." anyone who is attracted to the Balanced Path of Wholeness which is WF,
is far from a wimp. WF will never care about what you are "good" at...WF will instead, highlight your weaknesses and keep
forcing your Higher Self to explore, expand, and develop precisely those physiologic, spiritual, and mental territories from which
your ego keeps shying away from. your statement: "As a woman, I'm terrified at the idea of using a barbell," tells me much about
inculcated conditions which must be ripped from your current notion of Self, burned away in the fire of the Iron Temple, and get your
neural-muscular system up to par so your joint health is protected and your overall capacity to produce power in your marathon
becomes far greater.

welcome to the world of WF. i have other books that are better at sport-specific training than TBT;
THE WINTER ATHLETEand THE OUTDOOR ATHLETE.

of course, the Highest Coaching you can receive is my Online Training System. Applications available by request or online.

i encourage you to subscribe to my Blog where you will be treated to thousands of Archived Teachings
and fresh body/mind/spirit Dharma each day including 24/7 access to the incredible worldwide WF SanghaLounge.

May this time with you help deepen your Practice and contribute to your Wholeness.
Dharma Blessings upon your Marathon!

coach steve ilg, ryt/uscf/cpt
creator/head coach; WholisticFitness.com

Oh, It's Over, Awlright...Taming the Kundalini - my RACE REPORT: Flag 10k!

click photos to heighten the Chi Hit...

Ilg at the Finish Line of yesterday's high altitude 10k at the Flagstaff Nordic Center. Coach re-tore his hamstring within moments of the Start. This incredible account of pure spirit will once again stuff your Dharma quiver as you read what Inner Tools he used and provides exclustive answers to the spiritual/karmic confrontation which arises at such intensely painfilled endeavor and WHY it became so vital for him NOT TO QUIT; "let ilg be once again your willing spiritual laboratory rat for this is precisely the spiritual terrain where so many athletes flounder; though we are driven again and again to pain of sport like moths toward Light, conventionally trained athletes keep coming up empty with the "Why" of what they are driven to do..." photo by Ananda

***

FOR DL SUBSCRIBERS ONLY...

BIG, BIG, BIG MEDICINE; an astonishing account and you won't believe how well our Coach finished!!!

INSPIRATIONAL AS IT GETS!!!!

SUBSCRIBE TODAY and have complete access to over 2,000 such stories, Teachings, and Chi-filled photos plus 24/7 access to the worldwide WF SanghaLounge...

Wake Me Up When It's Over...

appearing on today's DL;

principles of race prep on little sleep due to
Conscious Parenting...

HP Yoga PROP WORKOUT sets the sails of yet another warrior!

my 'boss' cranking out the routes at "The Gunks", upstate New York. photo courtesy; john doskicz

Hey Coach!
Today is a Rest day today after 3 days on. Climbed 42 pitches under the belt and two more days promising the best to come! Watching the birds beat on the steelers in the hotel room! Thanks for the chi! The one legged squats are paying off. It took 3 days of cranking to feel like I do after one HP PROP CLASS!

JD

my HP Yoga; PROP WORKOUT,
the Mother of all Functional Fitness Workouts,
is available on DVD right here:

HP YOGA PROP WORKOUT

crank out a HP YOGA PROP WORKOUT once a week and the power of your Soul expresses itself in
health, fitness, and radiance...

PROP 'till ya drop, baby...then Rise Higher Than Ever Before!

photo: that's my 'boss'; John Doskicz, owner of Vertical Relief Climbing Gym and Northern Arizona Yoga Center where Joy and i now teach HP Yoga.

"PROP WORKOUT" is the exclusive intellectual and sweat-based property right of Steve Ilg and HP Yoga.

When The Dharma Flows Too Powerfully...

what you missed this weekend in DL:

i open and then close behind me a barbed wire fence, tacked precariously on a moss rock hillside and start jogging up a slight incline toward Sabi Meadow. the Meadow itself greets me with a splendor all its own. i love this Meadow; i snowshoe train here in the shock of twilight cold and have celebrated New Years Eve upon her frozen flank of snow. this morning however, my dewy footfalls upon her hide, tangled with wildflowers clinging desperately to these last days of summer. ilg is in love again.

