Gregory Ormson

Writing, yoga, music, and motorcycling from #motorcyclingyogiG

Breath Notes

  • Yoga’s therapeutic works when breath calms the mind (where stress is perceived) by putting the body at ease.
  • Breath work – combined with banda locks – aid in the circulation of prana (vital life force) within the body.
  • There is a curative value to increasing the intake of oxygen into the body which nourishes and cleanses blood and all bodily systems.
  • Breath work aids mental focus and is preparation for and compliment to meditation.
  • Pranayama (breath control) forges a practical link between mind, physical body, and subtle body and is a fundamental part of yoga practice.

 … read more...

Thank you to AZ Rider Motorcycle News (now in the 21st year) for your summary on YOGA & LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers in your October issue https://tinyurl.com/y6g5ak66

See it here: https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/8041e482-b91f-40a8-bf08-bb36cb780cad/downloads/YogiG_Yoga-Leather_1019.pdf?ver=1570396386788

With appreciation for your summary of YOGA & LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers (Starting Oct. 9th)

” . . . to improve the health and wellbeing of motorcyclists.” Yep, that’s it!

If ANY OF  YOU have interest in Yoga for Bikers, a program at Superstition Harley Davidson now in its third year, here is a reminder of October’s yoga and bike events:

Wednesday October 9, 4:30 pm in the Eagle’s Nest

Wednesday October 23, 4:30 pm in the Eagle’s Nest

Sunday October 27, 10:30 am starting in the West Parking lot at SHD

Each year there are slight changes. This year, we’ll focus on a breath-centric class and slow movements in ease.

The “STRETCH RIDE” will take place the LAST Sunday of every month, starting at 10:30. We’ll ride a short distance to a green or desert space and there spend 15-20 minutes in breath awareness and quiet. Then we use the bikes for a few “stretch poses.” Motorcycles are perfect for this, they are stable props but also transfer us from place to place. The “stretches” are portable too.

What you do in Yoga for Bikers:

This beginner level class is offered to riders to stretch the areas where we feel tightness: hips, shoulders, back, and neck.

The purpose is to keep riders in the saddle longer by working gently toward flexibility and balance. This means longer at a time, but more importantly, longer for life.

The side benefit of all yoga is learning to be at ease in the midst of stress.… read more...

Yoga for Riders starting again this month

YOGA AND LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers begins its third year in October at the Eagles’ Nest (outdoor second deck) at Superstition Harley Davidson. Two Wednesday’s a month, riders and anyone interested will gather for simple movement and breath work. This beginner level class is open to all. This is offered to riders to stretch the areas where we feel tightness: hips, shoulders, back, and neck. This year we will work more with breath and movement in ease.

The purpose is to keep riders in the saddle longer by working gently toward flexibility and balance. This means longer at a time, but more importantly, longer for life. The side benefit of all yoga is learning to be at ease in the midst of stress. This happens through breath work and deliberate movement.

Here are the dates for October yoga and leather at SHD in the Eagle’s Nest (a large outdoor deck above the dealership)

October 9 at 4:30 pm

October 23 at 4:30 pm

The “stretch ride” will be held October 20, at 10:30 am. You’ll hear more about that soon.

PUBLISHING NEWS RE: YOGA AND LEATHER

The AZ Rider Motorcycle News (now in its 21st year) will also include a short story in October via Internet link (issue number 239), where you can read more about Yoga and Leather. Thanks Betsy and Bruce!

July’s issue of YOGA Magazine from London featured the Yoga and Leather here at SHD in its cover shot and in its feature story with a five page coverage including photos.

HOG Magazine (Harley Owner’s Group) will be covering this story in their November issue.… read more...

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, 2019, Phoenix (the ride for men’s health)

I took part in the world’s largest charitable motorcycle event for owners of classic and vintage styled bikes on Sunday September 29th, 2019. This worldwide event, called the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, brings together over 113,000 well dressed riders on sweet, small bikes raising 5 million dollars in 700+ cities for men’s health across 110+ countries.

The goal for each ride is to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer research – and men’s mental health – on behalf of charity partner the Movember Foundation. Next year, I’ll see if anyone wants to join me for this worthy cause and fun ride through Phoenix. A few photos tell the story of this event, which started at Four Till Four Coffee in Scottsdale with 218 registered bikes and ended at Sazerac in downtown Phoenix.

REASONS to ride, or to donate:

It feels good to contribute to a good cause.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, taking 307,000 every year.

75 percent of all suicides are men too, taking one every minute (510,000) each year, most of them in the 20-39 age range.

