Yoga Journal – Daily Bon Jovi Yoga

The 38 minutes and homemade yoga bolster, that could have saved me

Published on 13 February 202213 February 2022 by Suzanne BeenackersLeave a comment

I am “Forrest Gumping” myself into getting some sort of system to
– blog daily
– do yoga daily
– get my daylight and exercise outdoor;
And then – a girl can dream! – it would be nice to actually get some work done as well.

Last week’s celebrational claim that I was finally feeling better and was no longer losing the first half of my day to sickness, proved to be as inspiring as it was prematurely.

So with the first hours of my day still being gnawed at, by Life;
And me STILL not being consistent with the only thing that prevents a slow start, which is to radically cap all social time, worktime, and screen time to 7 PM, and only do yoga and housekeeping in the evenings
(a sacrifice I am apparently not willing to make in full) (or at all);
Under those circumstances, what I consider to be “planning”, feels more like Forrest Gumping.

Or maybe as something that would have gotten better results, if I actually had stopped making it so complicated, trying to control things, and had just put one foot in front of the other.
After all, I don’t know if you are familiar with the movie, but Forrest Gump’s approach turned out to be very successful, and it brought him far in life.
And he did not make it as complicated as I do.

So I don’t think I do him justice when I say I m “Forrest Gumping” myself through these first days where I struggle to make the Daily Bon Jovi blog, as well as the daily yoga itself to become non-negotiable elements of my day for the rest of my life.
Because Forrest would have given it less thought, and gotten it right.
Instead of giving it a lot of thought, and still getting it wrong.

“Entirely wrong?” I hear you say 😉
No, not entirely.
I am doing daily yoga, it’s just that the blogging part requires more thought. The times I wrote it after 7 PM, I paid for it dearly by handing over the first half of the next day, to pay for my sins.

So I will spent the first available desk hour of my day to writing this blog.
And yoga after 7 PM, unless I have an evening activity, and then I ll do it earlier.

One important reason I am attached to doing yoga at night time, is because although as a writer I am free to plan my workhours as I like, most people work daytime hours.

If I would do my #dailybonjoviyoga during regular office hours, I think it would be less relatable, than if I set it up to have to fit a life that is not about yoga.

I want my daily yoga be squeezed in at the edges of a workday, so that we are all on the same page.

And since I do not have access to my mornings, and also because I love squeezing in as many desk hours before noon as I can (it used to work up to 6 hours before noon!), I will never choose the mornings to do yoga.
Although the morning is the most common time to yoga, traditionally. For both people who have jobs as well as for yoga teachers.

But I have chosen the night, the evening, to be the time I practice yoga, #dailybonjoviyoga.

I share all these ins and outs about when to practice, and what my reasons were behind it, because I want to illustrate the struggle of picking a time, the struggle all of us who are not Forrest Gump, and who do not automatically choose right, might face;
As well as that I want to invite you to experiment with it. Try things out to get it right.

I don’t endorse micromanaging your day, but understanding the building blocks of your day, and moving them around until they work, pays off.
All your activities have an ideal time to be done;
And just saying “first things first” is a simplification.

You wouldn’t organize a rock concert at 11 AM.
The same way committing to yoga may involve some juggling, finding the right timeslot when it rocks.

So within this process of juggling yoga, I found myself practicing the first Bon Jovi album, from 1984, yesterday at 10PM.
It is only 38 minutes long, and I had chosen this album for its shortness.
And because I was feeling dizzy and unstable, I chose restorative yoga, which is the final page from our free download

Restorative yoga used to be a bit of a mixed bag to teach, in my video classes as well as a large portion of studio classes .
This is because they require quite some equipment, most notably a yoga bolster, which is a long sturdy pillow.

Where other yoga equipment, such as yoga blocks and yoga belts, can easily be replaced with a stack of books or a regular belt, the yoga bolster requires more work.
And most yoga studios I have worked in, with the exception of my own yoga studio, did not have bolsters for their students.
What I did in those studios, ideally, is to use two round, high, meditation cushions, instead of one bolster. But if I had a full class, there were not enough of them.
So then I could not teach restorative yoga.

