Gregory Ormson

Writing, yoga, music, and motorcycling from #motorcyclingyogiG

Elevation by Breath

In a lifetime practice, the yogi inhabits a ritual container where they are steeped in hours of wordless, focused being. This fortunate choice of assembly over disassembly shapes them through a soul dialysis that cleanses.

Their inner fire is animated by breath and stilled in meditative gaze. Their embodiment of asana and mobilization of prana rises anew in the “fierce breath” of simhasana. This breath elevates sleepy diaphragms and makes avatars of humans.

Yogis come to know their practice braids them to a light not of this world, and their time on the mat is not like the rest of life; neither is a yoga class just another class but a life-saving reclassification of the nature of being, steeped in a history of insight, and grown from the dimensions of meditation and mindfulness.

Yoga as moral and physical compass is revealed in stages as the yogi begins with sankalpa, or solemn vow for practice. Step by step through intention and awareness, the yogi encounters the core tenants of hatha which bring them to self. There, hand in glove with self and the philosophical satyagraha of the practice, the yogi is transformed.

 

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YOGA FOR BIKERS

Yoga for Bikers is restarting Nov. 14, at 4:30 in the Eagles’ Nest at Superstition Harley Davidson. One Wednesday a month, riders and anyone interested will gather for simple movement and breath work. This beginner level class is open to anyone. This is offered to riders because when sitting a long time on the bike, it helps to move and open up the areas where we feel tightness: hips, shoulders, and neck. The purpose is to keep riders in the saddle by working gently toward flexibility and balance.

The new aspect of Yoga for Bikers this year will be a one-time per month ride to a second location. There, yoga teacher and former Motorcycle Safety Foundation rider/coach, Gregory Ormson, will show how riders can use their bikes as props in what we are calling the “Stretch Ride.”

We’ll start with a few simple breathing exercises, and then use the bikes to help us stretch. The entire class will only be 30 minutes. We’ll keep it fun and practical so you can do these stretches on your own whenever you stop.

The first stretch ride will be on Nov. 25. Meet at Superstition HD at 10:30, ride out to the Butcher Jones Recreation Site where we’ll park the bikes and use them in simple movements. If you don’t have a bike, don’t worry; they are big enough for two. After that, riders are on their own to enjoy the rest of the day but armed with some new ideas on how to stay in the saddle.

SUPERSTITION HARLEY DAVIDSON FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/2283158711912197/

 

We’ll see you on the 14th at 4:30 in the Eagles’ Nest, and the 25th at SHD at 10:30.… read more...

BETWEEN THE TIRES, OVER THE TWIN, INTO THE WIND

Thoughts on Run to the Rez by #motorcyclingyogiG

For the second year, I attended the 15th Annual Run to the Rez, a motorcycle ride and rally sponsored by the San Carlos Apache. Its intention is to honor veterans and provide a glimpse of Apache culture to those of us not part of its nation. They have a great deal of pride for the warrior way since their land is the homeland of Geronimo.

One of the events I participated in both years is the Apache sweat ceremony for men. I recommend it for a bunch of reasons, but one is that when we get out of our comfort zone we may learn something new. My friend Dan Meyer came over from Mesa to participate in the sweat, and here’s what he had to say: “So honored to be invited to participate in an Apache sweat lodge ceremony with the Apache tribe on the San Carlos Apache Nation. The San Carlos reservation was where Geronimo lived and hid out .“

Dan and I traveled through India together for four months and during that time we loved finding new experiences that stretched our horizons. It has been fun to get together over the last few months with Dan and do this all over again.

New experiences – as in the sweat lodge – are not something that one goes out to get, something one achieves or competes for; rather, a new cultural experience is something to receive. That means one attends them with humility and respect.

The prayers and songs of the sweat were in Apache.… read more...

YogaInspirationals number 72 #motorcyclingyogiG

I remind myself that in spite of the surrounding maladies, I must manage to hope. I also counsel myself, and anyone who will listen, that the yoga we do is not just a hobby or something to fill up the time; rather, it is the door through which happiness and joy enter into an arena where we share a divinity that transforms stories from iatrogenic to generative.

 

Yoga-Script Into Health And Joy

 … read more...

https://gregoryormson.com/yoga-motorcyclingyogig/yogainspirationals-number-72-motorcyclingyogig/

SQUEEZE, SUCK, BANG, BLOW

I WALK to my bike and notice my heart rate speed-up. Life shifts as I throw my leg over and sink down into the soft leather seat. I push the start button and feel the frame twist. I squeeze the throttle and a rumble opens the throat. I plan a casual ride; leaving the driveway, I start slow.