Why don’t you get your CAFE RACER out of the barn and join me and over 200 others next year as Distinguished Gentlemen and Gentlewomen ride for a cause!  AND . . . if you don’t have a cafe racer or vintage bike  . . . rent a scooter :)

… read more...

thanks to OM YOGA AND LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE.

(Colchester, Essex Co., UK) for including “Conducting the Awesome,” in your October HOT YOGA special.

This magazine is ‘with it.’  Last month, they celebrated their 100th issue, and have published extensively on inclusivity, body positivity, yin yoga, retreats, men in yoga, Western Yoga, and breath training as the new yoga.

Breath Training is what I do, having just completed two yoga workshops in Wisconsin and Michigan on “Yoga Breath, Breath of Life.” Breath training is a new – but very old –  emphasis growing from the needs of Westerners. By engaging the breath, we learn to calm ourselves in a conflicted world. My workshop is integrative: meaning it includes philosophy, linguistics, biology, mobilization of prana, execution of the bandas, the embodiment of asana, a practice of mindful release, and attentive work on drishti.

At my teaching site, Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction, AZ., when motorcycling yogis focus on breathing, when they hear sitar gently pinging above the roaring big twin engines, and when they receive my final salutation, breathe deep and exhale a final OM, it begins to look and sound like something not heard or seen before; indeed, Western yoga is changing (practice at a HD dealership proves it) and slowly taking on a unique form and function. For me, it starts with the building block of it all – BREATH.This fall, I’ll bring even more breath training to my teaching at YOGA AND LEATHER (Superstition Harley Davidson) in October as we start year 3 of Yoga for Bikers.

If anyone wants to learn more about this focus on breath, I’m ready to conduct a two hour workshop for you – with original music on sitar and guitar –  “Yoga Breath, Breath of Life.” The texts are: Yoga Sutras, Breathology, and The Science of Breath, and others.… read more...

ONE BIRD, ONE STONE, AND ONE COB OF CORN

A memorable month on the home ground to see many family and friends. Two Wisconsin trips with Marquette, Michigan in between sweetened by literary frosting. The last nine days, Debbie came north to share in the good times.

Thanks everyone for food and drink, word and music, for yoga and breath. Until next time, namaste to all you birds in the cold north: Bree Ommon, Ashley Prinsen Jason Prinsen, Brian Ormson, Tamara Kay Ormson, Laurel Gyland Kieffer, Robyn Bretl, lightbodY, Paul Zollver, Eric Schubring Russell Thorburn, Amy Howko, John Howko, Dylan Trost, Peter J Gummerson, Jennifer Taylor, Nathan Taylor, TuliVesi Yoga Paul Lehmberg James C Daly Tee Chuppie Daly Jon Shea, Nick Hoen, Chris King Karla Lodholz, Michael John Brancato Natalie Rodehaver, Melinda Rodehaver, and people off FB: Tim Ormson, Mitch Ormson, Chris Howko, Jonathan Johnson, Ken Baker and Martha Bush, EG, and Riley.

Many thanks again to Jennifer and Nathan of Tulivesi Yoga in Marquette, to gummersound studio in Marquette, Russ, Johnathan and Dylan at The Crib, and Robyn Bretyl at LIghtbody Yoga in Wausau!!!

Photos: Marquette, Michigan, Wausau and Spooner, Wisconsin. To Daly’s of Wausau, thanks for the blues music by Minneapolis based Joy Ann Parker band and Michael Charles, Chicago blues band.

 

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO-JyAvr5KK6sJKHM-WPqoLzhyBnfSNFAkIUATuLlsLLXVAPTYN6hv9jUmAJAmk8A?key=Mk5tZUVkaTliZV9HbmVlUEhrWGJGU3BHeDA5aXBn… read more...

ANCHORS: For Kristen and Greg on their 25th anniversary

One good thing about Facebook is that every now and then someone reaches from the past and makes contact with us in the present. This is the case from someone that contacted me yesterday and I’m glad he did.

Today (Aug. 13) is Kristen and Greg’s 25th wedding anniversary. Back then, I was the officiant for their wedding when I was working as a clergy for the Lutheran church and my assignment was to Northern Michigan University. Marquette was my home for 12 years, and two of my children were born there. Except for the cold – which I can’t stand – it was the best place I ever lived.

Along with his Facebook note, Greg sent one photo from his and Kristen’s wedding ceremony. I had never seen it, and it brought back many good memories of my time as a YOOPER in Upper Michigan.

Greg reminded me that I played my ceremonial wood duck drum as part of their wedding. Playing a drum wasn’t that far out of bounds -since I started drumming with a set at 14 – but I made the drum I used in their wedding and have used it in many ceremonies. The oak body for the drum came from a large tree that had been struck by lightning. The deer skin on top was from the last deer my dad had shot in Indian-head Country of Northwest Wisconsin.

