June 13, is a day with frequent Bon Jovi concerts! 
For this series, I m focusing on the 20th century, but in the Netherlands there were at least 2 June 13 concerts on a later date:
2008, Amsterdam, and 2019 Nijmegen.

Here you can find a video, posted by Jane, of a mesmerizing Someday I ll Be Saturday Night performance, from Amsterdam, 2008.

These are the five 20th century concerts on June 13:
13 June 1984 Portland (opening for the Scorpions)
13 June 1987 Casper, WY, USA (with Cinderella opening for them)
13 June 1989 Pittburgh Civic Arena, first night (with Skid Row opening for them)
13 June 1993 Century Hall Nagoya Japan
13 June 1995 Barcelona, Spain | video: Bon Jovi Barcelona 1995 (Bootleg)
13 June 1996 Erfurt, Germany | video: Bon Jovi – Live in Erfurt, Germany 1996 [FULL]

The last two have been recorded and uploaded to YouTube, so they will be the focus of this Daily Bon Jovi Yoga blogpost.
One year apart, they make an excellent case for the Practice Makes Perfect adage!
AND also offer context;
What does “practicing” (yoga) and “perfection” (in yoga) mean?
What can we learn from these two Bon Jovi concerts, one year apart.

In yoga, “practice” is almost always defined as choosing for some kind of method, some kind of schedule or dedicated time. Practice means routine, and practice almost always means:
Daily.
Looking at touring and concerts as an example, illustrate that, providing you are trained, you could opt for having three 2.5 hour practices a week! 
Instead of a daily 45 minute one.

Now if you ve never dipped your toes into the yoga pond, this probably sounds logical to you, but in yoga no one holds this view! 
Moderation, and settling on one style or even one series, and doing a little each day, is encouraged. And doing long sessions or bringing too much variety, is considered foolish.
You re supposed to deepen, your practice.
Not spice it up, mix it up, and sprinkle confetti on top.

But the concert analogy illustrates that if you want to give it your all, if you want to SHINE, if you want your practice to be memorable, and push you, and ask something of you that you re not sure you can give?
You can’t be doing it every day, or you can’t be doing it at that level everyday.

The concert analogy illustrates that ROCKING your practice, is a different ballgame, and that you have to set that shit up!
Like a world tour, having unforgettable yoga sessions are not going to organize themselves; You  have to start with a vision, if rocking it at that level is what you want.

I just created the week schedule below, to illustrate this principle, and I will use it in upcoming posts as well
so you ll see it more often.

You could go for practice days, and no-practice days.
But I ve created a schedule where you do entirely different things each day, including “3 shows a week”!

Monday: Find What Feels Good
Your juicy Pink Flamingo/ Let it Rock combo is out there for you. You just have to go out and find it!

Monday: Find What Feels Good,
guided:
practice with the popular Yoga with Adriene channel

Monday: Find What Feels Good, 
freestyle yoga with soundtrack:
Find what feels good on your own with Slippery When Wet (45 min)
or
a Slippery When Wet Tour concert (July 1986 – October 1987)

Tuesday, showtime! New Jersey Syndicate Tour
The monster tour, that nearly broke the band and each of its members.
And turned them into legends.

Tuesday, showtime! New Jersey Syndicate Tour,
guided:
Choose one or more from Ashtanga video from the Ashtanga yoga playlist
A unique school of yoga, with long, prescribed series of poses. Ashtanga yoga was one of the first yogas to reach America. Around since the 70s, not understood until this day;)

Tuesday, showtime! New Jersey Syndicate Tour,
freestyle yoga with soundtrack:
Practice Rock Star Yoga (vinyasa flow yoga, a strong practice) with New Jersey (1 hour) or
a New Jersey Syndicate Tour concert (October 1988 – February 1990, + Dec 1990, January 1991)

.
Wednesday: Santa Fe Day
Go out in the wilderness and start with a clean slate. 

Wednesday: Santa Fe Day,
guided:
Yin yoga/ relaxation video from the yoga playlist

Wednesday: Santa Fe Day,
freestyle yoga with soundtrack:
Some sort of flexibility/ relaxing practice with Blaze of Glory (45 minutes)

.
Thursday, showtime! Keep the Faith/ I ll Sleep When I m Dead Tour
According to many fans the tour with the most epic-beyond-belief concerts, including what is known as “The Holy Month of April”! (1993)

Thursday, showtime! Keep the Faith/ I ll Sleep When I m Dead Tour,
guided:
choose one or more from Shiva Rea playlist, the turn of the century founder of modern day yoga, or buy her 1999 double album 2h practice, Yoga Sanctuary

Thursday, showtime! Keep the Faith/ I ll Sleep When I m Dead Tour,
freestyle yoga with soundtrack:
Practice Rock Star Yoga (vinyasa flow yoga, a strong practice) with Keep the Faith (1h+) or a full concert (October 1992 – December 1993)

.
Friday: An Evening With Bon Jovi
Time to unwind with friends.

Friday: An Evening With Bon Jovi,
guided:
Choose one or more Tara Stiles videos from her playlist

Friday: An Evening With Bon Jovi,
freestyle yoga with soundtrack:
Practice hatha yoga on your own with a few songs from Cross Road (total album 1h:15min), or dive in with the excellent MTV production Keep the Faith: An Evening With Bon Jovi (this video 1h:10 minutes)

.
Saturday: Showtime! Cross Road/ These Days Tour
Time to bring it home and ROCK THE HOUSE!!!
In 1994 the Best Of album Cross Road was released, with the new songs Someday I ll Be Saturday Night and Always.
And in 1995, in the first months of their new world tour, the new album These Days was released: The album that won over even the most hardheaded European music journalist. 