I’m at ease and positioned at a red light ready to merge onto the highway. Seeing the green arrow, I squeeze the throttle and gravity thrusts me back against the seat. Testing the Milwaukee iron, I feel the wind buffeting my face.

Two lanes converge and I jump to the 202. The green blinker light on the chrome instrument panel communicates my intention. A small white car in the next lane moves left, so I shift lanes and lean into gravity; in seconds, I’m slip-sliding past the car at 80 mph.

We’ve see them on the highway in stale containers messing with their cell phones and Cheetos while squinting through dirty windows. We sit over power and ride into the wind. Our hands and arms are engaged – NO DISTRACTIONS – as we listen to the language of the big twin’s explosions.

Ahead of me, a black truck is spilling small rocks from its bed. I squeeze the throttle and my back hugs the leather seat. The engine’s roar quickly sends me past the hazard. I sink deeper and notice the sound. It’s a sound I enjoy, and a smile crosses my face as I decipher a language fueled by a rich mixture of heat, highway, and Harley.… read more...

TRANSFORMING THE EMOTIONAL BODY

  68th published yoga article, Issue 187 ASANA JOURNAL

 

Louie Netz, Director for Harley-Davidson’s Styling and Graphics Department once said, “Form and function both report to emotion.” It’s likely when observing a yoga pose, or the stylish symmetry of a Harley-Davidson taking a curve, to believe motorcycles are about speeding through curves and yoga is about perfectly aligned asanas.

A yogi on the mat or a Harley-Davidson on the highway both perform their function at a high degree and garner attention, but the brilliance of yoga – and a great motorcycle – is its move from form to function and ultimately to emotion.

Like many newcomers, when I started yoga, I thought it was about what I saw; and I noticed people bending into forms that were – at first – perplexing. I also thought it was about what I heard yoga could do for my injured back. I believed if yoga could heal my injuries I would feel better and that would be all I could expect.

My yoga evolution was gradual; I practiced to feel better, then to learn good alignment and accomplish more asanas. As a dedicated student, I paid attention to words from my teachers as they led me to correct placement of my feet and hands. I followed their instructions which led me through breathing techniques and transitions.

But right away, I sensed there was something happening well beyond what was taking place on my mat. I didn’t know, but I was on my way to connect, or yoke deeply to my full self, and at the same time, something much broader and deeper than just me.… read more...

Effortless Asana

Asana is effortless when it is an expression of gratitude.

By mobilizing prana – accompanied with mindful movement – effortless, joyful expression is set into muscle memory. The premise that cellular health aligns with thought and intention (the biology of belief) is the reason yoga pays attention to mental outlook, for while stress is perceived in the mind, it is felt in the body. Activating the joy paradigm provides the opposite effect yet happens through the same process.

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APPLAUSE FOR SEEKERS

The assumptions of my inherited culture: Euro-American, Lutheran-Christian, mental dualism, WASP, have shaped my perceptions and limit my ability to truly inhabit yoga’s culture.  From this conditioning, I’m positioned like a hungry-man at a feast; I taste the food, but the flavor escapes me.

My play to be a yogi brings me to discernment where the contraries press me to awareness and lead me to examine the how and why of fate. How did I, a Midwestern male, end up lying on my stomach – top and bottom of my spine arching up at the direction of an ancient Indian mind/spirit/body science – impersonating an Egyptian tomb-protector? My inhale takes me to  the mystery of purushamrigasana, a figure with the face of Pharaoh that we call sphinx.

Each yogi stretches and lifts at the direction of the teacher: man, woman, Asian, African, American, and each one contributes to the curriculum growing into a great melting pot of diversity and energy. This restless American pastiche is soothed by the flavor of an ancient culture, and in the yoga room, we become part of its recipe.

The seekers are everywhere and I praise them. They take off with tender wings to do asana as if they were nimble dancers or the stony sphinx. On the surface, we are childlike; but with each asana, with each breath, I witness a hope in reaching and lifting, learning and growing.

I see them, and note they are living embodiments to mystery and mythology; I see them as material and matter, and I see them doing yoga from the ground up.… read more...

Slow Down and Breathe

 

Slow Down and Breathe

Yogis have been attempting to articulate the importance of pranayama for centuries, and the effort is still relevant because when a person starts yoga it doesn’t take long for them to realize its a breath centric practice which changes everything.