Text below is from “Anchors,” a piece about drumming.

ANCHORS

From early on, I heard text and sub-text in drums and memorized tom-strike patterns, rim hits on snare, and foot work for the high hat.… read more...

YOGA MAGAZINE FEATURE STORY: Yoga and Leather: A New Road for Bikers (#yogainspirationals 79).

 

YOGA & LEATHER: A New Road for Bikers

Every yogi is the same. But every yogi has been injured in their own way. Debbie McGregor, passionate yogi and motorcyclist, was first injured at age 11. It happened in a rodeo mishap when she was locked in a cramped chute with a panicked horse. A broken back sustained in a motorcycle accident in her early 30’s became major injury number two, and she suffered a broken neck in a car accident during her early 50’s.

“When I read about YOGA AND LEATHER: Yoga for Bikers,” she said, “I couldn’t believe it; something combining my two passions, I had to come.”

After her car accident, Debbie was told she’d be paralyzed from the neck down, but she resolved to walk and was determined to ride her Harley Davidson motorcycle again. She invested in physical therapy and added yoga as a daily routine. Three years after the accident, Debbie is doing yoga and motorcycling around the country. “It’s unexplainable how much yoga does in the path of healing. The more I do, the more I want and the more I heal,” she said.

Paul, a 79 year old retired Chicago police officer, is another dedicated rider of Harley Davidson motorcycles but new to yoga. Like Debbie, he found his way to YOGA AND LEATHER, and considers it healing balm and an island of peace.

Recently, Paul’s 900 pound motorcycle tipped over and landed on his foot. He hobbled into class wearing big boots and blue jeans, but did what he could. “I need it, it’s good.… read more...

LET IT BE: When Your Yoga Becomes You

Thank you BAD YOGI MAGAZINE for publishing #YogaInspirationals 76.

One reference for this article is Science of Breath: A Complete Manual of the Oriental Breathing Philosophy of Physical, Mental, Psychic and Spiritual Development (1905). Yoga Publications Society. The book is out of print now, but I borrowed a copy last summer from Laurel Gyland Kieffer. It has provided new insight on breath work in yoga. Some of this will be included in the “Yoga Temple Breath Workshops” I’ll be conducting this summer in Wisconsin and Michigan.

LET IT BE: When Your Yoga Becomes You

 … read more...

Jesus, Yoga, and the Pure Consciousness of Healing

Thank you BAD YOGI MAGAZINE for publishing my 75th #YogaInspirationals.

This one is not an easy read, and not many places wanted to take it. But the editor agreed with me that sometimes a publisher ought to also challenge a reader, and not just feed them simple cookie-cutter articles like so many we see today e.g., “5 Ways to (whatever).”

If we stop expanding our vocabulary, quit reading to learn, or forego seeking out something new, our lives can easily fall into a rut. Then the mind and body go on autopilot and the spiral down begins.

Thank you to Bad Yogi Magazine, joining the following 15 publications sharing my visions of yoga, music, and wellness: Om Yoga and Lifestyle Magazine, Asana Journal, Yoga International, elephant journal, Yoganect, Sivana East, The Health Orange, Hello Yoga, TribeGrow, DoYouYoga, Yogi Times, Seattle Yoga News, The Yoga Blog, Boa Yoga and ArizonaRiderSouthwest. 

Yoga, Jesus, and the Pure Consciousness of Healing

 

 … read more...

YOGA AS COMMENCEMENT RITUAL

Thank you #YOGANECT for publishing yogainspirationals number 74.

https://www.yoganect.com/story/show/yoga-as-commencement-ritual/

During my seventh year practicing yoga I started learning the sitar.

Immediately I realized it was a hard instrument to play and its technology is ancient: there’s a huge gap between frets and the strings which are painful on the fingers; the metal sitar pic winds tightly on the finger and pinches; the instrument’s lightweight strings go out of tune easily and there are 21 of them; but most of all, the traditional playing style requires sitting on the floor with the left leg crossed under the right while the sitar neck rests over the right thigh with the sound gourd perched on top of the left foot. This position is hard on the left knee, back, legs, hips, and both ankles.

At one point during my practice in the last few months, I started doing yoga before playing. I needed to set my legs, hips, and back at ease. When I did this first, I realized I could sit longer and concentrate better and my yoga practice tied directly to sitar practice became my daily ritual.

This two-step approach to sitar practice – beginning with yoga – became my entre into the world of classical Indian music. I now view yoga as my commencement ritual, and I won’t even try playing sitar without first doing yoga, or at the very least, until after breath work. Yoga and sitar, including savasana, tune me up for my day; now I hesitate to go out in public before this commencement.

