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Gregory Ormson

Writer, musician, yoga-loving motorcyclist.

TO WRITE, verb for dream

Writers annotate or emphasize. They change scripts, compose new stories, follow crumbs, and depict visions old or new. Many writers follow an unseen energy - trending or not - in order to chronicle, stamp, engrave, or chart a course.

In the midst of creating emotions, scenes, and stories word by word, writers cherish their cloud (family, tribe, and friends) while scribbling away, embracing allies, and working to extract the good. As for the bad word and bad mojo, we savage it with deadly rap and targeted curse.

Writing is an art form of choice, and writers live or die by their choices. They form each building block to stories through many small choices and a few big ones. It's the same with life.

And when we (as writers) choose to exalt the hero, walk the page in beauty, paint the scene, take-up the courage to be, and/or articulate the notion of Thou in the other, we are writing and living by our chosen design.

In the midst of this design we strive to hold our own, speak our project, jettison the critic, and accept what appears. Then the writer rinses, dries, and repeats until - with the help others - something worthy appears.

YOGA 4 BIKERS at Bull Falls HD

https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/news/2021/08/18/motorcycling-yogi-teach-yoga-moves-bull-falls-harley-davidson/5416236001/?fbclid=IwAR07msLeXONfmeVRqaIXKbJZACQNn1V6WN9erv05pc5SS-xCWbP-itnf1vk

The ‘Motorcycling Yogi’ brings his calming yoga methods to Bull Falls Harley-Davidson

Keith Uhlig

'Motorcycling Yogi' to teach yoga moves at Bull Falls Harley-Davidson – Wausau Daily Herald – https://t.co/3d8QhH2zp5 #GoogleAlerts #harleydavidson #yogaforbikers

— Gregory A. Ormson (@GAOrmson) August 19, 2021

Wausau Daily Herald

14278f8d-b827-4fe2-a5aa-91bbd5d9f48d-Tree.jpg.webp

https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/news/2021/08/18/motorcycling-yogi-teach-yoga-moves-bull-falls-harley-davidson/5416236001/?fbclid=IwAR07msLeXONfmeVRqaIXKbJZACQNn1V6WN9erv05pc5SS-xCWbP-itnf1vk… read more...

ON WISCONSIN: This is for bikers at Bull Falls Harley-Davidson August 21

Learn how to extend your riding life and improve overall well-being through a FREE 90-minute yoga workshop at on Saturday, Aug. 21, where Gregory Ormson #motorcyclingyogig will lead “Yoga for Bikers” from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Bull Falls Harley-Davidson, located on 1570 County Road XX in Rothschild.

“Ultimately,” Ormson said, “both motorcycle riding and life are enhanced when riders continue applying the key lesson of yoga . . . and that is being at ease in the midst of stress.”

ALL ARE WELCOME to attend this workshop; no yoga experience or special clothing is necessary. The active movements are beginner level and focused on bikers’ needs: backs, necks, hips, hands, and wrists. Passive movements and a continuation on breath management will be part of this workshop.

Ormson is a former certified Motorcycle Safety Foundation rider/coach for the state of Hawaii, a long time Harley-Davidson rider, and a certified yoga teacher. He started YOGA & LEATHER: yoga for bikers, at Superstition Harley-Davidson in Apache Junction, Ariz., in 2017, and has led yoga and breath workshops in Queen Creek, Ariz.; Marquette, Mich.; and at D.C. Everest Fieldhouse in Schofield.

Ormson first saw yoga in India and started practicing in Hawaii where his injured back had forced him to temporarily suspend motorcycling. “Healthy spine, healthy life they say in yoga; and after I started yoga, I could bike again and do many other activities I had to quit for a while,” he said.

Story and poster by Scott Steuck, courtesy Bull Falls Harley-Davidson

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Yoga and Leather

YOGA AND LEATHER (yoga for motorcyclists) at Superstition Harley Davidson in Arizona – YouTube… read more...

ALL WELCOME 4 COMMUNITY YOGA AND SONG Sunday, July 25, 3:00 – 4:30

Check out the venue (Buddhas Brew Coffee Café) for this event: Location for community yoga and song in Mesa

Music is an extraordinary medium with the capacity to bring the world together. Yogis think of the human body as the oldest instrument which has been called the Gatra veena (or human stringed instrument); humming or singing – especially in groups – can create healing shifts in the body, mind, and spirit. The songs are grounded in the language of soul along with repetition of words and melodies ideal for yoga events. Yoga experience is not required, a few yoga mats are available.

In the yoga tradition of reverence for all life, SAT SONG offers a magnetic blending of East and West in yoga and music with Soumya (Somi) Parthasarath and Gregory (G) Ormson.

Somi is a yoga teacher who’s studied Indian classical music in Chandler, Arizona. She practices Astanga style yoga and enjoys singing songs of the soul. G teaches yoga for bikers and has practiced music instruments and vocal from the time he joined a choir at 10. He’s a guitarist and studied sitar at the SPK Classical Indian Music Academy in Chandler, Arizona.

RSVP to gregormson@gmail.com; @motorcyclingyogiG; 480-432-2667

 

 

 

photo Randy Anagnostis, Salt River, Arizona
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Community Yoga & Bhakti Music at BuddhasBrewCafe with SAT SONG

Sunday, July 25, 3:00-4:30 at Buddhas Brew Coffee Cafe 

RESERVE your place RSVP gregormson@gmail.com  (limit 18)

Feed your soul and spirit with song, breath, and yoga led by Greg and Somi, musicians and yoga teachers forming SAT SONG in a blending of East and West in meditative moves and song. All Welcome! $15 includes a cold brew coffee or tea from Buddha’s Brew. Once you go to Buddhas Brew, you will return  as a customer. Located @ 710 E Main St., Mesa. Space for 18, no experience required.  #buddhasbrewcoffeecafe… read more...