With the few full-length video classes I gave in 2020 I got more creative, and found a benefit of teaching online.
Because people at home can make a bolster by rolling up one or two blankets or sleeping bags, in a roll that is about a meter long.
IKEA also seems to be stocking bolster-esque pillows, currently. Mojlighet. But I have not seen them or tested these ones they are selling right now.

Sales of bolster-like pillows by IKEA have been erratic, and when they are for sale it sure pays off to get them while stocks last.
Pre-pandemic we have had three to five years without these pillows at IKEA.

But like I said, you can also roll up one or multiple blankets into a sturdy, one-meter long roll.

The yoga I did was the restorative yoga at the final page (schedule 8) page from our free download
But you can also check YouTube for “restorative yoga” or “yoga with bolster”, if you prefer to be guided.

restorative yoga, schedule 8 from our free download

There are 7 poses in the schedule, and 9 songs on the album Bon Jovi-Bon Jovi.

Practiced pose 1-5, in one-song-each fashion, with song 1-5.

Poses 6 (“backbend”) and 7 (“variation butterfly legs”) are backbends and I do not recommend holding them for a whole song. I practiced these poses during song 6 and 7, but by alternating them.
So let’s say pose 6 for a while, then 7, then back to 6, then 7. And so on.

I used song 8 and 9 for relaxation.

During practice my emotions went from feeling I was cutting corners because I wasn’t practicing standing poses, or other what I would consider “real” yoga poses, and had chosen for the shortest Bon Jovi album and the easiest set of poses;
To one of understanding this was really all it took.

That “only” doing restorative poses, is really all the yoga anyone ever really needs to make a change in health, relaxation, stress-release.
And that 38 minutes is more than enough.

All those years where I struggled to find a practice, and even to an extend the most recent years where I start-stopped doing Bon Jovi yoga, or Rock Star Yoga.
The years where instead of keeping it simple, I thought about it, got frustrated, didn’t feel it, and so on.

Yesterday, doing this 38 minute restorative yoga practice with a ten year old IKEA bolster, doing the easiest most relaxing poses I knew, I realized;
This is really all it takes.

But Forrest Gump would have been able to tell you that 1600 words ago.

BON JOVI – BON JOVI, 1984, 38 MINUTES

This is the track list:

1.Runaway
Jon Bon Jovi, George Karak
2. Roulette
Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora
3. She Don’t Know Me
Mark Avsec
4. Shot Through the Heart
Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Ponti
5. Love Lies.
Jon Bon Jovi, David Rashbaum
6. Breakout
Jon Bon Jovi, David Rashbaum
7. Burning for Love
Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora
8. Come Back
Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora
9. Get Ready
Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora

Hitting the yoga mat tonight, probably with These Days.
And I will catch you tomorrow!
.
~Suzanne
Rock Star Writer Nijmegen
Paypalme
bookshop

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yoga journal Saturday February 12

starting time: 10 PM
duration: 38 minutes, 9 songs
🎶🎸 Bon Jovi cd: Bon Jovi-Bon Jovi (1984)

type of yoga: I used our free download
Bon Jovi Yoga Set List 2.0 – yoga framework incl sticky men schedules
and practiced schedule 8
8. lying butterfly or restorative yoga with props
9. long relaxation, final 2 songs, Come Back and Get Ready

About me:
After 2 years, I’m my old self again! | daily yoga kickoff
About Daily Bon Jovi Yoga and Rock Star Yoga:
Uncovering Rock Star Yoga; A Journey

Sources Daily Bon Jovi Yoga:
1. free download, this is a 17 page guide
Bon Jovi Yoga Set List 2.0 – yoga framework incl sticky men schedules
2. White Tigress Yoga Workbook
You can find this book at the bottom of this page:
https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/rockstarwriter
3. Rock Star Yoga
Pure Rock Star Yoga is a free flowing form of movement (improvisation) without following a system. Just music.

************

1. Subscribe to receive these posts in your inbox.
You can find the subscription button on this page, probably on the top right.