The practice of pranayama is an important observance by itself, but is often done in haste, as if a couple minutes at the beginning of class is sufficient warm-up for the real work of asana.

Patanjali wrote, by the right control of breath, we overcome ignorance. Breath work is a hallmark of the yogi’s intelligence, and control of breath is intimately linked to the yogi’s heightened awareness of biological and cosmic forces.

Approaches to Pranayama

It’s important to concentrate on breath or prana as a distinct activity with its own benefits and techniques as well as a guiding anchor for asana. Some yoga practices start with pranayama before asana while others pay attention to activating and sustaining ujaii breath throughout asana and pause occasionally to work on pranayama.

Another option is to end practice with a breathing set. But to fully activate the vital life force, central to building the foundation for yoga and life, attention to breath throughout must be paid.

Pranayama isn’t something to rush through in order to get to asana. One 80 year old man I know got the right idea after his first-ever yoga class at YOGA AND LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers. His replacement knees made it difficult for him to bend, and his large body ached, but he did the pranayama exercises –  practicing inhale and exhale – while observing others do asana.… read more...

discovering yoga’s emotional body

Yoga inspirational number 36, published in YOGI TIMES, March, 2016. Update 3/27/18

Louie Netz, Director for Harley-Davidson’s Styling and Graphics Department, once said: “Form and function both report to emotion.”

It’s likely when observing the stylish symmetry of a Harley-Davidson, or a yoga pose in perfect aligment, to believe motorcycling is about the eye-catching chrome machine rumbling down the road and that yoga is about what we see on Instagram as yogis strike a perfectly aligned asana. That’s not to criticize this, for each pose represents the probability that thousands of practice hours went into the building these asanas. Nobody shrinks into inflexibility in mind or body overnight, and it may take years of practice to strike a pose where we bend like palm trees in the wind.

A yogi on the mat or a Harley-Davidson on the highway both perform their function at a high degree – garnering attention – but the brilliance of yoga is its regression from form to function and ultimately to emotion.

Like many newcomers when I started yoga I thought it was about what I saw. I noticed people bending into forms that were – at first –perplexing. To a lesser degree, I thought it was also about what I heard yoga could do, and that was to heal my injured back. I believed if yoga could heal my injuries I would be happy and that would be all I could expect. But there was more.

As a dedicated student, my yoga evolution was gradual; I practiced to feel better, then to learn good alignment.… read more...

Mantra: Power of Word yogainspirationals number 12

Mantra: The Power of Word

Mantra: The Power of Word

Mantra is Sanskrit for a word or phrase that the yogi repeats during practice or meditation. Its benefits include anything from improved concentration to “feats making the impossible possible,” according to Dr. Gautam Chatterjee, a prolific author who coined the term positive mantra.

An empowering and healing word-based mantra starts as a simple exercise of mind. Over time, with steady use, one can imagine their mantra as a precious note brought down from sacred hills, delivering a genuine gift of centeredness to the yogi.

The power and centrality of word has always been recognized in philosophy and belief. John’s Gospel states, “In the beginning was the Word.” The Rig Veda strikes the same tone, “In the beginning was Brahman, with whom was the Word.”

A Guru’s Gift

Historically, for advanced yogis, the mantra was a gift from their guru. It was a vehicle that assisted the yogi in his or her soul’s drive to oneness with God.

Though most of us do not have such a grand purpose for mantra such as union with God, a well-chosen mantra can help us reconnect to a healing place, find a mother lode of peace andcontentment, or perhaps even move the impossible to possible.

While an active yoga practice does not demand that practitioners choose a mantra, I think it can help improve both one’s practice and one’s acceptance of their place in the world.

Turning to Mantra for Guidance

My mantra has proven its efficacy, even when I resist. I concentrate and silently repeat it with faith that important work is happening.

… read more...

YOGA AND LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers last class (Sunday, March 25 at 11:00 am), until October 2018

It’s been a good experience these last seven months teaching YOGA AND LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers.

Next year, I will pan once a month for riders to meet at Superstition Harley Davidson, and then ride bikes to a separate location (park, river-flat, desert plain), where we’ll practice yoga. This practice will also provide each of us with ideas on how to put our minds and bodies at ease when we stop or take a break from riding.

Here are photos from one class in January that will set the stage for next year’s YOGA AND LEATHER.

In the meantime, I hope you all find a home studio or a place near you to practice. I’m convinced that yoga will benefit us on the road, and the more all of us practice yoga the more we’ll discover this for ourselves. Thanks for a good 7 months. We’ll see you again in October.