Brown Bag Literary – sounds of the universe – “a literary platform for art to live in conversation with one another”

Brown Bag online literary is out today including two of my contributions and many more. This issue, which they’ve titled Jackson, takes readers on a journey through the solar and lunar system in words and sounds; it highlights the individual story – and music in that story – with the complicated tangle in the biggest of big pictures. It is dedicated to Jackson Rose, described as an artist and open soul. Links to click in and listen to “Voices from The Woodland,” which Brown Bag has linked to Mercury, and “Whale Song from the Corners of Eternity,” linked to Neptune.

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Arizona Water Greed, Shortages, and Predictions of Violence

 

Arizona has a severe water crisis and we are headed for big problems. Desert water is precious, especially in the midst of a 26 year dry spell now called a “mega-drought.” Remember fist-fights taking place over masks? That will look like child play when water rationing starts.
When we are finally forced to ration water, Americans will react badly and I can see fist fights on lawns over sprinklers. Violence is likely when we can’t wash our cars, when we are required to curtail their daily showers, when we can’t water our golf courses and sports fields, and when we can’t do what we want.
If you think doing whatever you want is freedom, you’ll likely have an enlarged sense of self-importance and entitlement. But that’s not freedom, its the indulgence of pre-adolescence and displays that level of maturity.
Lake Mead, the reservoir which feeds the Colorado River, providing 39 percent of Arizona’s water, is at its lowest level since it was first built and filled in the 1930’s. READ THAT AGAIN. And the Upper Colorado Basin Snowpack fell below normal for the second year in a row according to NOAA snowpack winter data. Spring snowpack levles are 11 inches below normal, which contributes to low spring water levels.
We have a serious water crisis, but rather than meeting this with information, strategy, or communication about how citizens could help, Arizona politicians and officials stay silent and pretend nothing is wrong. It amounts to burying their heads in the sand.
Parts of New Mexico are observing a Stage I Water Shortage Emergency.
… read more...

Story of Yoga for Bikers – OM Yoga Magazine, May, 2021

Yoga and Leather – Yoga for Bikers

Yoga for Bikers – Yoga & Leather • OM Magazine

click link for full story

… read more...

WE STILL STAND

 

“We still stand.” An Agnostis/Ormson collaboration dedicated to ongoing and growing movement for change driven, in part, by the activism of #MMIWRiders and #mmiwg #rideformmiw #NoMoreStolenSisters keyboard, composition, photos and video randy anagnostis. lyric, background sounds, and vocal gregory ormson Original song, “Indigenous Souls.”… read more...

“We Still Stand” spoken word music for Indigenous resiliance and tenacity

Many thanks to the #mmiwriders for allowing us to support and be part of the 2021 San Diego Medicine Wheel Ride. The many thousands of murdered and missing Indigenous Sisters is beyond tragic. The efforts created by #mmiw – to champion greater awareness and change – are necessary and commendable.

⊕ FAST FACTS: “In 2016, there were 5,712 cases reported of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute, but only 116 cases were logged in the U.S. Department of Justice database.” by Nienke Onneweer, Arizona Republic April 30, 2021. 

“IN some communities, Indigenous women are sexually assaulted and murdered at rates as high as 10X the national average.” ⊕

This GRSound piece “We Still Stand” testifies to the Indigenous peoples’ resilience and tenacity. Still standing, and still celebrating after abuse and terror. (melody and keyboard Randy Anagnostis, lyric and vocal Gregory Ormson).… read more...

Motorcycling, Free Diving, and Chess – all improved by yoga

From OM Yoga Magazine (UK) May, 2021.  Thank you OM.

Yoga as a life-altering gift

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Talking Story and Riding the Medicine Wheel #rideformmiw

 

Truer than ever before, much of the world was asleep in their screens during 2020. Television, cell phones, and computers offered connections during the worst of the world-wide pandemic, but connections sans touch.

Such connections seem void of what I’d call true encounter. An incarnated connection is more real for it’s in the flesh and is sustained over time by meeting, greeting, touching or holding intimate space for one another.

Emerging from the last year of sleep and screens, 2021 is sparking a new consciousness. We are realizing something critical to the survival of Earth and the human species. We need to talk with one another.

I’m discovering that as we sit down together and engage we learn how to listen again. Listening teaches how build and sustain by giving, taking, and willingly offering disclosure and feedback. This happens when we “talk story,” a phrase and practice I learned from the Hawaiians.  Talking story is no small thing. It’s the way movements start, and the way the medicine wheel ride started.

Talking story, the indigenous women spoke about the missing and murdered sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins, daughters, and grandmothers they knew – from all nations – they realized the tragedy was three-fold. First, that it happens at all. Second that it happens at an alarming rate among indigenous peoples than anywhere else; and third, that nobody was talking about it.

These crimes continue to break and destroy the bonds of family and community everywhere but especially on indigenous lands.

The Medicine Wheel Ride was formed for awareness, disclosure, feedback, justice, and change.… read more...

Lightning Bolts and Scars

Music spoken word by Gregory Ormson, Russell Thorburn, Darrell Syria.

Lightning Bolts and Scars – New Plains Student Publishing (newplainsreview.com)… read more...

Thank you OM Yoga Magazine (UK) for publishing “Yoga as a life-altering gift.”

Inspired by the breath training and yoga practice of Magnus Carlsen, eight time world Grand Chessmaster (a story from The Best American Sports writing of 2020), I found connections between Carlsen’s practices training for chess matches – that can take up to a week – and my experiences with freediving, motorcycling, and yoga.

  From freediving to chess: how a yoga practice can enhance every aspect of your life,  By Gregory Ormson

Shortly after starting yoga I realised its life enhancements could be applied to any activity of mind or body. Nobody was teaching yoga specifically for motorcyclists and as a rider and former motorcycle rider coach for the State of Hawaii, I realised I could serve bikers in a direct way.