A NEW TAKE ON AN OLD SKILL

I sang in a boys’ choir at age 10 and once performed with a small group at the World’s Fair in New York at age 11.… read more...

COMING UP, Stretch Ride for bikers!

Hello yoga and biking/cycling aficionados. I’m inviting you to one or both of the last two “stretch rides” at Superstition Harley Davidson as part of the yoga and leather program I conduct for SHD.
Details below:

The last Sunday of the month (March 31 and April 28) meet 10:30 am in the west parking lot at Superstition HD. On the 31st, we’ll ride about 20 minutes to a private spot close to the Superstition Mountains.

There we’ll spend 20 minutes in mindful presence and do a simple breathing exercise. Then we’ll walk to our parked bikes where I’ll demonstrate – and you practice – six ways to use your motorcycle as a prop for stretching.

The entire ride and stretch movements will only take about 75 minutes; afterwards, people can go their own way.

This is not an all-out yoga class, but a way to adapt yoga movements to parking lot stretching with the help of the bike. It’s something you can do on your tours and rides. No special clothing or props required.

The motorcycle is a steady prop, but also movable which means we can use it anywhere; and that’s the beauty of the stretch ride, where we focus on both conscious breath (with awareness) and easy stretch moves designed to keep us riding longer.

I hope to see you on March 31 and/or April 28 as we collect our place and presence in the midst of busy lives.

#MOTORCYCLINGYOGIG

ps The stretch ride will also include a few safety tips I’ve learned as a MSF rider/coach. It never hurts to have a reminder about safe riding so that we can stay in the saddle.

… read more...

WRITING, LEADING, INSPIRING, March 7 podcast episode w/writer and yoga teacher motorcyclingyogiG

In this episode of Here You Are Wausau (click link) Dino Corvino and I discuss writing and yoga, breath, ego, truth, ayurveda, teaching, and journaling along with people and places of Wausau.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/leading-inspiring/id1078823496?i=1000431335481&mt=2

I’ll forever see you (Dino) as the weird kid eating chickpeas from a can in the UW Milwaukee student union. Click link and listen to get the full story. WARNING: Some adult AF language.

SHOUT OUTS TO: Basil Restaurant, Limericks Pub, Malarkeys Pub, NTC, Everest HS, Superstition Harley Davidson, Buffalo Springfield, Community Soul Yoga, Croix Croga Yoga, Lightbody Yoga, Gilbert Yoga, The Magees, sitar, satyagraha, Yoga and Leather,  kids yoga, prana, agni, vayu, healing, and shout outs to: Debbie Iozzo, Robyn Bretl, Jim Daly, Kirsten Holmsen, Cory Holm, Blake  Opal-Wahoske, Tyler Vogt, Nick Hoen, Jon Shea, Soumya Parthasarathy, Cassandra Wallick, Dan Meyer,  kids yoga, Everest Family Fitness Fest, Asana Journal, slow down and breathe, freediving, hawaii, India, Ted Roe and freediving Hawaii,  Mysore, India and the Calcutta sitar.

Thanks Eric Sorensen and Dino for @hereYouAreWausau… read more...

Hey riding yogis, a reminder for Wednesday MARCH 13, 4:30 in the Eagle’s Nest

Sunday, March 3, I attended RIDING FOR THE LONG HAUL, a day long event in Phoenix sponsored by the Arizona Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Foundation along with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, Dignity Health, The Arizona Trauma Association, and Law Tigers.

While I’m no longer a rider/coach with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, I can help all of us remembering safety tips that could save us or the lives of others. I’m going to incorporate two or three tips into every Yoga and Leather class at Superstition Harley Davidson. There are many, but for now just these three:

  1. Wind gusts and gusts from large vehicles can be a serious hazard for motorcyclists
  2. Motorcyclists have to be much more concerned about road obstructions such as debris, potholes, and railroad tracks
  3. BE SEEN! The most common reason given by other motorists involved in crashes with motorcycles is, “I didn’t see the motorcycle.”

https://www.facebook.com/events/593443927797513/

YOGA BENEFITS FOR BIKERS

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.

Improved posture / back pain can be a thing of the past.… read more...

THE WATERS OF BABYLON: A PARABLE

  Once upon a time a mystical movement became water and moved from east to west. The gurus of this movement dreamed it would take root, grow, and change people in the new land. A bold vision drove their mission; they were certain and sure. The gurus taught students but were confused by them. They were tall, loud, and rich, but they listened to their gurus and absorbed the way of wisdom and ancient discipline.

The gurus were overwhelmed by bright neon lights and an infant culture. They misplaced prayer beads and lost their way. Their movement danced and shape-shifted. It wasn’t what the gurus expected but better than they could have hoped for. In a short time, the practice prospered.