#motorcyclingyogiG

Gregory Ormson

and many thanks to M.J. Britt for these photos of YOGA AND LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers in the Eagles Nest at Superstition Harley Davidson. Thanks also to Brina Brown and Superstition HD for opening the nest for yoga.

Follow link below to the podcast on OMBYoga to hear how YOGA AND LEATHER

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YOGA AND LEATHER at Superstition Harley-Davidson, Yoga for Bikers November dates.

GET BEYOND STEREOTYPES. The benefits of yoga for riders are too important to let worn out cultural ideas stop us from shedding old skin. “The times they are a changing,” Bob Dylan wrote. Yes they are, and yoga practice in a Harley Davidson dealership proves it.

Both motorcyclists’ and yogis should be able to see through stereotypes, having themselves been subjects of stereotypes in the past. In many ways, yoga and motorcycling have been subjected to a similar fate, and are often labeled, which is an easy way to dismiss someone as fringe or outsider.

Many believe yoga is only for women, but from its origin, and up to modern times, yoga was practiced only by men. Today, many women worldwide are practicing yoga, and in the US, about 80 percent of yoga participants are women.

Motorcycling falls to similar sexist stereotypes and many people still believe motorcycling is only for men. The reality today is that nearly 25 percent of all riders are women. The culture and times are a changing; stereotypes of motorcycling and yoga no longer apply.

BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR RIDING

Increased strength and muscle tone through weight bearing and power postures / for large bikes and long tours, building strength for long days on the road.

Improved balance by practicing one-leg standing postures / better control in tight U turns and backing.

Increased mental focus and coordination, clarity of thought developed by balance and silence in yoga practice / life and death on the bike is directly related to mental focus and clarity.

Improved sleep after a hard yoga practice / no dozing while driving, deeper sleep leads to increased energy on the road.… read more...

Between the Wheels, on the Twin, Behind the Windshield

Recovered from Arizona Bike Week at Westworld last week where I co-led 25 DEMO tours in five days for Moto Guzzi. Was it hot? Hahahahaha.

Here is the Holy (or not so) Trinity of Harley-Davidson’s owned by yours truly in the forms of creator, motivator, and generator.

Wildfire, Feb. 4, 2000 – April 6, 2016.

Biggie, Jan. 1, 2017 – April 13, 2017.

Cleopatra, April 13, 2017 – ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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YOGA AND LEATHER: YOGA for RIDERS at Superstition Harley Davidson

Riders take a pounding on the road, and sometimes driving is stressful. But there are good ways to take on stress and care for ourselves. Yoga is one. Every four years the number of people practicing yoga in the US doubles. Estimates put at 40-million the number of people doing yoga in the US. Yoga helps with injury, it calms the mind, and people do it because it feels good.

Bikers know about good vibrations on the bike, but it’s time for bikers to learn about good vibrations off the bike.

Yoga isn’t just about flexibility, it’s about improving mobility to turn sideways and check our blind spot; its about balance in slow turns, and remaining calm in the midst of stress. And over time, yoga strengthens the skeletal, muscular, and digestive systems. It calms the nervous system and strengthens lymphatic systems.

Gregory Ormson, former MSF rider/coach and 200-hr. registered yoga teacher, is holding YOGA AND LEATHER, Yoga for Bikers classes at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction. Find out how YOGA helps bikers RIDE ON!

LOCATION: Superstition Harley-Davidson, Eagles Nest Patio, second level west side of building.

DATES:

October 14 (Saturday) Noon to 1:00 pm

October 18 (Wed). 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

October 28 (Sunday) 10:00 am – 11:00 am

SUPPLIES: Bring a yoga mat if you have one. There will be a few extra. Wear comfortable clothing.

This is not an exercise class, but an introduction to yoga with basic poses as part of the experience.

See you soon!

 

 

 … read more...

Yoga and Leather: Yoga for Riders at Superstition Harley Davidson in Arizona

Kicking off their 18th year anniversary issue of Arizona Rider Southwest, delivering biker news to all of us, Betsy and Bruce have included the full story on yoga for motorcyclists. Thank you!

It seems fitting that the yoga classes at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction will be held outside on what they call “The Eagles Nest.” It’s their second floor deck on the west side of the building. A nest brings new life into the world, and it’s where I will introduce yoga for riders. I’m calling it Yoga and Leather.

See the full September schedule below: 

 

 

9/24 {Sun} Yoga for Riders @ Superstition HD on the

eagles nest patio. Come & find out how Yoga helps bikers ‘ride on’.