While teaching motorcycle riding, I saw how people tightened up and held their breath when the riding range was wet, when they were evaluated, and when they were asked to do ‘figure eight’ moves in a tight space. If yoga classes could help people with stress and challenges during yoga, I thought asana poses targeted specifically to bikers’ needs could help bikers in many ways.

Yoga for bikers targets poses for: hips, back, neck, shoulders, arms, wrists and hands. Preparing to teach an unusual yoga group, I searched and discovered many stories of yoga’s effects on performance in unusual places; the most unexpected were the worlds of freediving and competitive chess.

Freediving and yoga

In Hawaii, one of the first things my freediving instructor asked me was: “Do you practice yoga?” He said yoga people do better in freediving because they’ve learned how to breathe and relax when in stress.… read more...

YOUR DIRTY LITTLE LIES

“Your Dirty Little Lies,” is dedicated to us for putting up with the dirty little of the politicians; this protest music and word piece emotes that story. An Anagnostis/ Ormson piece recorded in Mesa, AZ.

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Spoken Word collaboration with music, video, photo, word.

I’m pleased with this music, video, and word piece edited and created by Randy Anagnostis; with collaboration from Gabriel Thorburn’s photo of mountain sheep and lyrics from the poem, “Many Names Have Never Been Spoken Here,” written by Russell Thorburn during their father-son Mohave Preserve National Parks Residency in 2013. Vocal interpretation of Thorburn’s poem by Gregory Ormson. It’s always fun to work with creative artists. Thanks Randy, Russell, and Gabe. #randyanagnostis #artistscollaboration #russellthorburn #gabethorburn #GRSound #spokenword #musicvideo #mojavenationalpreserve
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See you tomorrow (March 17) 4:00 pm @ Starbucks, Apache Junction (@Delaware & the Trail).

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and hear some Irish music tomorrow. Bring canned food for Starbuck’s monthly donations to a local shelter. Write a limerick, the winning verse gets a Starbucks gift card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ode for Humanity

In describing Welsh poet and prose writer Dylan Thomas’ 1947 poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night,” Denise Levertov wrote, “it is a rapturous ode to the unassailable tenacity of the human spirit.” Here, Randy Anagnostis and I create an interpretation for today with a few lines from Thomas’ poem.

http://https://www.dropbox.com/s/m249adgr4kwv5xx/%27Shape%20Of%20Hope%27%20part%20one%20~%20by%20Gregory%20Ormson%20and%20Randy%20Anagnostis.mp4?dl=0… read more...

14 things I’ve learned from my years on the planet



1 Few things are uncorrupted by money.

2 Naive optimism, hopeioid addiction, is killing us.

3 Education falls far below its potential if if it’s solely about job preparation: good education is more than job prep, it’s critical thinking and enlightenment regarding: science, politics, medicine, religion, history, culture and art (humanities)

4. The environment is dying because of 1 and 2 above. Our great grandchildren will curse us for our selfishnes.

5. Americans appear to most of the world as the most gullible and spoiled people on the planet.

6. Rugged individualism is neither and propagating such a myth is a lie.

7. Technology turned into a sacred savior does not mitigate the need for us to hit the “off” switch.

8. Capitalism is first an alienating force; second it is an unsustainable pursuit bound to set off revolution.

9. The food sold in stores is poisoning us, especially meat and its bloated source.

10. Guns are a visible symptom of our sickness.

11. Big agriculture, big pharmacy, big technology, big industry dominate and destroy the alternatives and in the process, trash both planet and people.

12. The Gospel of Sustained growth supports the lie and myth of Capitalism: profit for the few.

13. Withouth an incorruptible center, politicians will cave to Machivellian self-interest to the detriment of their constituents.

14. International relationships are necessary to the survival of this planet.… read more...

Sickness Givers and the Shape of Hope: a three part spoken word and music series on life and human existence during the pandemic by Randy Anagnostis and Gregory Ormson

Sickness Givers and the Shape of Hope part I. 2:22 (Navajo)

Sickness Givers and the Shape of Hope  part II. 3:01 (India)


Sickness Givers and the Shape of Hope part III. 7:01 (Earth)

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THE LANTERN from UW La Crosse, on yoga and leather


BALANCED BIKERS: YOGA + HARLEYS = BIKING, BODY BENEFITS

This isn’t your ordinary biker gang.

Technically, it’s not a gang at all — just a community of denim-clad Harley enthusiasts who love to roar down an open road, and then unwind with some deep breathing and meditative poses.

“Learning to breathe, be calm, work on your body — these are all things that you practice in yoga and that can translate into motorcycling,” explains Greg Ormson, ’77, founder of the Yoga and Leather: Yoga for Bikers program at Superstition Harley-Davidson in Apache Junction, Arizona. “It’s all predicated on the notion that, if you’re at ease in the saddle, you’re going to feel better and be a much better motorcyclist.”

Greg Ormson, ’77

Ormson is a true renaissance man — a biker, a yogi, a writer, a musician, a world traveler and a student of several religions. He is a shining example of someone who doesn’t just defy stereotypes, but disproves them.

After retiring from his marketing and communications job at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau in  2012, Ormson and his partner moved to Hawaii.

But in paradise, Ormson felt mostly pain.

I saw all these signs on the street corners: yoga, yoga, yoga, I decided to try it.

He had long struggled with back issues — the result of falling off a trampoline as a child and tumbling off a roof as an adult. Years of motorcycling only made it worse.

Then, walking around the streets of Hawaii, Ormson had an epiphany.

“I saw all these signs on the street corners: yoga, yoga, yoga,” he remembers.

… read more...

Shapeshifters & Sickness Givers: an evolving saga

The 2020 Pandemic has morphed into ‘the sickness’ of 2021. Hear my story of shapeshifters in India and Dine’ country with ominous keyboard by Mr. Randy Anagnostis in my take on the shape shifting pandemic.