2 YouTube: Life lessons in Bon Jovi songs
rebooting within days! -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXpNMsIFP2U34A0yBKk8PUQ
As part of our work together, I will also be making Rock Star Yoga or #dailybonjoviyoga videos for this channel, scheduled for starting in June 2022.

3 YouTube: yoga met Suzanne Beenackers (Nederlands)
start snel weer op -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA81I4RdVvgtGK99T3Io3Ew

other:
yoga on YouTube by me:
PRO videos 2015 2016
Archive home yoga – English

Rock Star Writer, my blog dedicated to Bon Jovi, sex, and rock n roll.
our Facebook page Rock Star Writer
Twitter account

Art & Popular Culture: World Between Worlds
YouTube Rock Your Business

You can find my books The Little Mistress Who Turned Into A Baby Koala
and A Boyfriend Like Jon Bongiovi
and White Tigress Yoga Workbook
at the bottom of this page:
https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/rockstarwriter

beginner friendly playlists from my channel:
I m currently restoring my older work. New yoga videos to support our Daily Bon Jovi Yoga / Rock Star Yoga are set for late June.

New Jersey: 57 minutes. And the best Bon Jovi album ever.

Published on 11 February 202211 February 2022 by Suzanne BeenackersLeave a comment

Just like I fell off the yoga wagon – for reasons that are by now brightly clear to me, but I will save that story for another day –
the same way I fell of the Bon Jovi wagon.

Not just in the late 80s, because their music was too entangled with the person who broke my heart;
But as recent as last year.

I didn’t walk away from it, there was nothing dramatic about it. Just that the way I was creating art from it, my blogging series for my original Rock Star Writer blog, my video series where I was making reviews of the These Days tour, as well as the whole concept of Rock Star Yoga;
None of them were going anywhere, fluently. They all seemed stuck, and somehow “off”.
Because if they had been on track, they would have flowed. And they didn’t.

I can only really enjoy art, relationships, music, movies, if they inspire me to create something. I process my experiences, by creating my own art inspired by them. And when those systems, or series, didn’t take off, the input, the music from Bon Jovi could also not be processed.
For example I have not watched Bon Jovi documentaries either, nor read Bon Jovi books. Because if I don’t have easy-access Bon Jovi expressions, art forms, then I cannot process it.
And therefor I cannot take it in.

The reason I was suddenly so aware of this, today, when listening to New Jersey while doing my yoga, was because I remembered that when I was really into the music of Bon Jovi, listening to it on a daily basis, making review videos, attending live stream premieres and so on;
During that time, I could distinguish how remarkable and unique Jon’s voice was on New Jersey.
And today, Friday 11 February 2022, I knew, I remembered, that fact; But I could no longer hear it.

If I had not gotten my head around this album a year or more back, and remembered this fact, then I would not have been able to come to that observation today.
I am simply not that deep into it, anymore. Or “yet”; Since I know it will come back, now that through this blog, and through my yoga, I have a sturdy creative expression.
My involvement with Bon Jovi will take off again.

I will share in a moment how this relates to doing yoga – but first the piece of knowledge about that voice. About why New Jersey is so special.

First off, technically, it’s the album that had the most songs written for it, and there was talk that New Jersey was going to be a double album.
For my YouTube series Life lessons in Bon Jovi songs, the channel where in the future I will also be sharing Rock Star Yoga, the songs from this series will be including songs that were never released on official albums.
They are commonly referred to as “deep cuts”.

Around the New Jersey album, the video series that I m doing, will have the highest number of deep cuts out of all the albums. The number of songs they recorded, intended for New Jersey, is enormous.

But the reason I remembered being so struck by Jon’s voice on New Jersey-and lucky us, that THIS was the album they made more than double the songs for!- was because his voice has a rough edge to it.

Probably as a “result” of extensive touring, Jon’s voice changed and on New Jersey it has not just range, but also a mesmerizing rawness and honesty to it. It sounds effortless, off the cuff. Most noticeably in the garage band -recordings “Ride Cowboy Ride” and “Love for Sale”.

But like I said:
I remembered this. I could no longer hear it.

As was the case with doing yoga: The past years were spent mostly yoga free, and just like I had lost touch with the nuances of Bon Jovi, in a similar way I have lost touch with doing yoga.
I remember much of it, and I was able to “do” yoga using that knowledge and finding that wonderful edge in poses, where roughness and range melt.