Bring a yoga mat & wear comfortable clothing. This is not an

exercise class, but an introduction to yoga with basic poses

as part of the experience. Class time 10–10:55am. FMI:

Gregory Ormson, 808.640.4624, greg.ormson@gmail.com

 

9/27 {Wed} Yoga for Riders @ Superstition HD on the Eagles

Nest Patio. See description above. Class time 5-5:55pm.

FMI: Greg Ormson, 808.640.4624, greg.ormson@gmail.com

 

9/30 Yoga for Riders @ Superstition HD on the Eagles Nest

Patio. Come & find out how Yoga helps bikers ‘ride on’. Bring

a yoga mat & wear comfortable clothing. This is not an exercise

class, but an introduction to yoga with basic poses as

part of the experience. Class time 10-10:55am. FMI: Greg

Ormson, 808.640.4624, greg.ormson@gmail.com

To read the article and see the benefits of yoga and how they releate directly to riding, click on each page below.… read more...

Moves of the heart are the hotline to all stories

                            I want to unfold.

Let no place in me hold itself closed,

for where I am closed

I am false.

–Rainer Maria Rilke

 

Fluid yoga, going to six years, continues remaking and each remaking is connected to another. Born in water, I am dragonfly, now rabbit. I shift to camel, fish, or embody an ever-watchful sphinx. Then I evolve once again, going back and yet forward at the same time to my child in his innocent, trusting repose. My evolving is your evolving: inward, backward, downward.

Your asana is my asana, my bending and shaping is your bending and shaping, your practice of eustress and release morphs into luminous savasana. Your savasana is my savasana, and mine is yours: a cloud, salty and damp.

 

YOUR LONGINGS ARE MY LONGINGS

 

This cloud, a safe home for witnesses and their truths, where every joy and sorrow bursts forth in prophetic rain. And as colors bend to make a rainbow, these witnesses bend into their longings. Your longings are my longings.

We breathe into sweet release, and the turning becomes a roadmap for traveling outward. The trail makes little sense; it leads down to the place where gravity rests. Tracking energy for centuries, the Tao notes that water flows to low places. My gravity is your gravity.

My guru said the way out is the way in. Her wisdom comes from a bloodline far to the east, from a practice that bent and molded her matter-mind, from evidence etched into the soles of her feet. Tucked in like a child, she steps over the soles of my feet, and your East meets my West.… read more...

Get Your Yoga on at Superstition Harley Davidson

YOGA FOR BIKERS:   OUR bodies take a pounding on the road, and sometimes driving is stressful. But people do yoga because it feels good and it helps mind and body. Yoga isn’t just about flexibility, it’s about  improving mobility to turn sideways and check our blind spot; about balance in slow turns, and remaining calm in the midst of stress. Over time, yoga strengthens our skeletal, muscular, and digestive systems.

Gregory Ormson, former Motorcycle Safety Foundation rider/coach and a 200-hr. registered yoga teacher, is offering three Yoga for Bikers classes at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction. Come to one, or all three, and find out how YOGA helps bikers RIDE ON!

Details:

LOCATION:   Superstition Harley-Davidson, outside upper deck.    

DATES:         Sept. 24 (Sun). 10:00 am – 10:55

Sept. 27 (Wed). 5:00 pm – 5:55

Sept. 30 (Sat). 10:00 am – 10:55

SUPPLIES:     Limited supplies available. Bring a yoga mat, and wear comfortable clothing.

This is not an exercise class, but an introduction  to yoga with a focus on motorcycle riders including basic poses as part of the experience.

 

Gregory Ormson, 808.640.4624

greg.ormson@gmail.com

https://www.gregoryormson.com

#motorcyclingyogiG… read more...

Motorcycles to the Front Row

Recently, I rode my Harley-Davidson to an outdoor festival. For these events, the parking lot is often a large field with hidden land mines for bikes. Waiting in line to park, I watched people march toward the festival’s front gate from their cars after parking a long ways away. They walked slowly, heads hanging, shuffling their feet through Arizona dust and brown grass.

But when I turned my bike toward the parking lot, the festival’s parking security stopped me and said, “Why don’t you park over there next to the Hummer.” I took an immediate sharp left and found my place right next to the front gate. For bikers, this kind of thing happens a lot.

I parked my bike, walked over the security guard and said, Thanks brother. I appreciate it.

“No problem,” he said. “I’ve got you over there by my Hummer. I’ll keep an eye on it for ya. No need to park out there and get your bike all scratched up.”