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A Parable Redux . . .

On November 3, 2016, five days before the last election, The Good Men Project ran “We Must Talk About Losing: a parable about men and the pursuit of success, with and without mindfulness and The Golden Rule,” an article I wrote. Part of that piece is below; a link to the full article is included at the end.

. . . Mythology names the overindulged juvenile with an ego problem the purer; with no boundaries or appreciation for others. Purer doesn’t understand the laws guiding action and consequence, he can’t fathom the seeds of sacrifice or courage.

Purer sees everything as competition and does not examine his need to win. Once, someone taught him to steal, and then he learned to lie and cheat. His tool box featured abuse and control; fear and intimidation are the hammer and saw. Acting with impunity, greedy spirits ruled this man and he became “successful.”

He lived in one world and his spirit developed a shadow, casting coldness on his appetites and desires. His public identity left him insecure and defensive. He never had enough. He lashed out at others, ending each day in bitterness and frustration. He felt empty and wanted more. Evermore.

Senex is the wise elder, sharing and understanding him/herself as part of a community and family. His/her village raised a large garden and offered food to neighbors and the poor. They didn’t begrudge the poor, but gave thanks for their work. When a community member needed help on a roof, money to assist through hard times, or assistance feeding an ill child, he was there.… read more...

GUNS ‘R . . . US part II “Life in the Shooting Empire.”

In 2014 I wrote Guns ‘R US, part one which was published by The Good Men Project. They just featured part two, “Life in the Shooting Empire.” Thank you GMP. Link to full story below via The Good Men Project.

For Guns ‘R US part two, click this https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/guns-r-u-s-parf-ii-lbkr/

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Steering Our Way in Troubled Waters (video)

Steer Your Way – From You Want it Darker,  Leonard Cohen

Resist the temptation to run away, put God on it, seek to justify or find salvation. It’s our mess and we deserve it. A Pandemic killing millions worldwide; Armed insurrection at US Capitol; a President calling to overturn a Democratic election; Giant problems rolling out vaccine; Economy for average Americans failing; A crumbling infrastructure (dams, bridges, highways, small towns), across the country; Planetary overconsumption and stressed resources (water, food, land); Unfettered Earth degradation = mining and pollution (air); Climate collapse and waste/plastics/Nano plastics – even in our bodies; Injurious chemicals in our food and on plants; Overpopulation; Hunger and Homelessness; Obscene disparities in wealth; Foreign policy disasters and breakdown of international cooperation; White supremacy and hate groups; Gun violence; Attacks on education and humanities; Machiavellian leadership. . . should I go on?
 
The myth of a free republic for all seems to be a fairy tale falling under the weight of a hubris-fired dream married to corrupt ambition. This myth is fueled by a rabble chanting – USA USA USA – a prideful slog morphing into destructive action.

Diversity, nature’s fail-safe, is rejected by the fearful. The mob thinks they are losing something, but they can’t describe what it is. And how will the rise and fall of a once-great  country work?

It will work like humanity and the planet, all three evolving on the same arc where the end is written in the means. And the means of our present say something sinister and deadly about the ends of our personal, corporate, and planetary journey.… read more...

The Crumbling Temple and Rotting Mall is US

And what is the state of the state? For starters, a Pandemic killing millions worldwide;  Armed insurrection at US Capitol; President calling to overturn Democratic election; Giant problems rolling out vaccine; Economy for average Americans failing; A crumbling infrastructure (dams, bridges, highways, small towns), across the country; Planetary overconsumption and stressed resources (water, food, land); Unfettered Earth degradation = mining and pollution (air); Climate change and waste/plastics/Nano plastics – even in our bodies;  Injurious chemicals in our food and on plants; Overpopulation; Foreign policy disasters and breakdown of international  cooperation; White supremacy and hate groups; Gun violence; Attacks on education and humanities; Machiavellian leadership. . . should I go on? Do not skip to denial or optimism; rather, understand the grave trouble we and the world are in. This is no conspiracy bullshit, it’s just the truth. Don’t run away or put God on it. It’s our mess.

The myth of a free republic for all seems to be a fairy tale falling under the weight of a hubris-fired dream married to corrupt ambition. This myth is fueled by a rabble chanting – USA USA USA – a prideful slog morphing into destructive action.

Diversity, nature’s fail-safe, is rejected by the fearful. The mob thinks they are losing something, but they can’t describe what it is. And how will the rise and fall of a once-great  country work?

It will work like humanity and the planet, all three evolving on the same arc where the end is written in the means. And the means of our present say something sinister and deadly about the ends of our personal, corporate, and planetary journey.… read more...

GET IT DONE IN ’21: forty days of austerity measures to stop the virus

If Arizona were to adopt an integrated austerity program, we could stop COVID. It would require 40 days of isolation, but without doing it, COVID will drag on and the Arizona Republic will keep limping along with no solution.

A committed public and government could “Get it Done in 21,” but my suggestions will be unwelcome to an American public driven by an outlandish notion of freedom; they will also be insulting to a governmental and industrial/technological base that has never been asked to work across boundaries for a common goal that has everything to do with the common good but nothing to do with profit.

Of course, specific steps would be the challenge here, and it would take leadership and coordination. But I thought that’s what government was about. Since nobody is talking about what to do, rather wasting energy by pointing fingers and blaming, I’ll say what we must do.

These 9 steps require coordination between Government and the fields of Education, Public Safety, Medical, Technology, Transportation, Banking/Finance, Utilities and power.

