Annual Spring Trail Running and Yoga Duathlon

Ilg Hp Yoga Group
Coach Ilg (center) with the Die Hards

Those of you that heard or thought of joining us on the Annual Trail Running and Yoga Duath

how to get your girlfriend back

lon should have done it. Only 4 SoCalRunning.com members joined me. Basically, I was giving a free, private ChiRunning®/Trail Running lesson to Christy and Duncan. We really enjoyed trail running in Griffith Park. Roberto and Karen joined us in a yoga class taught by my coach, Steve Ilg in Studio City.

Coach Ilg moved to Flagstaff, AZ about two and half years ago. Every once in a great while he comes back to LA to catch up. He’ll usually teach a yoga class somewhere in town and I never miss it.

This class I realized how much I miss having my coach in my home town. My practice seems to be going well, until I take Coach Ilg’s class. Suddenly I am reminded just how easy it is to slip. Coach ilg’s class is a cut above. You start out finding yourself sitting quietly, with a straight spine, legs crossed, while your hip and legs muscles scream, “Where has Coach been and what have I been doing, it shouldn’t be this difficult,” I think to myself. Then we get into the meat of the class and my “well trained” muscles are telling me child’s pose is a needed option. I want to keep up with Coach yet I can’t, so I rest then begin again. By the end of class my body feels like an empty shell and I am light as a feather. What a great feeling.

The next day he posts the story of his day in LA on his blog WholisticFitness.com. When I read his blog, the quote below hits a chord in me.

“Yoga Teachers teach because we love what we do. and you, our students, make what we do so much fun to do. all Group Exercise Leaders however, share a common flaw; we suffer from low self-esteem. we Teach because we want your approval. you prove to us, our worth as valuable Human Beings upon Mother Earth. Our worst nightmare, which is a chronic one regardless of decades spent Teaching, is that no one shows up to our class. You’ve been there perhaps; you throw a big party, talk it up, and…only echos in the big, rented room.” –WholisticFitness.com Direct Lines Monday, April 21, 2008

We had 5 people which is small for a usually packed Coach Ilg class. I secretly wondered how it would go? How does he feel with such a small group? After a minute or two he closed his eyes and taught the perfect class for me. He gave it his all, just for the five of us. It couldn’t be about the money because he wasn’t making any. It was about the love and respect he had for the five of us. How blessed am I to have such a beautiful role model as my coach.

My spirit is renewed. I know I need to step it up a notch in everything I do. If you want to take this challenge, join me. I am sure it will be easier if we help each other.

2008 promises to bring a new found freedom in my life and hopefully yours. I am going to be chasing my biggest fears and face some of my dragons. Sound like fun?

Breathe Focused, Steve Mackel – Certified Hypnotherapist

April 24, 2008 | Filed Under Steve's Posts 

comments

One Response to “Annual Spring Trail Running and Yoga Duathlon”

  1. Gary on April 27th, 2008

    Steve,

    Awesome post.

    That’s how I have been feeling in my yoga class lately.

    Tough times are upon us.

    Hang in there brother.

    We will come out victorious.

    Gary