But if I had not remembered it, I would have been unable to experience it, or get to that point, today.

With Bon Jovi as well as with yoga, I m stepping in not so much as a “beginner” but I am profiting from a foundation that was built years ago.
And both with Bon Jovi as well as with the physical poses, there is a tremendous and in a way definitely painful awareness;
I have been cleaner, and identifiable “better”.
I used to live and breathe this, and now I don’t.

But at the same time there is an understanding, that this time, any time when you are learning something, whether it’s an entirely new thing, or whether it’s something you fell out of, like I did;
That this time is so very, very precious.

If you’re starting yoga, or thinking about starting yoga; If you’re considering picking up listening to Bon Jovi;
Cherish it.
Enjoy this phase of not-knowing, of awkwardness, of newness. There is a deep and profound beauty in it, that you may never experience again.

I don’t think Bon Jovi knew they were creating their best album, according to some at least New Jersey is their best. And to the others it’s These Days, I reckon!
Those are the biggies.
But I don’t think Bon Jovi knew, with either of those albums, that they were creating their best work.

But I do think they were in the moment, surrendered to the work of writing and recording; And spent little time on should have could have, or only if.

The album New Jersey is proof that if you just focus on what’s in front of you, right now, that that is not just “all” you can do;
But that is what creates the most beautiful, rich, layered, and abundant outcomes.

This is the track list:

1.Lay Your Hands on Me
2.Bad Medicine
3.Born to Be My Baby
4.Living in Sin
5.Blood on Blood
6.Homebound Train
7.Wild Is the Wind
8.Ride Cowboy Ride
9.Stick to Your Guns
10.I’ll Be There for You
11.99 in the Shade
12.Love for Sale

Hitting the yoga mat tomorrow, probably with Keep The Faith.
And I will catch you tomorrow!
.
~Suzanne
Rock Star Writer Nijmegen
Paypalme
bookshop

Subscribe to receive these posts in your inbox.
You can find the subscription button on this page, probably on the top right.

yoga journal Friday February 11

starting time: 6 PM
duration: 57 minutes, 12 songs
🎶🎸 Bon Jovi cd: New Jersey (1988)

type of yoga: I used our free download
Bon Jovi Yoga Set List 2.0 – yoga framework incl sticky men schedules
and practiced 1 to 3, and the first row of 4 (to Gate Pose)
1. opening sequence and/or sun salutations
2. balance poses
3. standing poses
4. transition poses between standing and kneeling & poses on your knees
9. long relaxation, final 2 songs, 99 In The Shade and Love For Sale

About me:
After 2 years, I’m my old self again! | daily yoga kickoff
About Daily Bon Jovi Yoga and Rock Star Yoga:
Uncovering Rock Star Yoga; A Journey

************

1. Subscribe to receive these posts in your inbox.
You can find the subscription button on this page, probably on the top right.

3 YouTube: yoga met Suzanne Beenackers (Nederlands)
start snel weer op -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA81I4RdVvgtGK99T3Io3Ew

other:
yoga on YouTube by me:
PRO videos 2015 2016
Archive home yoga – English

Rock Star Writer, my blog dedicated to Bon Jovi, sex, and rock n roll.
our Facebook page Rock Star Writer
Twitter account

Art & Popular Culture: World Between Worlds
YouTube Rock Your Business

beginner friendly playlists from my channel:
I m currently restoring my older work. New yoga videos to support our Daily Bon Jovi Yoga / Rock Star Yoga are set for late June.

These Days 2 disc edition: A 35 minute bonus album

Published on 10 February 202210 February 2022 by Suzanne BeenackersLeave a comment

This post is definitely me getting my Day 1 Feet Under The Table here!
Or since this is a yoga blog:
It is me getting my feet on the yoga mat.

Although in the near future I intend to write a yoga wisdom-inspired column here, I imagine the first weeks this space will regularly be used to introduce albums, and today it means recreating the album for you because few will have the 8-track bonus cd to These Days, and I have no idea if it’s available on streaming services.

