“I d like to dedicate this next song to those who try to control and manipulate you.”

I wouldn’t call it a hard landing, to get back to my daily Bon Jovi yoga and this blog, after attending a Guns N Roses concert;
But perhaps more like a soft landing.

A realization that although I will never regret having chosen Bon Jovi as my main yoga reference, and the core of all my work under my real name (Suzanne Beenackers);
That at the core, there is more to me.
As I suspect there’s more to you, since all humans are infinitely complex and cannot be pinned down to one genre or band.

But with me, I ve always had an understanding, that the core of me was not Bon Jovi.
It was Guns N Roses.
Bon Jovi is a cultural language, it is symbolism. It is a communication tool that allows us to talk to each other about yoga and life, in a way we understand on an emotional level. Which is very important. I think the emotional level is the only level, where it makes sense to strive for understanding.
The cognitive level, when it comes to yoga, will only let you stray from the path even further.

And I also believe that in order to teach one another, we must share the same values. We have to resonate on the same level, and although we no longer have churches to identify with;
Other cultural languages have taken their place.
Bon Jovi is such a language, it is such a community; That takes the place of what was once a church. Jonny’s church of rock n’ roll, is a truth.
Although I don’t think Jon Bon Jovi would ever take his own phrase  (Jonny’s church of rock n’ roll, is used during the performance of the song Lay Your Hands On Me) that seriously, I do believe there are core truths and beliefs, there is a message, in Bon Jovi.
A message that resonates with us, or we wouldn’t be here.

I really believe that me teaching you yoga, through Bon Jovi, allows me to teach you something I would never have been able to convey, if I had stuck to traditional methods.
But at the same time:
Bon Jovi is not me.

And if I would simplify, and limit myself to one band, it would not be Bon Jovi but Guns N’ Roses, because it fits my identity better.
Guns N Roses is more rebellious, more antagonist, which is very freeing, and makes way for your liberation.

Although I was classically schooled to be a yoga teacher, my inspiration came from Madonna doing Ashtanga yoga, in the late 20th century.
And her movie The Next Best Thing, gave me the “energy”, of what being a yoga teacher was about to me.
Now I made many mistakes, and did not succeed to bring that to life. “The first time”, I would say. Because I think this blog and my daily Bon Jovi, are the start of getting it right the second time around.
That as unconventional as my teaching methods might end up being, and as blurred as the contours of my yoga teachings are;
The past few years have been my retraining, and this blog is a new start, of a second career in yoga.
A new chance, to get it right.

There were many reasons why my first career in yoga didn’t live up to its Next Best Thing/ Madonna promise, but a very important one was that I was insufficiently tuned into the energy, of what had attracted me to yoga.
The energy, of Madonna’s athletic 1998 body.
The energy of a large yoga studio, as we see featured in The Next Best Thing.

There was a strength and virility in those representations, that is immediately lost if you start to replicate them based on the “what”. 
When the “what” becomes: Doing yoga.
Instead of “doing something that makes you strong and energetic”.
When the “what” becomes: Teaching yoga.
Instead of “stepping into your power as a professional and entrepreneur”

In 2019 after visiting the Bon Jovi concert, and already doing yoga with Bon Jovi music, I began to understand that to me, the key to yoga had always been to get the energy UP.
Not down.
And that I wanted to develop Rock Star Yoga, that would help you elevate your energy. The focus would be on empowerment, not relaxation.

But the Guns N’ Roses concert taught me the short cut, the powered up version of that. Or, perhaps, even the next level that you should be going to at some point, if you want to be truly free.
And that is how aggressively standing up for yourself, helps you on your spiritual path.
Aggression is a trailblazer, that unblocks all the social conventions, unspoken rules, and other community based blocks that could keep you in the darkness forever.

The energy of Bon Jovi is strong and energetic, in particular compared to what a normal yoga class would feel like.
So it’s definitely an improvement, and it suits the image I had of “Rock Star Yoga”. I m not disappointed, nor do I believe that as a community we’d be better off having Guns N Roses as our leading theme in Rock Star Yoga.
And there is too much of Catholic in me, to ever give up the prayers, and the on your knees, the water, the lay your hands on me, and the countless other Catholic references in Bon Jovi music.
I will never give that up.

But I do believe that it is important to bring into the mix, the powerful next-level gateways Guns N’ Roses creates.
And that there will be times in your life, when associating yourself and your yoga practice, with Guns N Roses, will help you breakout of soul sucking, disempowering, situations, where you felt like a victim.

Anger, is you taking back ownership.
Anger, is you receiving all the energy back, you have been giving away to other people. 

The lower, friendlier vibe of daily life, of yoga communities and of the Bon Jovi community, come with the “risk”, of focusing on the community first.
At the expense of your own personal needs, and wants.
At the expense, worst case scenario, of your purpose, the reason you are here on this earth.

I say risk, quotation marks, because having a community to give to, to contribute to, can also bring you into your power and can also be your purpose.
But when you start feeling it is about NOT doing certain things, more than it is about what you do, what you contribute, and how you thrive as a community member;
Then being part of a community becomes a risk.
Then being in a community becomes about being silent and not stepping on toes. There is nothing empowering about that.