- coach ilg excerpt from DL, 9*20*08

photo: the Taoist Yoga posture; Walking The Dragon
available in coach's book;
Ai Imawa; Postures and Practice of Inner Harmony

photo by Ananda

Q&A; Worship Fearless, Allergies, and Micro Arousals vs. Macro Serenity

Dear Coach,
i have followed your Teachings since 1993 and think you are the most genuine Teacher, coach, yoga instructor out there; thank you for teaching us how to be brave...your DL of of few years ago about "Worshipping Fearlessness," changed my life. Thanks to you, I know attack my weakenesses and lazy habits with a Warrior's mindset and even though i fail more often than I succeed, I have learned to accept your other great Teaching:
"Just Begin Again, and Again...and Endlessly Again!

Om Namah El Coache!"

Trina, MD

*** ALLERGIES OR NOT?

Dear Coach,
My question has to do with Allergies. I have horrible allergies and absolutely hate the side effects of all the different types of allergy medications I try. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I'll be happy to pay you for a consultation."

- Jim, MN

Namaste Jim,
i doubt you or many other people "have allergies."

i do doubt however, that you "have an Early Morning Ritual" combined with being on the
Sunrider Herbswhich, over the course
of nearly 3 decades has erased or managed "allergy sufferers."

READ COACH's FULL ANSWER ON TODAY's DL!


*** INSOMNIA OR SPIRITUAL SLUMBER?

Guruji Ilg,
My doctor says I have insomnia and has me on these medications which I really don't like and I think I am experiencing a "Wake Up Call" to your Teachings which I have always been curious about yet too scared to begin. When I go to bed, my mind just races on and on. My doctor says that I have too many micro-arousals during my daily life. Over the past few years I have built a tolerance to sleeping pills and, oh, Guruji! Help!"

- Clark, CA

Most Precious Warrior Clark,
first, any doctor who prescribes medication instead of meditation for you should be questioned. Catchy Word-Choice of the spiritually ignorant; Micro Arousals! feeble ilg asks, "Whatever happened to "Macro Serenity"!?

the mind that races at bedtime is the mind addicted to thinking.
the mind that races at bedtime is not yet the friend of its Master.
the mind that races at bedtime is not the Higher Mind (Buddhi).
it is the Lower Mind (manas).
teach the Manas to more fully digest the circumstances of your daily life.
teach the Manas not to chop up the fluid beauty of the Gunas (the waves of life) into
'good things,' and 'bad things.'
teach the Manas to enjoy Witnessing the flow of your daily life in the way a police officer directs traffic at an intersection whose 'light' is out.

for that is what has happened to your mind;

READ COACH'S FULL ANSWER ON TODAY'S DL

The Spin Doctor Has Again 'Spoke' The Cycling Dharma...

coach ilg, Strength and Conditioning Coach of the famed, "Team 7-Eleven" pro cycling team from the eighties, still cranks out indoor cycling intervals, especially as a new father! photo by Ananda.

***

CYCLE IN, BREATH OUT
"Turning our minds to our Breath produces a moment of purity.
No clutter. No random thoughts. No Drama."

- Coach Steve Ilg
in the current issue of:

HomeGym Magazine

Sangha Note; this issue provides some pretty interesting juxtaposition as Coach Ilg's dharmically drenched article appears alongside the conventional fitness counsel from Chris Carmichael, Gabrielle Reece, and others. Fun Stuff! We think you'll be very 'proud' of how nobly our Coach still takes the Highest Road toward inspiring mainstream fitness athletes.

here is another excerpt from Coach's article in the current issue of HomeGym Magazine now on newsstands;

"When a yogi practices pranayams (conscious breathing techniques), especially those pranayams involving breath retention, he or she is producing (from a Western perspective) a higher ionisation count throughout the fluids of the brain, creating neuronal hook-ups within the 80% of brain matter which the common man never develops. Yogic breathing, if done regularly and wisely, shifts the vibratory state of the innumerable cilia onto higher electrical plateaus, transforming our entire body/mind into a far more sensitive state and upshifting our entire metabolism as well. Perhaps you now understand why, when I taught Indoor Cycling classes throughout Los Angeles in the nineties, I would include "Silent Spinning Intervals" as an effort toward diminishing what I call, "Cilia Abuse" from non-stop, loud music.