Each service sector will have to forego the safety and comfort of their tribal bubble and work together for the first time ever. If they did, we would stop COVID. This is what it takes:

  • Suspend all interstate travel except for food, medical emergencies, and bereavement travel. If someone comes in from another state, they’d be in a two-week required quarantine.
  • Limit gasoline purchases 5 gal week smaller cars 10 gallons week larger vehicles. The exceptions are official vehicles for food, public safety, and medical. Stay home.
  • Curfews for everyone 10 pm to 7 am.
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2020 We Can’t Go On. 2021 We Must Go On

Artists’ respond, aiming to align wonder, word, and music. They lean into imagining what the tree sees in relationships, in children, and in backyard dreams. Thorburn’s tree is a witness to life in the yard, the house, in the sky above, and the buckling sidewalk below; the whole tree-is-us in our tangled roots and bent branches, our rancors and revelries, and our brittle bark tattooed by the scars of our days.

We are like every tree and its intangible roots beneath the sidewalk, reaching from yard and house to neighborhood and back again. Enmeshed below ground, trees know things and their hidden network chronicles the backyard’s rich saga: kids climbing and laughing in the branches, people in houses looking back at the tree from behind windows, and the green sky of aurora borealis above.

In our winter of pandemic and discontent, the tree is abandoned by yellowing leaves born away by freezing winds, shivering branches, and dropped to their winter-burial grounds “Everything I know I’ve learned from trees,” a friend from Michigan wrote to me the week before Christmas. I love trees too, but not everyone does; and his note reminded me of the politician who said, “When you’ve seen one redwood you’ve seen ’em all.”

I pity those who see every tree the same. It’s a different kind of poverty from the ‘poverty of spirit,’ which the Gospels praise. Bereft of wonder, one is left with a forlorn poverty of being. Such a fool, unable to appreciate music, art, poetry, or trees, may have a heart pumping lifeblood through his/her veins and arteries, but they are dull in their feeling function, incapable of beholding a Christmas tree or any tree in wonder and awe.… read more...

From The Twin Bill

And The Diamond Speaks in Runes

In this essay, @GAOrmson writes about his lifelong journey with baseball and connecting with his family. https://t.co/75dFVyToD2

— The Twin Bill (@thetwinbill) December 15, 2020

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Dear Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company,

 

It’s good to see your leadership taking steps to become inclusive. I applaud it, and think it’s long overdue. My mentor taught me the power of inclusion in 1975 and this has, in part, driven my life decisions including my failures, successes, and priorities. Harley Davidson, you’ve been kind-of-a-closed club to a lot of people in the past, and you have catching up to do, but you are on the right road to foster change and diversity.

It can’t be news to leadership that few traditional Harley Davidson riders listen to Tupak Shakur. Most would probably categorically dismiss him and his music, and not many would recognize a Tupak rap. So when the December issue of The Enthusiast arrived – I was shocked to read several lines from Tupak printed on the full p.5. (right). Looking back at The Enthusiast covers from 1916 up to 2003, the lack of diversity in that magazine – compared to your emerging priorities – is striking.

Starting with HOG editor Matt King’s welcoming letter for issue 48, in 2019, I saw a new emphasis and read that Harley Davidson’s goal was to “grow ridership by as much as 2 million new riders by (in 10-years) 2029.” It signaled a change in your publications and a new outreach to diverse audiences by including: young people, women, and non-white riders not only in photographs but also in stories.

One large subtitle in the article, “Coming to America,” a diversity feature story, quoted Freddie Franklin, a Milwaukee rider: “Harley Davidson has brought all ethnicities, races, genders, and cultures together, and it’s just been an incredible experience.”… read more...

THE DIAMOND SPEAKS IN RUNES, in The Twin Bill December, 2020

A baseball story from a North Menomonie Oriole, 1966 and beyond.
“The Diamond Speaks in Runes,” my story in The Twin Bill a literary baseball publication from New York. Thank you Scott Bolohan for suggestions and to Russell Thorburn who helped me turn a final phrase to its 9th inning close. I’ve learned the best stories are community affairs and it takes good writers and editors to hit the ball. For baseball stories that take you out to the park – any park, like my big Michigan back yard many years ago, check out The Twin Bill at https://thetwinbill.com for poetry, essay, fiction on all things baseball and an interview with Darryl Strawberry. See
https://thetwinbill.com/-and-the-diamond-speaks-in-runes

If my friends could get out of their summer houses, we met at the diamond to sharpen the angles of our wild fastballs. The guts of our dirty brown ball unraveled like a tongue, wagging at the glove skipping by, hurling past the catcher in angry air like an exclamation point.

The neighborhood boys and I played in Little League as the North Menomonie Orioles. We met on green fields and became friends stitched together by bonds of wood and leather.

We tried—and failed—to throw a curveball, cursing the cowhide and dreaming of the day we’d be big and twist a ball that skipped away from trouble. To be young and play ball allowed me to dream big.

Summer passed quickly in Wisconsin, and every game was a life event I couldn’t miss. I lived to swing a bat, and if a bus filled with ballplayers drove by my house, I raced to Wakanda Park to compete against other kids for foul balls during games.

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Babba, Gaia, Prana

Recorded with Audacity, Gregory Ormson lyrics and Washburn D-Series DADGAD guitar, played through Boss Acoustic Singer Pro Amp; keyboard by Randy Anagnostis on Yamaha PB125 with Focus Scarlet Gen 3 Audio Interface. One of several Anagnostis/Ormson original song collaborative pieces.

VIDEO link                      https://youtu.be/NfClYOCX3xA… read more...

GATHERING AT THE VALLEY OF FLUID ANGLES

Words and music below for my spoken word piece accompanied by sitar.

My friend Dino Corvino in his, “Here You Are Wausau” podcast will be focusing on Writing in Public – what he also calls citizen journalism – in his next few episodes. He’ll be speaking with a few friends that write, talking about his own writing, and will publish these podcasts soon.
I spoke with him regarding aspects of writing: process, ego, why we write, how we started, and more. It was lots of fun, and in the middle of our convo, drawing from an experience with my friend Randy here in Arizona, I stated that a writer also puts something in the public eye to make a statement.
This strikes me as a credo for all artists, and while I’ve not put anything in public with sitar before, here is a combined sitar and written word work. Wait till it’s dark, light a candle, hear the story and sound wash over you like a gentle river.