Saturday: Showtime! Cross Road/ These Days Tour,
guided:
Choose from the Meghan Curry Playlist. Beware of the peppered ones!

Saturday: Showtime! Cross Road/ These Days Tour,
freestyle yoga with soundtrack:
Practice Rock Star Yoga (vinyasa flow yoga, a strong practice) with These Days (1h) or a Bon Jovi concert from the Cross Road/ These Days Tour (April 1995 – July 1996)

.
Sunday: Vintage Yoga,
Time to go back to how it all started.

Sunday: Vintage Yoga,
guided:
Playlist Vintage Yoga Videos + tv 

Sunday: Vintage Yoga,
freestyle yoga with soundtrack:
Do traditional hatha yoga poses with one of the first two albums from Bon Jovi, (Bon Jovi- Bon Jovi 1984 and Fahrenheit 1985);
Or with their first concerts,
-a world tour opening for major acts and playing smaller venues in the USA (September 1983-November 1984)
-or their Fahrenheit tour (April 1985 – December 1985)

I know it s a lot
& I will be getting back to the schedule and also turn it into a downloadable guide, soon. 

.
As mentioned before, the two concerts from this day, that are recorded are:
13 June 1995 Barcelona, Spain | video: Bon Jovi Barcelona 1995 (Bootleg)
13 June 1996 Erfurt, Germany | video: Bon Jovi – Live in Erfurt, Germany 1996 [FULL]
They are both part of the Cross Road/ These Days Tour, one from the beginning and one from the end. 
And exactly 365 days apart.

And judging from the schedule of this tour, with the tour basically ending December 1995, and Japan and Europe being visited again in 1996;
I think this extra lap was because the These Days album and the tour, had been such a huge success in Japan and Europe, that they extended their tour.

In other words, and I m sure that in the upcoming year I ll have time to fact check that for you, but I think there was far less at stake at the extra concerts in 1996, than in 1995, when they were playing an album that was new to them as well.
And three nights in Wembley…. 1995 was an enormous production.
When in 1996 they could freestyle.

They could freestyle not just because they were not under a magnifying glass, the way they had been in 1995. But also because they KNEW the material inside and out.
And I ve been listening to the Dutch 1996 concerts, and they may be the best they ever gave in The Netherlands.
And the recording of June 13, in Erfurt as well!
There is an acoustic set in the middle, and they even throw in an unprepared Never Say Goodbye!

Where, as far as I remember from making my video series in 2020 (*1), it would have been unthinkable, to improvise in their 1995 concerts.
The pre-Wembley concerts, contained songs they wanted to try out,  yes. And that was deliberately so they knew if they wanted to play them in Wembley.

There was no fooling around in the first months of touring in 1995.

So if we take the peak experience of concerts, and create yoga practices that mimic that same energy shift, around the week;
Then judging from the 1995 1996 dynamic, what can we tell about “perfection”?

Was perfection the military precision with which they worked up to Wembley?
Where they also recorded a the show.

Or was perfection 1996 when “no one” was watching, and they gave two legs of brilliant shows that in all probability outdid everything they had done the year before?

Was it the MASTERSHIP of 1996, or the CRAFTMANSHIP/ SHOWMANSHIP of 1995?
What defined “perfect”?

I already gave it away in the first paragraphs, when I said:
“Practice makes perfect”
In my opinion, 1995’s practice had made 1996’s shows perfect.
Perfect in the sense that they had full mastership over the material.
They were in absolute full control, of the show, of the music. They could flip  it around, turn it backwards, toss it in the sky, and it would still land on its feet. And to the beat 😉

And I want you to remember that.
I want you to UNDERSTAND that.
Because this is stuff no one teaches you in yoga.

That yes, you can “learn” yoga, like practicing an instrument.
But that’s Jon Bon Jovi buying his first guitar stuff.
Yes, you can design and structure your way to make sure you can “achieve” things in your body, in your life. And get your Wembley tape out of it, or whatever it is you re after.

But if you want the joy, the mastership, the surprise, and the confidence of Bon Jovi 1996? 
If you want to be able to freestyle and improvise and even rock your yoga when you don’t know how to do it properly?
Like Jon Bon Jovi not knowing the lyrics to Never Say Goodbye, in Erfurt?

Then you have to let all of that go.

You have to let go of the idea of having to come up with your version of a Wembley dvd in a few weeks time.
Losing weight, getting more flexible, getting “good” at yoga;
Let go, let go.

But hold the vision of yourself, practicing with ease, rocking your yoga, laughing at yourself when you forget how it’s done,
and go with the flow forever and always.

And then 365 days from now?
Just like the 365 days between 13 June 1995-1996;
Just like that you will have mastership over your yoga, and effortlessly, deliver your best work.

I know today is Monday, but someday?
You ll be Saturday night. 

.
 ~Suzanne
Rock Star Writer
☕️ Buy me a coffee
🥳 PayPalMe 
🇳🇱Tikkie van de week 

*Want to start yoga?
On my Dutch YouTube channel you can find all my playlists, including my beginner friendly one + international teachers.

(*1) In 2020 I made a few video reviews from the These Days tour.
This included June 13, Barcelona:
#16.part1 Barcelona, Spain June 13 | 1995 Bon Jovi Concert Series (Stories)
#16.part2 Barcelona, Spain June 13 | 1995 Bon Jovi Concert Series (Stories)

This blog is all the support you need
I will mention videos or things I added for you on YouTube, right here.
Subscribe to receive these posts in your inbox.
You can find the subscription button on this page, probably on the top right.

.

This Daily Bon Jovi Yoga blog is an element of “Rock Star” [phase 2]