May each of your workouts be Blessed with divine insight and showered with sacred motivation to help all Beings in all Realms...

Head bowed,

coach steve ilg"

HOMEGYM MAGAZINE/Fall 2008
www.homegymmag.com

Daddy Dharma; First Year Teachings From A Mountain Yogi

this morning in the paper i read the obituary of a local 3 month-old, a beautiful little girl, who died in her sleep on September 11, the same day Dewachen was born one year ago. as a yogi trained in Death and Dying Meditations, those black-and-white words and image still made my heartspace shudder. seemed like only yesterday when Ananda and i would sleep right next to our own baby girl of 3 months; alert to any quiver in her sounds of sleep. what is a yogi to do with such potent Teachings from the Bardo which is all-Ways one undone breath away? well, first and foremost is compassion for all Beings and secondly; gratefulness for our own Blessings.

raising, consciously, a child is truly for the birds.
specifically, Penguins.
the wise yogi parent would do well to use their Meditation sessions to reMember (with) their Penguin incarnation,
which was one of our final evolutionary tests for unconditional child caring between both parents.
if, for some reason a new parent cannot seem to create the time for Meditation (which is why it is so vital to begin
a granite-sound Meditation Practice looooong before having a child), then...

DO NOT MISS THE ENTIRE TEACHING ON TODAY'S DIRECT LINES!




***

photos;
#1 - the 'Can Do Clan' a few days after moving into our new h(om)e beneath the Sacred Peak; "Three Chi Manor." The placement of the Dharma Banners was my second priority in moving. the first one being, of course, the establishment of the Zendo. a WF h(om)e prioritizes spiritual feng-shui first and foremost. all the other 'stuff' of moving can then be performed with the Mantra amplified via spiritual foundation. photo by Jerry Kilpatrick.

#2 - "Sit, and slide...sit, and slide..." New Daddy Warrior Ilg during one of a seemingly endless number of trips that Dewa loves to make up and down our new staircase at Three Chi Manor. notice that for biomechanical integrity of my child's shoulder joint, i only occasionally lift Her upper arms past horizontal. Photo by Connie Ilg.

Imogene Slide Show

there are some GREAT shots of Imogene Pass Race at this link:


Imogene Pass Pilgrimage

thanks to Bruce Higgins of Flagstaff!
and to NATRA (Northern Arizona Trail Runners Association) leader; Neil Weintrab!

oh, you'll have to first "wade through" the 13 AGE DIVISION MEDALS which Flagstaff brought home from Imogene
to get to the scenic shots of this mother of all mountain footraces!

enjoy!

The Benevolence of the WF Dharma

i got to TAF'ing about Benevolence and Dharma after enjoying, well, relishing the Race Report from Master Student L'Gaté's Imogene pilgrimage (see DL this week).

then i got to TAF'ing about Lance's return to the Tour de France...

i'll save my Lance TAF's for the SanghaLounge.

back to what is more important for our Practice of Wholeness (aka; yoga);
Benevolence and Dharma.

for those of us that use WF as a way through all our 'terrible stuff' (laziness, attachment, negative patterns, etc...), it's a wise idea to back off the throttle of obsessiveness for 'structure' in our training and simplify the incredible beauty and power of the transformative capacity of the WF Lifestyle.

in other words, we allow Benevolence to arise from doing what



PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS UNIQUE TEACHING!
subscribe to DL today and keep the DHARMA IN YOUR LIFE AND SWEAT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEWA!

On behalf of Dewa and her amazing mother, i would like to thank all of you who emailed, wrote, and called in your best wishes for Dewa's first birthday.

Special thanks to those of you, from near and far, that came to "Three Chi Manor" to help us celebrate what has been an amazing year...

And most of all to my Precious Lotus-Eyed Rinpoche, Dewa...

I love you so...


head bowed,
your loving father

An American Made WF Yogi Relates His Sacred Imogene Pilgrimage

In my last DL,
i made a veiled invitation to Master Student Alan "L'Gaté" Ludgate to submit a Race Report on our shared Pilgrimage to the Mother of all Mountain Races, Imogene Pass last Saturday.