Many in the new land feared it, but someone discovered it was good for prisoners, alcoholics, the sick, those suffering pain, and even angry youth. The rich and healthy began to think that perhaps the gurus offered good medicine.

Western teachers, overlooking spirituality of the way, taught their version. The culture moved fast, like a river’s rapids. Westerners,  motivated by money, fed off the illusion of freedom. The west land had great diversity and creativity; and when coupled with entrepreneurial spirit, energy drinks, and ambition, yoga flowed across the land. This was, after all, the guru’s original vision.

The movement became a symbol of youth, change, and the culturally hip. Athletes and celebrities endorsed the practice and photographs of yogis posed in peacock asana were featured in glossy magazines, billboards, and Instagram glossies.

But the Eastern gurus’ mystical remnant became a vanishing dream, a memory from a place and time long past.… read more...

Don’t miss Marlon Darton on the marvel of the human body.

This workshop will be held at MOTTO YOGA in Queen Creek, AZ., from 2:00 – 3:30 pm. January 13, 2019

LEARN FROM A WORLD CHAMPION

TOPICS

Tune into Diet and fitness

Sculpt body and breath

Develop mental and physical strength

Learn self-discipline and willpower

Study yoga poses and competition poses

Experiment with movement

Parallels with yoga are direct and applicable, starting with one’s intention long before lifting a weight or stepping onto a yoga mat. Yoga or athletic outcomes are unique to each person, but mental discipline and focus is required for both.

Mr. Darton has delivered workshops around the world detailing what it takes to sculpt a human statue. He will tell his story and offer experimental movements based on his lifelong experience and expertise.

People are drawn to Marlon and enriched by his knowledge and experience. The workshop will conclude with a brief yoga session.

REGISTER AT MOTTOYOGA.COM.  Click on the Menu and choose the WORKSHOP option.

$25. in advance.

 … read more...

SCULPT YOUR BODY, SCULPT YOUR MIND

Plan now. Don’t miss MOTTO yoga’s 5th Yoga Temple workshop on Sunday, January 13. Special guest presenter Mr. Marlon Darton, former Mr. Universe. Marlon knows what it takes to sculpt mind and body. Hear his story and learn how to keep not only New Year’s Resolutions but NewLife

 

 

 

 

 

 

 … read more...

A BLOG A DAY TILL EPIPHANY

Once a day until December 6, Epiphany, I’m blogging a six point synopsis of my yoga writing from the last seven years. These blog posts are all arranged by: 1. The primary sentence. 2. The theologic and yogic summative word. 2. An explanatory paragraph.

Your respectful comments are welcome.

DAY SIX, December 6, 2018

     6. In savasana, space and time welcome the yogi for an anointing to the goodness of true self and true nature

THEOLOGICAL WORD: ANNOINTING

YOGA WORD, HEALING

Yoga’s internal work (the heat of tapas) teaches the yogi compassion for self; in savasana’s moments of rest, the yogi is anointed (bathed) in yoga’s healing tradition. This is not a cosmetic make over, but a weaving together of a timeless process which synthesizes everything up to that moment in a deep affirmation of life itself. Savasana is the yogi’s reception of yoga’s physical, non-physical, and metaphysical medicine.

DAY FIVE, December 5, 2018

     5. The subject and object of yoga’s missiology is self

THEOLOGICAL WORD: MISSIOLOGY

YOGA WORD: PRACTICE

In the container, at the confluence of yogi, guru, and healing practice, a drop of sweat takes one to self and self to God. The yogi – a vessel devoid of armor and ego – incarnates a healing curriculum in a generative engagement translated to a focused biology of belief and concomitant mind/body/spirit reshaping.

DAY FOUR, December 4, 2018

4. A path to community opens with the relinquishment of armor.

THEOLOGICAL WORD: ECCLESIA

YOGA WORD: COMMUNITY

Inside the yoga room, an awakened center is tutored in self-love and love for others.… read more...

Elevation by Breath

In a lifetime practice, the yogi inhabits a ritual container where they are steeped in hours of wordless, focused being.  In a deep breath and release, the gathering-round is moved by that which has not yet had the luminous drained from its presentation; and in its sound, a mystery of centuries in the awful exhale shifts matter into new shapes and in steps uncounted.

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, for their choice of assembly over disassembly shapes them through a soul dialysis that cleanses. Carl Jung once said yoga is “psychic hygiene” and in their time on the mat they are cleansed from the inside out.

Yoga 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 the yogi looks out from another summit.

Yoga as a moral and physical compass is revealed in stages, starting when the yogi begins practice with sankalpa, or solemn vow. 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.… read more...