When you find yourself there, then Bon Jovi energy is probably not enough to get you out, because of the strong element of community still being in there.
That creates conflict and that messes with your head.

In times like that, you need to cut ties, spit, curse, and draw a motherfuckin’ line that no one under any circumstance is ever allowed to cross, ever again.

It’s time for Guns N Roses.

[story continues below yoga section ]

💀🌹🎸 Guns N’ Roses Yoga

Anytime you feel you need to cut some ties, and walk away;
Anytime you need to REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE
AND WHO YOU CAME HERE TO BE!

Do Guns N’ Roses Yoga.

That can be a day or a lifetime, as long as you remember that it’s always at your disposal, in all its life saving glory.

You can choose between practicing on your own, or a guided practice.

option 1: 💀🌹🎸 Guided yoga practice:
Choose one or more Ashtanga videos from
🕉️Ashtanga Yoga and  🏹 Rocket Yoga playlist

I’ve chosen Ashtanga Yoga for your Guns N’ Roses Yoga, a unique school of yoga, with very long yoga sessions.
Just like the 3h + concerts Guns N’ Roses gives!

And also because Ashtanga is quite the rock star story;
It was practiced by the Grateful Dead, who brought their ashtanga yoga teacher Larry Schultz on tour with them, in the 90s. Together with Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, Larry Schultz developed Rocket Yoga.
Which I included in the above mentioned yoga playlist.

option 2: 💀🌹🎸 Practice yoga on your own:

Freestyle your yoga, this means you practice your own blend of Rock Star Yoga, also known as vinyasa flow yoga.
With a 💿 Guns N’ Roses album,
or 🎶🎸 a concert, for example:
Guns N’ Roses – Paris 06.06.1992 

If you went to the Groningen concert, you may want to use a playlist I made:
Guns N’ Roses Groningen 2022 06 23:
recap video, full set + other songs European tour
[ + story and setlist in description of this playlist ]

—🎶💀🌹🎸  that was your practice for today 💀🌹🎸 🎶—

👩🏼‍💻 the story June 26

When Guns N’ Roses played Groningen, Axl and Slash, but perhaps other bandmembers too, slept at De Prinsentuin, one of the oldest hotels, in the center of the city.
Groningen, just like Nijmegen where Goffertpark is often host to rock shows too, doesn’t have the luxury hotels Amsterdam has.
Which is why bands rarely stay in those cities and usually fly in from Amsterdam with a helicopter.

Another option from Groningen is to stay in Landgoed Lauswold, a luxury hotel on the countryside, and only a 45 minute drive from Groningen.
I heard other musicians have chosen to stay there.

But Axl and Slash were stationed in the heart of Groningen, at the kingly Prinsentuin. and they had been seen eating in the same area as the other guests. 
I must say, that I immediately thought of breakfast, with one of those breakfast buffets where Axl and Slash had taken their croissants from the same breadbasket as the rest of Groningen;
But the few lines from the newspaper article that I can read without taking a year long subscription, only mentions dinner.
But who knows, maybe they also had breakfast with the other guests too, why not.

What was clear was that they (the first three lines only mentioned Axl, actually, but in the title it had Slash too) had not wanted to have dinner on their room, and not in the private restaurant Nassau either;
They wanted to have dinner at the public Brasserie, instead.
And so they did.

It was a stark contrast with the Rolling Stones, with Keith and Mick staying in two different hotels in Amsterdam, about one week prior.
The band had split up in separate “bubbles” to protect everyone from Covid. 
Video footage showed Mick Jagger stepping in and out of cars quickly, and keeping interaction limited to friendly but hastily waving to the crowds.
No stories have surfaced there about him sharing bread baskets, but hours before the show would start, he did test positive on Covid, and the whole show had to be cancelled.

Stories said everybody was tested regularly, but perhaps that was incorrect and he really only tested because he wasn’t feeling well.

But regardless of how much testing was done with the Rolling Stones;
The fact that their two front men stayed at different hotels, and the fact that they stayed away from the public and did not mingle, illustrates they were tighter with their Covid protocols than Guns N’ Roses were.

And there is such a deeply powerful lesson in that.

Because I believe the reason rock music resonates with us so powerfully, is because it represents freedom.
Freedom we give up way too often, we let it be taken from us, because we lack an understanding of what it means, to be free.

Rock music, has the message that you are free.
And rock stars are the messengers, of that freedom.

What Axl and Slash’s refusal to hide, their refusal to live in fear either for Covid or for the public;
What that refusal teaches us, is that freedom is more than a human right.
It is more than a nice thing to have, when the moon and the stars are right, and the coast is clear, and there are not millions at stake and there isn’t an insurance company breathing down your neck to tour the world in a permanent state of separation from Life.

They showed us that freedom is more than a shall-I or shan’t I.
More than a careful weighing of the pros and cons and how much nagging you are prepared to endure and how many battles you are prepared to fight.

Axl and Slash staying in a local hotel and being among the other guests, having their dinner and breakfast, shows us that more than anything;
That freedom is a choice.

A fuckin’ choice.

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