Like the impeccably brilliant Master Student he is, L'Gaté immediately produced this offering for all of us.

May each of us be inspired by this NYC Warrior who took pilgrimage to the misty, lofty mountains of the WF Birthplace and danced his dragons with fierce grace...as i read through his beautiful words, i reflected on some of the intense training i put him through in order to prepare for his Pilgrimage...

L'Gaté and i cranking off some Medicine Ball Tosses; preparing his core/hip chain musculature to withstand the 4+ hours of sustained effort which Imogene would demand months later...

Imogene humbles the runner by placing an insanely high mountain pass in front of you which can either intimidate or infuse...i took L'Gaté indoor climbing to teach him to 'keep one eye on the summit and devote yourself to the present m(om)ent,'...determination to keep moving upward is a huge part of Imogene success!

...L'Gaté seeing God, gasping God, reeling with God after a sustained uphill nordic ski interval with me last winter here in Flag...any yogi who accepts the Imogene pilgrimage will be forced to surrender to his or her deepest Breath Body and remain with their Breath Body for several hours...this is vital to any pilgrimage so that the Mental Body becomes erased!

...and now,
i give unto our Practice,
L'Gaté's Imogene Race Report...
also known as:
"Jazz in the Present Tense,"

L'Gaté...Cash, Coltrane, and Marley are pleased...i can feel it from here. It was deep honor to share the Sacred Sweat with you in 'my' San Juan's...

Namaste,
your loving coach

***

Sangha,

About six months ago, Coach and I had an e-mail exchange to plan our next private intensive, my third in 5 1/2 years of WF training. I suggested we organize the intensive around a race. Coach asked what I had in mind. Recalling past DL entries, I asked "what about the Soulstice Race in Flag, or something in Telluride around Imogene?" Coach's response was..."IMOGENE!!?!??!...that would be a Noble Pilgrimage in deed!"...

PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS INCREDIBLY INSPIRING ESSAY FROM ONE OF MY TOP MASTER STUDENTS TAKING PILGRIMAGE INTO HIMSELF!!!!

ONLY ON DL SUBSCRIPTION FORMAT; 2,000+ Teachings, 24/7 Access To The Worldwide WF SanghaLounge included!! ONLY $12 dang dollars per month...c'mon Warrior!!!!

The Coach Who Still Does, Just Did Again!

Namaste My Precious and Noble Warriors!


Just back from the
Imogene Pass Run
and had an absolutely SPECTACULAR pilgrimage to my old h(om)eland
and one of my premier mountain venues before i broke my back.

my "race" was quite emotional as i TAF'd it would be.

hec yeah it was tough and HUMBLING on my ego seeing the Top 20 guys bolt from the Start Line and crank up, up, up the nearly 6,000' climb to Imogene Pass Summit and down, down, down into Telluride (To-Hell-You-Ride).

i no longer belong to that elite group of fleet footed mountain yogis as i once did...however, in between racing a race and just surviving a race, my return to my old San Juan Stomping Grounds taught me that there inDeed a Middle Path in between racing and surviving...
it's called, THRIVING!

sure, i've never started a race more slowly in my life.

i had to.

for i had no idea if i would make the time cut-offs if my spine injury triggered.

for all i knew, the 7-mile downhill which plummets from 13,120' at the summit to 8,820' in Telluride could easily re-paralyze my spine...

truth be told, i was scared at the Start.

so, i took my pre-race coaching counsel to WF Master Student L'Gate (Alan Ludgate) who took Pilgrimage to Imogene Pass with me, to my own Heart:

1) Relax,
and
2) Trust The Dharma
and
3) Rely Upon The Mantra.

and the Great Mountain Gods answered.

my back injury hardly flared at all.

i only had to engage the "Ilg Wheelchair" (Yogi Squat)
four times throughout the 17-mile course...that is HUGE for me!
i can rarely run more than 20 minutes before searing pain forces me into
a yogi squat to decompress decade-old bone-on-bone neural pain...
yet, this past Saturday,
up in the lofty mountain thrones of my childhood...
i felt the Chi...
i felt your Prayers...