To Stand in Good Relation

Yoga braids us into a light not of this world. Its blueprint is not designed for appeal. It might be fashionably popular now, but popularity is built on a thin crust and designed for obsolescence. It has no Superbowl or competitive league. Yoga’s popularity has not inspired a mass uprising; it doesn’t lobby for causes or political persuasion.

Yoga is not well understood by the masses.

It is not cheered or toasted; it has no Super bowl or competitive league. Yoga practice draws from the force of a tall tree with deep roots, and to honor this ground, yogis stand in good relation to the craft, good relation to self, and good relation to one another.

From this center, at the confluence of yogi, guru, yoga mat, and container, the shape of receptivity animates the yogi’s being and opens the cold, steel traps that bind.… read more...

YogaInspirationals from #MotorcyclingYogiG

 

Asana is the body of yogic truth, and individual expression of yoga’s eight limbs reveals the efficacy of its healing medicine.  Yogis breathe deeply in yoga and experience a perceptual shift. This new vision opens to the sacred horizon at which we gaze, and the shift – formed in concentration and attention – purifies our dysfunctional self by transmuting negative poison.

Asana and breath follow and yogis learn to re-route any short-sell of self. These elements move us from the core where a magnanimous grounding in the foundational principles (of yoga) proves yogis can handle the dreadful deceits and misapprehensions of our avidya (misperceptions and their consequences).

Asana, and the individual embodiment of asana, is made for flawed and taut souls; its work is to release the human beings caught in a play – sometimes not of their own making – as through asana yogis are welcomed into the practice of ease and steadiness . . .  where they begin with the exhale.

Following the exhale, and its gentle massage of the nervous system, yogis take the deep inhale and their bendable habit grows to a lifetime practice. We keep on keepin’ on and stand in true presence where feet meet the ground.

Blossoming directly into self-care, yogis open like the petals of a lotus in a soft rain, and through the soul dialysis in yoga’s energy exchange, every samskara (action with intention) is transformed.… read more...

EMBRACED BY JOY AND BLISS

Thanks to Sivana east for publishing my 70th yoga piece (yogainspirationals).

Thanks also to: Yoga International, Yogi Times, elephant journal, Asana Journal, Do You Yoga, Hello Yoga, Tribe Grow, Seattle Yoga News, The Yoga Blog, The Health Orange, Medium, Boa Yoga, and AZ Rider Southwest.

#yogainspirationalsnumber70, #motorcyclingyogiG, https://gregoryormson.com, #amwriting, #arizonayogateacherandcoach, #mottoyoga #yogaandleather #superstitionharleydavidson

Embraced By Joy And Bliss

 … read more...

MANTRA FOR ME AND YOU

Read my 64th Yogainspirationals published by Sivana East, by following the link under article snippet below.

The power of a word has always been recognized by schools of spirituality and in leadership studies. In the Christian Gospel of John, one reads “In the beginning was the Word.” The Rik Veda strikes the same tone, “In the beginning was Brahman, with who was the Word.” There are other examples, but the centrality and power of Word is the common insight.

An active yoga practice does not demand that practitioners choose a mantra, yer it can center one’s practice and improve an understanding of our identity in the world as both spiritual and physical beings.

 

Mantra For Me And You

 

Gregory Ormson saw yoga on his first trip to India in the ’70’s. Currently, he writes and teaches at MOTTO YOGA in Queen Creek, Arizona, and leads his signature program, “Yoga and Leather: Yoga for Bikers,” at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction, Arizona. His doctoral degree (D. Min), from the Chicago Theological Seminary, focused on the power of touch for ritual healing in liminal environments. He’s worked as a public speaker, college teacher, retreat leader, corporate trainer, baseball and soccer coach.

Ormson graduated from The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (BS), Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan (MA), Trinity Lutheran Seminary (M. Div), and The Chicago Theological Seminary (D. Min). Along with Sivana East, Ormson’s writing on yoga is published in 11 national and international journals, magazines, blogs and Web sites. He writes on yoga, motorcycling, music, and The Midwest.

https://gregoryormson.com

#motorcyclingyogiG

@GAOrmson

 … 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.

 … read more...

Yoga Breath, Breath of Life

 

In the workshops I’ve done at MOTTO YOGA, I’ve included others to help lead the experience. In January, Dan Meyer showed up and dropped a REAL SWORD down his throat and talked about how that is worship for him. In the other workshops, I’ve had Cindy Cain and Lee Swenson accompany me with fiddle, guitar, and voice/rain stick.