My sitar flows in 19 bands of light: baaj, chikari, and tarab. Its journey to my hand is a mystery, but its music-medicine came to my doorstep from an old land, gripped me from the eons, and pulled my soul into its orbit. It’s a path unlike any other, bending more than notes.

A musician said, “Its all angles.”

Sitar bends the note, Saraswati dances with a swan, and because I’ve felt this resonance I participate in its step toward the depths from which rises a watery siren-song of the fathoms.

Sitar bends the note, Saraswati dances with a swan, and because I’ve felt this resonance I participate in its step toward the depths from which rises a watery siren-song of the fathoms.… read more...

Rite of Transition (music and spoken word Anagnostis, Ormson)

RITE OF TRANSITION a spoken word new age music piece by Randy Anagnostis and Gregory Ormson. It reflects upon the underlying tradition of cooperation and peaceful transition of presidential authority in the United States. What’s happened in the last two weeks is an embarrassment to our country and to the world.… read more...

Holding to Hope

My daughter returned from a study trip to Nicaragua several years ago and gave me this small painting from a local artist. Today, sunlight fell on it from behind so it appeared as if lights were on inside.

In the moment, it reminded me of  Lighten our Darkness: Toward an Indigenous Theology of the Cross, by Douglas John Hall (January, 1980), a book I read in systematic theology that expanded my apprehension of the human condition and informed my interpretations for many years.

In these years, when my developmental task is to steer a way between generativity and despair, the reminder from Hall from many years ago is to lighten the darkness in the midst of darkness.

A breakthrough by the light – no matter how insignificant it seems –  moves my hands to caress the wheel of generativity and hold to hope. A simple painting and sunlight; reminders to lighten our darkness within and without.… read more...

At the Heart of Yoga: Response

Yoga’s blueprint, passed originally by word of mouth, then written on banana leaves and now shared by books and digital media, is steeped in an elegant heritage which admonishes the yogi from seeds of an encounter with self.

This deepening with self is born in stillness and realized in the mind, body, and spirit. It’s a yogatecture, and with the application of  yoga tools: meditation, deliberate movement, breath, and ease in stress, the yogi constructs a flexible yet strong building in their body.

The process is simple, and the blueprint is clear; take a seat and start with one conscious breath followed by another. Link this to meditation and deliberate movement for the start of a makeover that each yogi embodies in their own way. Yogis build a sacred and sound structure by following this practice. It’s the physical, non-physical, and metaphysical work of yoga; it is also yoga’s therapeutic.

Builders say the most important structural aspect of a building is its foundation. When building, it’s necessary to create a strong foundation. In the north, if the foundation is not set below the frost line, the freeze and thaw cycles of Earth will crack the base which starts the slow process of destruction.

B.K.S. Iyengar spoke directly on foundational work in, Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom. “In each asana, if the contact between body and the floor – the foundation – is good, the asana will be performed well. Always watch your base: Be attentive to the portion nearest the ground. Correct first from the root.… read more...

Baseball Lovers, a New Read for You

The Twin Bill, a new literary baseball publication, is available online. Check out stories, poems, and artwork featuring writer’s takes on pitching, Cooperstown, the Babe, existentialism at home plate, and interviews along with poetry and fiction on all things baseball.      LINK     https://thetwinbill.com/

… read more...

MESCALERO TERRITORY spoken word and music

 

lyrics russell thorburn, keyboard randy anagnostis, vocal and guitar gregory ormson… read more...

UP 550

Living near Lake Superior, I wrote a song about Billy, the pony my daughter rode. We walked to the lake and then back to our house on the trail shown below. This week, I recorded that song after it sat in my files over 20 years. Photo below is Ashley riding her pony Midnight (left) then Billy and Briana with me holding Billy. If not, he bolted up county road 550 in Marquette toward Big Bay.

recording notes: audacity program, Washburn HG1, Boss amp. Lyrics, arrangement, guitar and harp Gregory Ormson. “Up 550”  registered @BMI.

 

 … read more...

A Day Will Come (simple Earth anthem)

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A simple Earth anthem. Randy Anagnostis keyboard, Gregory Ormson and Russell Thorburn words.

… read more...

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride goes solo for 2020

“This is our year to ride solo, together.” — The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride web site.

2020 has been a challenging year, to say the least. OK, let’s be honest. 2020 has sucked! Many of our favorite motorcycle events, rides, campouts, etc., have been canceled due to COVID-19. And yes, I’m well aware there are bigger things to be concerned with in life than moto events. I know, and that’s specifically what I’m here to discuss.

We got the whole crew in on this one. Ducati. Triumph Thruxton. Cafe Racer. DGR
I feel the need, the need for tweed. Photo by Meryl G.

What is the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride?

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride was founded in Sydney, Australia, by Mark Hawwa. He was inspired by a photo of the character Don Draper on the TV show “Mad Men” astride a classic bike and wearing his finest suit. Mark decided a themed ride would be a great way to connect niche motorcycle enthusiasts and communities while raising funds to support issues such as prostate cancer research, (the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among men), suicide prevention and men’s mental health.

Any other year, organized rides take place in cities around the globe. Riders on retro or vintage bikes, dressed in their finest, register for the event, donate to the cause, do fundraising efforts and get together for the group ride. This year will be different.

I am wearing a very cute pink sparkly helmet that gives me a nice big bobble head. Triumph Thruxton. Cafe Racer. The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride
Only the prettiest girls wear pink! Photo by Meryl G.

“The 2020 ride will be a solo event to comply with all local social distancing restrictions,” the organizers announced. “We are maintaining a consistent global message that there will be no mass-participation event — but just because we’re not riding in groups doesn’t mean we’re not riding!

… read more...