Damn straight. Thanks again, I said, and walked across the street to the festivals entry gates.

Many of us have this experience. Hotel desk clerks will suggest we park our bikes up front under the lights so they can keep an eye on them. As riders, we like “Motorcycle Only” parking signs and they’re often in a good location. And while Harley-Davidson is in negotiation with the Milwaukee Brewers over an expired contract, the Milwaukee motorcycle manufacturer used to have a special Harley-Davidson seating section in Miller Park’s left field. The game ticket included a buffet, two-beers, and – of course – parking for bikes in the front row.… read more...

Altitude, Monuments, Forest Fires, Parks and Dreams

This week, Debbie and I took a four day cycle trip of close to 1000 miles. It’s not that far on a cruiser, but covering two National Parks, motoring through the Navajo, Hopi and Apache Nations while driving in high altitude with wind, smoke from forest fires, switchbacks, and snow-capped mountains in the distance was enough. With the wide disparity in temperatures hotel rooms, road conditions, and gasoline prices, there were surprises at every stop.

      Vishnu’s Temple in Grand Canyon             

We visited Sedona, of course. The Grand Canyon, of course, and we stood on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. One night, I watched a Navajo woman put great attention into her small pile of scratch off games. When she talked, I saw the luminous in the dark gap between her teeth.

It’s easy to meet jokers along the way.

     Bar Stool, Sedona.   

I met one – his name could have been Ron – who fit the bill but lacked a jesters hat. In an earlier life, he may have married his bar stool. He said, “I grew up in Amery, Wisconsin.” Amery is a town in one of 15 counties in northwest Wisconsin that since 1936 have been called Indianhead Country. The moniker was started by three Eau Claire, Wisconsin, businessmen as an inducement to tourism. When I told him I had swum in Wapogasset Lake, just east of Amery, he darn near peed his pants. Then his memories poured forth: thee marriages, three divorces, and lifetime battles over boundaries, precious gems, and alcohol.

    Navajo Rugs         At the Wupatki National Monument, I read the wind is strong enough to “knock you flat.” It was a challenge to cycle through wind like that.… read more...

Turning Corners

TURN CORNERS, that’s what motorcyclist’s do. And they do it with style.

In our rider training and teaching, we learn the importance of cornering with skill. It takes more than simply turning the handlebar or figuring how much to lean or not lean into the curve. Cornering well as a cyclist is a potential life saving skill, and life saving skills happen with both technique and practice.

The uninitiated might think, for example, that slowing down to take a corner is important, but when a rider needs to get the most out of their tire traction it’s good if they are accelerating through the turn. Accelerating through the turn  forces the full weight of the motorcycle down onto the tires which in turn make better contact with the pavement.

It’s a simple insight really, an important training tip. Sometimes on the road I see riders tend to forget the basics, approaching a turn too fast and then – suddenly realizing they carry too much speed into the curve – have to brake while turning rather than accelerate through the turn. Usually, it’s not a big deal, but it could be.

A rider’s correction only requires a little foresight, but it could be a life saver. As a cyclist, it’s good to remind ourselves that we’re on two wheels which requires twice the thinking, planning, skill and awareness of those on four wheels.

And the bottom line is that we all want to Ride On.

 

 … read more...

Midwest – from the Old Style Place. Cabin Writing

Notes from The Old Style Place                                            

Everything at The Old Style Place
remains upright, anchored in stubbornness. Its steadfast preachment to tenacity
has denied gravity its victory. This stubbornness was earned by hammer and saw,
shovel and plane, elements of willful ambition. Having endured tornado-force
winds, the yearly push and pull of cold and hot, nearby forest-fires and
electrical wiring that’s older than the oldest goat, somehow it’s still
standing.
It’s also resisted
“updates.” There is no indoor plumbing or bathroom. To leave it all
behind, I walk outside to a small outdoor toilet where I encroach upon the
world of bugs.
Spider webs hang over the
doorframe. On a narrow window sill facing north, dead flies pile up forming a
grizzly pyramid to mortality.
First built in 1945 as a simple
framed hunting cabin, it remains a testament to quality. The two by four framing
boards really are 2 x 4, not the cheap sticks sold now that have been shaved
over time until what we call 2 x 4 is really more like 1 5/8 x 3 5/8.
Here, work finds me and tattoos
its truth upon my bones, and I unmask the lessons to absorb what I need to
learn. I sit at the metal table in the cabin’s main room and I’m reminded of
the hours my brothers and I sat here. We argued and competed. I cheated by
moving game pieces or hiding cards.
For hours,  we challenged one another in Stratego, Clue,
Battleship, Five Straight, Password or Jeopardy.… read more...