On (Sunday) for the “YOGA BREATH, BREATH OF LIFE,” workshop, I will be sharing leadership with Katori Noor, a certified yoga teacher and has an extra 300 hours trained in yoga and ayurveda, and another 40-hour training in yoga sound healing. She’s also bringing her incredible sounding gongs and singing crystal bowls for the two hour workshop on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
I’m planning a fun activity and sharing a tip from one of our students that grew up practicing yoga in India. I think this will be instructive for all and could even be transformative for your yoga practice.
So carry on with your lives and good work; breathe deep, and transmute the poison that seems to be so very present. Take care of yourselves.
And maybe I’ll see you at the workshop this Sunday at Motto Yoga.
To pre-register, see www.mottoyoga.com and click on the link to workshops.
… read more...

YOGA BREATH, BREATH OF LIFE

Workshop at MOTTO YOGA, Sunday July 29, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

7529 S. POWER RD. Suite 101, QUEEN CREEK, ARIZONA  480-819-YOGA

Pre register for this two-hour workshop at www.mottoyoga.com

Participants in this workshop will engage the dynamic force of their own breath – yoga’s therapeutic – through breathing exercises and healing sound, asana linked to focused pranayama, presentation and dialogue, and experimental movmement with rhythmic breathing.  During the workshop, yogis will be positioned to encounter self in the ground of their being (BREATH) in their own way.

This 4th Yoga Temple workshop continues the theme of yoga as an embodiment of spirit.

The workshop will unfold as:

PART I    20-30 minutes engagement with the theme including physiology and philosophy through dialogue and presentation.

PART II    50-60 minutes practice with pranayama sets – some will be new to students but completely accessible.

** INCLUDING A TIP FROM ONE OF OUR YOGI’S WHO GREW UP IN INDIA.

SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE IN INDIA DOES IN YOGA BUT WE DO NOT FOLLOW HERE IN THE US. COME TO THE WORKSHOP TO LEARN OF THIS IMPORTANT PRANAYAMA INSIGHT. .

PART III    20-30 minutes of moderate asana with attentive breath focus

These activities will put yogis in touch with pranayama in new and even life-changing ways by:

  1.  a therapeutic experience by engagement with presentation and breathing experiences
  2.  silence and breath hold
  3.  sound (soft volumes) gong, bowl, drum beat, music (recorded and live)
  4.  movement linked to breath

SEE YOU at MOTTO yoga on Sunday, July 29, 1:00 pm for Yoga Temple Workshop #4.

Your hosts for Yoga Breath, Breath of Life

Gregory Ormson came to yoga from a background in athletics, teaching, and spiritual studies.… read more...

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...

Yoga Inspirationals: The Western Diaspora

The movement became unpredictable, and while nobody took credit, yoga unveiled a curtain and people looked through the mirror to a radiance within. Westlanders were distracted; they didn’t listen to gurus and didn’t read books, but they took to their mats and became present with themselves. They remembered their joy and opened like the petals of a lotus in soft rain.

https://www.yogitimes.com/article/story-of-yoga-poem-parable


LOOK WHO IS “DOING IT” WRITING ABOUT YOGA!

Gregory Ormson

Yogi Times Profile:

https://www.yogitimes.com/profile.php?personid=1f088e40ede195abf93ba8668a60eb0f&secid=232389dc98a87dbb07e1099753b73ddb… 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...

BREATHE, LIVE, BE.

        When yoga teaches us to breathe with ease and move in awareness, and when we learn to arrive at a pose – and life – with equanimity, that memory is lodged as experience in the body. In this way, yoga’s therapeutic forges a connection between the physical and non-physical. It works by calming the body to treat the monkey mind and anxious spirit, for while stress is perceived in the mind it is felt in the body.

If you are looking for new ways to cope in a world that’s increasingly distressed and dangerous, yoga can be your calm amidst rough seas, your shoreline of sanity, and your balm in Gilead.

MOTTO YOGA, Queen Creek, AZ.

Gregory Ormson, #motorcyclingyogiG , YOGA and LEATHER, yoga for bikers at Superstition Harley Davidson… 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...

YOGI, Heal Thyself yogainspirationals number 27, Jan. 8, 2016, Asana Journal

Serving others as a teacher, healer, or a therapist is not an occupation for those with identity questions or ambiguity about their life’s work. Therapists and healers are called to their work by something larger than themselves and they know it in their bones. In the realm of healing work, whether you engage from the prepared space of your therapeutic container, yoga studio, or another more public arena, chances are you ‘ll not be getting much affirmation, so your ego must be strong but not big

In Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom, B.K.S. Iyengar wrote that the problem of self-healing is especially difficult for those who have achieved positions of prominence – like physicians, therapists, healers and other achievers – yet the generative therapist, healer, or teacher deepens their wisdom when they understand their greatest strength may also be their greatest weakness.

Iyengar’s voice is clear when writing about the pitfalls of human pride.

Considerable achievements also bring in their wake considerable dangers. An obvious one is pride – not satisfaction in a job well done – but a sense of superiority and difference, of distinction and eminence.