QUALITY MILES 4 QUALITY REASONS

For just one hour through town on Sept. 27, I’ll join the Distinguished Gentleman’s Worldwide Ride, this year titled, “SOLO but TOGETHER” in spirit. On that day, over 300 thousand bikers from 104 countries will ride and call attention to and raise funds for men’s health programs.

*MENTAL HEALTH*        *SUICIDE PREVENTION*

*PROSTATE CANCER*      *TESTICULAR CANCER*

During this time – riding my Enfielder 500 – I and other riders will don our most dapper apparel to ride classic and vintage bikes. Last year, the DGR raised over 24 million in just the US.
This ride is not about competition or speed or miles; it’s about awareness and slowing down to think of our own good fortune – especially those of us lucky enough to spend some quality time riding cool bikes.
Please join an anonymous donor, and my friends Sara and Dina, Brina and Superstition Harley Davidson, Kimberly, George, and Debbie to participate by contributing any amount for men’s health programs.
The funding and blog link to my Official DGR page is below (with more explanation and the health programs); I invite you to see the progress over the next two weeks, by watching my page, as contributions add up toward my modest goal of $500.
https://gfolk.me/GregoryOrmson288222
Thank you,
… read more...

Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride 9/27/2020

Help me fill out this page by going to the URL listed below my name. #ridingforacause #dgr

I’m riding solo for the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride on Sept. 27, and I’m inviting anyone to donate under my page. You are not donating to me, but to

*MENTAL HEALTH*        *SUICIDE PREVENTION*

*PROSTATE CANCER*      *TESTICULAR CANCER*

I put the goal at $500 and right now it’s $94. Every few days I’ll recycle this just to put it in front of you, if you feel moved, follow this link to the donation page.

I’ll be sharing it, along with our video entry on social media in the next week or two.

DGR Purpose, “The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride unites classic and vintage style motorcycle riders all over the world to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research and men’s mental health.”
… read more...

Riding for Men’s Health

https://twitter.com/gaormson/status/1299040913340002311?s=21

Three minute video Phoenix area 2020

#dgrdapperchallenge… read more...

THE WORLDWIDE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN’S RIDE

Phoenix area video including gentlewomen riders (story here)

We’re asking all our friends to share this video and share widely by liking, and promoting it with this hashtag:  #dprdapperchallenge

Putting the fun in fundraising for a good cause, classic and vintage motorcyclists from around the world have ridden on the last Sunday in September since 2012 to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research and men’s mental health.” In the US alone, DGR has raised 24.5 million dollars over the last 8 years. Men’s Health Issues addressed by the DGR are:

*MENTAL HEALTH*        *SUICIDE PREVENTION*

*PROSTATE CANCER*      *TESTICULAR CANCER*

One of DGR’s primary concerns this year, due to COVID-19, is the effect of social isolation on mental health. Studies show those who are socially connected in a positive way share a better outlook for well-being and mental health.

Because of COVID-19, the worldwide 2020 DGR ride  – on September 27 –  will be different this year. Everyone will ride alone but share it virtually as a way of riding alone but together.

To promote this, the DGR challenged riders from around the world to submit a video highlighting the 2020 theme: “Riding Solo Together.” Randy Anagnostis and I put together a team of riders and produced this video as part of the DGR 2020 challenge contest.

Our Phoenix area video is now submitted (thanks to Randy for his filming, editing, organizing, and original music score). Thanks also to the riders, to Kyle (Eyes Across the Sky) for the drone photography, to Chris and his partners at Eleven 10 Moto Garage, and to Paul and partners at Phoenix Triumph.… read more...

DGR Dapper Challenge

https://gfolk.me/GregoryOrmson288222

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) is a worldwide classic and vintage motorcycle riding event with a focus on fundraising for men’s health; the vehicles used to put the fun in fundraising are motorcycles. Since 2012 in the US alone, DGR has raised 24.5 million dollars with 316,000 riders participating. Its been held on the same day around the world in over 104 countries.

One of DGR’s primary concerns this year, due to COVID-19, is the effect of social isolation on mental health. Studies show those who are socially connected in a positive way share a better outlook for well-being and mental health.

DGR, and its partner the MOVEMBER Foundation are committed to raising awareness of these issues:

*MENTAL HEALTH*        *SUICIDE PREVENTION*

*PROSTATE CANCER*      *TESTICULAR CANCER*

The 2020 DGR will happen this year, but is a solo riding event on September 27. Before then, DGR has invited riders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and the US to put together a video highlighting the 2020 theme, “Ride Solo Together.” Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHi6-npVfiw

Tomorrow (Aug. 23), 10 of us will meet at the Eleven 10 moto garage on Grand Ave. in Phoenix. Randy Anagnostis and I have have formed a beautiful story board and we’re prepared to film video and still shots in creating our “DPR Dapper Challenge” submission. By September 1, we are required to send the video of 10 Phoenix area riders to the DGR review board for prizes.

Once the video is shot, edited, produced, and submitted, we will share it widely on social media under this specific hashtag:      #dgrdapperchallenge

If you see this on any social media in the next week or two please share it widely and often on yours.… read more...

Tea and Motorcycles: journey between the wheels

 

When I was 12, my parents bought me a stingray style bicycle. I bought a can of cheap green spray paint; a leopard patterned banana seat, high handlebars, and went to work modifying the bicycle. The finishing touches were handlebar streamers, and playing cards attached with clothe-pins to the frame so they blade slapped the spokes. It sounded a little bit – if I used my imagination – like a motor.

When I was 22, after graduation at UW La Crosse, I toured through India with a music group. Before going to India, my mentor had given me the name of a good friend of his from the time he lived in Long Island, NY; he asked me to stop by and say hello to her if I had a chance and he gave me her address in New Delhi.

One night on that trip, I borrowed a Royal Enfield Motorcycle and drove to where she lived. I didn’t have a motorcycle license and hadn’t ridden a motorcycle before. Of course, its crazy to ride a motorcycle in India, but at 22 I felt invincible, and one night I took the chance. I found where she lived, knocked on the door and told her why I was there. She invited me in for tea and we talked quite a while.