Midwest Old Style Place (Am Writing)

I tune to WOJB for an in-breaking from another world. The indigenous
people speak in even tones, softly on the microphone, nearly a chant. Their
idiom camouflages a humor I sometimes get. 

Dead air, then a night-time jock speaks with refreshing lack of pretense, clear and simple. She says, “Good evening everyone. It’s Tuesday and I hope you’re having a good night. It’s Tuesday isn’t it? Wait a minute, let me check…. Oh, it’s Thursday. Ok then, I hope you’re having a good Thursday.”


I’m here to listen and to put my hands on all the stubborn things: the old Evinrude motor, the long-handled red pump, the Dixie stove, the Gibson refrigerator, the cast iron frying pans and then fish filet knives. “


I lift the pan and feel its weight, I
swing the knife from side to side
and feel its balance. I smell
leather casing for the J. Marttini
Rapala filet knife; I will test the
blade against a hair on my
forearm. Is it sharp enough to
slice arm hair? If not, I will whet the sharpening stone and slide that knife in one direction, over and over, making an arc like a roller coaster. The Rapala will resist at first, but metal will yield and raise its edge.

WOJB turns its broadcast menu to music with Mountain Stage, and I love the songs. I wait for the next program and the dry unmistakable voice of
Garrison Keillor as he spins tales of life on The Prairie Home Companion.  I listen for his opening line, “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Woebegon.”


He speaks of Norwegians in a cold land, sharpened
by hard work and manners.

… read more...

Midwest This is how Illusion Works (Bear in the woods of Wisconsin)

Up here, a bear comes and goes as it will, so even a faint resemblance near the woodpile can trick one into thinking its real. My parent’s scare tactics worked, and the wooden carving of a black bear head tricked my brothers too because the chance of actually seeing a bear was lodged in the back of our minds. This is how illusion works: You believe through suggestion that you see what you don’t see but believe you have seen.

That bear was here. It walked past the pump next to the front door, and a photo proves it. Its tacked on the old Gibson
refrigerator with a sales magnet that says, “Patty Berkes, Edina Realty.” The Realtor’s photo on the card expresses dreams people have for lake front property
in the north woods: foreground birch trees and a winding trail with tall grass
leading to a log cabin, its dark wood corners joined in dovetail notches. This isn’t Edina, but the brokers are
here and they’re busy selling a dream. 

This is how illusion works (Bear in the woods)… read more...

Yoga 20th Installment Yoga Inspirationals.

21st installment YOGA INSPIRATIONALS

Yoga and the Place of Soul, elephant journal June 5, 2015
Below are the online links covering yoga and:

Rabbit pose at Bikram Yoga in Kona, Hawai, photo by Yolanda used with permission

Inner truth
Appolonian Alignment
The Big Ease
The Teaching Yoke
Unconscious Impact
The Savasana Cloud
Breath and The Diamondbody
The Deep Silent
Ego & Injury
Yoga and Your Healthy Future
Mantra/Power of Word
A Yoga Parable
I-IT
Who Moved the Yoga Mat?
Adopting a Rabbit (for back pain)
Yoga’s Touchy Subject …Touching
Becoming Your Own Inspirational Quote
Social Responsibility: I Am My Brother’s Keeper
The Yoga Community and Bad Behavior
Yoga’s Covenant: The Bendable Arc of Change
Yoga and the Place of Soul

With thanks to: The Yoga Blog, elephant journal, DoYouYoga.com, and Yogi 


June 5, 2015 elephant journal

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/06/yoga-and-the-place-of-soul/

April 12, 2015 Yogi Times
http://www.yogitimes.com/article/yoga-covenant-agreement-vow-commitment

March 11, 2015 elephant journal
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/03/how-yoga-makes-us-kinder/

February 21, 2015 DoYouYoga.com
http://www.doyouyoga.com/why-yoga-should-bring-us-to-social-action/

February 15, 2015 Yogi Times
http://www.yogitimes.com/article/who-moved-the-yoga-mat-practice

January 6, 2014 DoYouYoga.com
http://www.doyouyoga.com/4-reasons-teachers-should-use-touch-in-yoga/

December 27, 2014 elephant journal
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/12/the-yoga-pose-that-healed-my-lower-back-injuries/