This is why healers working from the prepared space of their therapeutic container, yoga studio, or another more public arena, must have a strong ego, but not a big one. Self-healing can be more elusive than roping fish.

HUMILITY: THE HEALING ATTITUDE

To move from a place of high achievement to self-healing is hard because it takes humility. It’s also difficult because the place of humility is not a place.

… read more...

5 Coaching Tips for Yoga Newbies (and one requirement)

Yoga Inspirationals number 52, first published in DOYOUYOGA.COM, July 5, 2016.

 

5 Tips (and One Requirement) for Coaching Yoga Newbies

Coaching may seem a little controlling and something unnecessary when we’re talking about the behavior of independent adults, but in yoga space, coaching is not about independence; rather, it’s about cooperation.

Because cooperation is not a universal trait, many yoga studios resort to posting their rules and regulations in an obvious, public place. It’s not that people are trying to be nasty, but some simply are less aware of their behavior.

These rules are posted to help everyone sharing space cooperate with one another when there are a variety of simultaneous needs and norms. Rules and regulations help form a standard behavior that may not appeal to everyone, but aim to limit chaos and unbalanced inconvenience.

Listening to the way coaches talk, I’ve learned about the concept of “behavioral targets and performance targets.” I’m not interested in performance targets in relationship to yoga (because that seems a metric designed for competitive sports), but my curiosity about behavioral targets has led me to think about how I would coach newcomers to yoga.

Cooperation requires a different set of group skills than individualism, and the guidelines for studios will only work with cooperation.

Yoga and “Behavioral Targets”

In yoga, you might hear that nobody is there to judge you…and I think that’s true. But, people do evaluate you.

Your teachers evaluate you because they want to know where you are in your practice and figure out how best to help you. They evaluate me too, it’s just the way humans are.

… read more...

Preview of Yoga Temple 3 at MOTTO YOGA: The Pure Consciousness of Healing (Sunday March 4, Noon to 1:30)

Today, spiritual notions of integrated unitary consciousness are popular but suspect. Some people require facts, and without verifiable facts proving esoteric dimensions, will dismiss such notions and think of consciousness and chakra activation as nothing but wild speculation.

But quantum studies in the subatomic realm more than suggest that everything is composed of vibrational energy even if we cannot prove it. Yogic philosophy treated this idea by suggesting that anything in matter has previously existed in the unmanifest cosmic womb. Indian philosophy even had a name for this place of pure potentiality, calling it hiranyagarbha, or the Golden Womb, the origin of all creation. Technically, ‘hiranya’ means ‘golden’ and ‘garbha’ means womb, and its symbol is a golden egg.

The science of physics has opened up big ideas like the notion of energy as vibration, or a not-yet manifest form of matter. It has helped Westerners accept that matter is not as concrete as we thought. Quantum thought maintains that the unmanifest is as real as each of us here and now, but is unrecognizable until energy and matter manifest or bring it into material form.

This is how healing consciousness moves too, for consciousness of a thing also changes the mode of being in that thing which is beheld. The Heisenberg Indeterminacy Principle, from the field of physics, affirms this insight and points out that it’s not possible to observe matter without influencing its actions. And while it’s true that the principle was developed while observing the velocity and speed of quantum particles, it applies to all matter.

The paralytic man’s friends (story from the Gospel of Mark), were determined to place him in close proximity to the pure consciousness of healing in Jesus.… read more...

The Savasana Cloud

The Christian church used to be central to my life, vocation, and identity but it’s not anymore.

Still, I bring my past theological training to my yoga practice and on occasion I remember a word or idea from my past to interpret how I express and experience yoga.

I think of a scriptural passage where the writer is reminding his community that they are not alone. He tells them that they are, in fact, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

Traditionally, the cloud meant a mass of condensed water vapor, usually white, or tinged in various shades of grey and black. But in our day, a cloud has come to mean a digital storage space. Ok, that’s cool.

But I also see a cloud as a continually morphing group of people that see me on my mat—sweating and putting forth effort—and it’s exactly how I see them. When practicing yoga, I am one member of this cloud, a group of people that witness to each other’s’ effort, practice, time, and presence.

I practice in studios with many members. I try to learn names so that I can address them personally. In one studio, I know over fifty people by name. These names remind me that I am not alone—even when my yoga feels like a solitary pursuit. Still, I work to remember each name in our studio because a name concretizes the amorphous nature of a cloud and it tells people they are not just a number but a person with a name.

Written out, these names would fill only one page, but if they were added to all the yogis and yoginis that have gone before, the pages would fill stacks in the tallest libraries.… read more...

Connect With Me

Subscribe for Updates