in the same way, yet slower (WAAAY SLOWER) my race unfolded
similarly to how i used to break into that treasured Top 20;

start conservatively on the lower five miles, then,
as the pass begins to bite into every lung and leg muscle fiber
you've never known you had;
i sped up.

power traveling up the final, brutally steep and high two miles before the
summit,
i felt my core strength from all my HP PROP WORKOUTS
kick in BIG TIME and i starting churning past boatloads of racers...
heart hooked to the Summit as described in my WINTER ATHLETE book, and sailed down the treacherously steep descent,
passing another boatload of timid runners tip-toeing over the babyhead talus terrain
like a deer gone mad...
until,
well, about 2 miles from the finish...my spine retaliated and i was forced by pain
to stop twice in a short distance...losing my top twenty Age Group placing for sure
and just
Relaxing,
Trusting the Dharma,
and
Relying on the Mantra...

one mile from the Finish, i found fleet feet again,
back pain numbed and not a factor...
i started slaloming around other racers again,
focused,
strong,
sizzling toward what i considered a miracle for all those who
have broken their spines...

that's when i fell...
hit Ma Earth hard dude!!!
trying to pass a racer on questionable talus to the side of the
rutted, red road.

ilg FALLING while running!!?!?

certainly this would have been considered a Great Disgrace to the
old steve ilg...
yet,
now,
it was just fine...
i ain't no threat to any podium in this 1,100-strong field,
so i dusted myself off,
smiled at the go(o)d blood dripping from my right palm,
winced a bit at the new pain radiating from my left hip...
and
hippety hopped toward what would prove to be one of my
best finishes ever...

3 hours, 37 minutes
35th place in my Age Group,
270th Overall (1,100+ competitors)
and a whopping
12:43 per mile pace!

***

what has REALLY made my heart smile is the great times turned in by my students;
Alan Ludgate, from the Bronx, NY absolutely won the hearts of the gathered warriors...
he had zero altitude complications and finished with a beautiful time. i'll try to get him to send in a Race Report. Chris Latham, an HP PROP WORKOUT devotee of mine here in Flag, SOARED to a 3:11 in his first ever footrace! and...Sara Wagner, an Imogene rookie cranked to a sub-3 hour effort which nabbed her 3rd Place Overall in the Women's Division!

and if you have any lingering doubts that the WF Path does not produce crazy go(o)d results among sport-specific athletes?

consider the fact that my own body never, ever has felt as go(o)d after Imogene...not ONE toe blister and hardly a trace of post-Imogene acid-stiffness...the very morning after Imogene, i was able to fold my legs in Padmasana and carry on with my Early Morning Rituals as if nothing big was done within the last 24 hours...in fact, L'Gate and i hiked up and around Ouray, the morning after Imogene! that, to me, is
evidence that ilg ain't getting older,
ilg is getting YOUNGER!!!!!

can you run a 13-minute mile?

then put September 12th on your calendar next year and join me, Joy, and Dewa for one HEAVEN OF AN AMERICAN YOGI PILGRIMAGE:
IMOGENE PASS RACE!

it'll be held the day after Dewa's 2nd Birthday and we'll have a grand ol' time in the high, sweet, sacred mountains of the WF Birthplace; the mighty San Juans!

for those of you interested in Race Stats and to feed the fodder of your inspiration to join me again next year at the Imogene Pilgrimage (over 200 Flagstaff runners were there!)...
check these out...

next up in DL?

i start downloading the WF DHARMA again from among our pile of boxes at our super crazy go(o)d new home in the country!!!


know that i felt you up in the High Peaks last Saturday and
know also that your sweat, silent sittings, and support
means absolutely EVERYTHING to my Path, myself, and my family...

see you in the SanghaLounge!

love,

your ol' mountain yogi who is still out there...scared, sweating, and smiling...


***

Imogene Pass Run
Race Date: 2008-09-06


Participant Detail Information
Racer Number
696

Overall Place
270
Name
Steve Coach ILG

Overall Back
+01:19:03.04
Home Town
FLAGSTAFF AZ USA

Gender Place
215
Age
46

Total Time
03:37:43.41
Class Place
35
Class/Division Name
M 45-49

Class Back
+00:46:32.61

Pace
00:12:43.9

Final Lap
03:37:43.410