December 11, 2014 Yogi Times
http://www.yogitimes.com/article/story-of-yoga-poem-parable/

November 24, 2014 The Yoga Blog
http://www.theyogablog.com/favorite-quote-practice/

November 21, 2014 DoYouYoga.com
http://www.doyouyoga.com/mantra-the-power-of-word/

October 22, 2014 The Yoga Blog
http://www.theyogablog.com/doing-yoga-30-years-now/

October 16, 2014  elephant journal
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/10/ego-injury-10-questions-for-yoginis/

October 2, 2014 The Yoga Blog
http://www.theyogablog.com/find-silence-yoga-practice/

Sept. 21, 2014 DoYouYoga.com
http://www.doyouyoga.com/how-yoga-moves-from-it-to-it/
Sept. 17, 2014  elephant journal
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/09/mapping-yogas-breathcentric-diamond-body-gregory-ormson/

Aug. 15, 2014 The Yoga Blog
http://www.theyogablog.com/take-inventory-yoga-yoga-like-aa/
Aug. 2, 2014 elephant journal
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/08/the-savasana-cloud-gregory-ormson/
July1, 2014 elephant journal 
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/07/the-importance-of-living-in-alignment-gregory-ormson/

April 5, 2014 The Yoga Blog
http://www.theyogablog.com/reality-check-yoga-teachers/


March 12, 2014 The Yoga Blog
http://www.theyogablog.com/yogas-hidden-benefit-unconscious-mind/
Feb. 3, 2014 The Yoga Blog
http://www.theyogablog.com/365-days-yoga-completely-changed-life/… read more...

Of Gardens and Graves: Birthday Reflections on Dan Fogelberg’s, “The Last Nail.” 9/23/2013

              
For 38 years, I played and sang that tension-filled
song. It was always a song I enjoyed, but not one that that could be considered
a dating manual, nor did it contain any hopeful teleological arc. I never
thought it helped define my, or any human-beings’ gradual and sure
“slip-sliding away.”
I listened to the lyrics of this song while traveling
across the U.S., Canada and India from 1978-1979, when I was part of a music
and mission team. I used to play guitar and sing that song a lot! It brought me
a sense of comfort and connectedness, even though the lyrics move to a gradual
resignation.
  *                  *  
          *
This weekend, our friends rented a vacation home on the
ocean as a birthday gift to me. I am amazed, and I am grateful for their
generous gift. I am also happy for the two days of bliss that hanging-out near
the ocean can bring and content to have shared that time.
We played music and sang, frolicked at my favorite
swimming hole, ate food and told stories. We were beneficiaries of laughter,
community, sunset, chickens, a full moon spirit and the strong, steady sound of
water crashing over lava rock.
The weekend vacation home is situated close to the
Pacific, at a place officially known as Keoneele Cove. Most people here call it
two-step. It’s a popular place for diving, snorkeling, swimming and hanging
out. The two-step beach though is not what most people imagine as the perfect Hawaiian
beach, with wide expanses of white sand and a long, shallow, sloping shoreline.… read more...

Leadership, being, technology: a teacher’s Rahner.

Me – First used a computer in *1983. I’m not enamored of what the machine has delivered.   
Rahner – Theologian specializing in short, compact statements to summarize major categories of orthodox theology
Quote  From Paul Tillich’s conception of the existential task of man [sic].
Deep consciousness – what Carl Jung referred to as the collective unconscious, coined by many, taught to me by Dr. Robert Moore of the Chicago Theological Seminary.
Technology – I’m referring primarily to the computer and its use as a teaching tool.
Prolegomenon – meaning the word before the word; the starting assumption to a philosophy or frame of reference.
                            Leadership, Being, Technology, a Teacher’s Rahner 
Absence is strangely, yet intimately related to its human complement – presence; and with its transcendent opposite – availability.
Presence is intimately connected with its human complement – leadership; and with its transcendent fulfillment – mastery.
Egocentrism in leadership arises from insecurity and is therefore vulnerable, while its transcendent complement – vulnerability – appears weak but is paradoxically masterful in authentic leadership and conscious availability.
Continuous availability is not leadership; it is insecurity driven by the need to look busy, by a grasp for control, and by its fear of being the targeted envy.
Focused presence, without egocentrism, is masterful leadership in its selected availability, in its lack of ego, in its dismissal of envy – all of which is authentic leadership.
Mastery of the self – the first step to leadership – occurs through a process of overcoming ego and personal vulnerabilities and by embodying a vulnerable, yet masterful presence, true presence.… read more...

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