The Royal Enfield motorcycle factory did not start with motorcycles. They first manufactured bicycles, and at one time made bullets for the British Army. But near the turn of the Century, in about 1901, the company began making motorcycles. Its motto is “Built like a gun, goes like a Bullet.”… read more...

תרגום של כתבה : “הפסיכולוגיה של יוגה yin להיום Armor On, Armor Off:

מאת Gregory A. Ormson.  A writer and yogi from Israel asked to translate my yin yoga article for publication there. The copy below is it for my Hebrew reading friends. Yoga writing now published in five languages.

כתבה  שהוא  פרסם  בפייסבוק ב- 27 ביולי 2020

למתבונן מבחוץ  yin yoga  נראית תירגול קל ופשוט אך זה ממש הכל חוץ מתירגול קל. מבחוץ נראה שהמתרגלים  ישנים, או נחים בכדי  להכין  את הנשימה שלהם  לתרגול  ממריץ שעלול לבוא אחר כך. במצב “מנוחה” זה משהו  אכן קורה. אבל זה לא שינה; גם זה לא תרגיל חימום  לסדרה נמרצת הבאה.

תירגול של yin yoga מוביל לפתיחה פנימית מלאה שלוקח זמן להתנסות ולהבין  אותה באופן מלא.

אחרי ש Gregory Ormson  התחיל לתרגל yin yoga  הוא  הבין שהאתגר  ב yinהוא נפשי ופסיכולוגי. הוא  למד שהעקרונות היסודיים של yin  שהם ויתור וכניעה –  הם המפתח להשפעה הפסיכולוגית, הפיזית  והיעילות של התרגול  על ידי: כניעה, שחרור, וויתור. מבחינה  פסיכולוגית, הכניעה ביוגה היא המפתח לכל דבר.

מזמין אתכם להתבונן פנימה, ותמתינו לכך שהקול הפנימי  שלכם  יומר  לכם  מה צריכים לרפא. לשחרר את ההתכווצויות בצוואר, בלסת, בכתפיים, את האי הנוחות בגב, ובקדמת הגוף. קחו נשימה ארוכה  ושחררו אותה לאט. תרגישו איך בגוף משוחרר ומקורקע. למתרגל yin yoga, ככה זה מרגיש  על בסיס קבוע.

השיעור  yin yoga  מביא אותנו לתחום   של healing  בו אנחנו משחררים  משהו שאנו מגנים עליו או במשהו שאנו מתגוננים ממנו . זה מוחזק בגופנו, בפאסיה שלנו ובמוחנו. ב yin  אנו  מוזמנים לשחרר  מתח, להפנות  את המודעות   שלנו פנימה  ולהיפתח בכניעה ובאמונה  ללב  yin yoga המרפאת הזו. “… read more...

YOGA: Melody in Motion and Stillness

Embodying asana, I rejoice in the glimpse of periphery turned central, and inhabit an identity formed of particularity and universality. I pause to center myself in each moment and from this still point, know we are all a beautiful grey, a crush of salt and pepper.

Surrendering to moments that bend and shape me, no matter how I fail, I open as a flower to spring and seek to correct the direction of my inward compass. When I insert my ego and rough-hew the curriculum’s established gravity, I dim its shining divinity waiting to guide me.

Steadily I release into yoga’s entry point, listen to its song, and follow an inner melody to the beautiful transformation becoming me. Near the end, I sink into a container of heat and transformation, a liminal space where a guru points the way.

Yoga class ends. I hear my teacher, dedicated and honorable, give her blessing. Her voice, like the chant of angels, sounds a comfort upon the gathered yogis, one I accept.

“May this practice give strength to your body, kindness and compassion to your heart, calm and clarity to your mind.  Namaste.”

I let this hold me as close as breath holds my life underwater. I walk away telling myself to take it all in deeply, to embrace yoga’s alchemy that connects me to all, and to not dig up in doubt what I’ve planted in faith.

Photo by Randy Anagnostis at the Salt River, Mesa, AZ., 7/22/2020… read more...

Alumnus Leads ‘Yoga and Leather’ Class for Bikers

Prepared by Kristi Evans, Northern Michigan University 1401 Presque Isle Ave. • Marquette, MI 49855-5301 • 906–227–1015

© 2019 by the NMU Board of Trustees. NMU is an equal opportunity institution.  July 10, 2020

Ormson with his Harley (photo by Randy Anagnostis)
After falling from a roof and injuring his back, NMU alumnus Greg Ormson (’99 MA) found that yoga delivered both pain relief and a new vocation. He became a certified instructor in the practice, just as he had with another avid interest: motorcycling. Ormson has found a unique way to blend both passions. He leads “Yoga and Leather: Yoga for Bikers,” the first—and, to his knowledge, only—specialized class of its kind in the nation to be held in a Harley-Davidson dealership.

It may not seem a logical pairing, but to H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) member Ormson, the two effectively complement each other and share some similarities. He said beginners in either activity benefit from the guidance of a qualified trainer.

“With motorcycle instruction, the emphasis is on developing riding skills and environmental awareness,” said Ormson, also known as Motorcycling Yogi G. “But spending several hours in the saddle and handling unexpected situations that may arise requires mental focus, strength, flexibility and stamina. That’s where yoga comes in. It is increasingly viewed as the ideal exercise to improve overall mind-body performance.

“When riders are faced with executing a challenging move like a tight U-turn on a heavy bike, breathing shallows and the body tenses, affecting performance. Yoga training can lower stress levels through controlled breathing and meditation. The stretching and strengthening poses reduce the risk of injury by keeping the joints and muscles bikers rely on—hips, back, neck, shoulders, elbows and wrists—flexible and strong.”

… read more...
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