I also discovered a playlist of this cd on YouTube, created 12 years ago, but it has two different tracks opening the album than the one I have:
by Chris R, different opening tracks: Bon Jovi – These Days DISC 2 SPECIAL EDITION
So even if you do have the double album, I suspect it might be possible we still have a different one.

I created my own public playlist, here it is:
Bon Jovi These Days 2 Disc edition – bonus cd
And it makes a wonderful, short, 35 minute yoga practice.

Musically, the album is very versatile.
Let’s Make It Baby, is the sexiest Bon Jovi song ever written in the history of Bon Jovi. We’ve got a Wembley 1995 recording with Bob Geldof, and Tico Torres, David Bryan and Richie Sambora all bring it.

This is the track list:

1.Fields Of Fire
2.Thank You
3.Mrs. Robinson
4.Let’s Make It Baby
5.I Don’t Like Mondays (Live)Featuring – Bob Geldof
6.Crazy (Live)Lead Vocals – Tico Torres
7.Tumblin’ Dice (Live)Lead Vocals – David Bryan
8.Heaven Help Us (Live)Lead Vocals – Richie Sambora

Hitting the yoga mat tonight again, probably with New Jersey.
And I will catch you tomorrow!
.
~Suzanne
Rock Star Writer Nijmegen
Paypalme
bookshop

Subscribe to receive these posts in your inbox.
You can find the subscription button on this page, probably on the top right.

yoga journal wednesday February 9

starting time: 10 PM
duration: 35 minutes, 8 songs
🎶🎸 Bon Jovi cd: Bon Jovi These Days 2 Disc edition – bonus cd
This edition was released in 1996, a year after the original album.

type of yoga: I used our free download
Bon Jovi Yoga Set List 2.0 – yoga framework incl sticky men schedules
and practiced 6 and 7. And 9 is long relaxation
6. Seated forward bends and twists
7. Lying down supine poses – practiced up until/ to snail pose
9. long relaxation, final song Heaven Help Us

About me:
After 2 years, I’m my old self again! | daily yoga kickoff
About Daily Bon Jovi Yoga and Rock Star Yoga:
Uncovering Rock Star Yoga; A Journey

************

1. Subscribe to receive these posts in your inbox.
You can find the subscription button on this page, probably on the top right.

3 YouTube: yoga met Suzanne Beenackers (Nederlands)
start snel weer op -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA81I4RdVvgtGK99T3Io3Ew

other:
yoga on YouTube by me:
PRO videos 2015 2016
Archive home yoga – English

Rock Star Writer, my blog dedicated to Bon Jovi, sex, and rock n roll.
our Facebook page Rock Star Writer
Twitter account

Art & Popular Culture: World Between Worlds
YouTube Rock Your Business

beginner friendly playlists from my channel:
I m currently restoring my older work. New yoga videos to support our Daily Bon Jovi Yoga / Rock Star Yoga are set for late June.

We’re keeping the faith | yoga journal Sa 15 January

Published on 16 January 202216 January 2022 by Suzanne BeenackersLeave a comment

Keep The Faith, 3 November 1992, 1h+, 12 songs

This felt BIG.
After 15+ years of teaching a regular schedule of yoga group classes, the journey of letting go of what was, and reinventing a new type of yoga to teach and to DO, has not been easy.
Nor pretty!
But I stayed interested in yoga, in business, and ultimately it was also the vision that yoga could be combined, merged, and pounded together with rock music, into pure ecstasy;
It was that vision that kept me going.

That although, yes, the relaxation and stress reduction is important. And taking better care of myself in 2022 is definitely a priority. I m not here to build a new yoga business that’s going to keep me glued to my social media, Inbox, or floods my agenda.
Nor to create something that takes time away from your calendar, you’d preferred to spend otherwise.
But Rock Star Yoga, and it’s daily counterpart Daily Bon Jovi Yoga, are definitely about more than staying healthy. And about more than staying offline and not letting our mood be determined by the madness of the world.

The reason I came back to yoga, even though I could have chosen any form of physical exercise (I actually walk or cycle for over an hour every day), and any career, because I have other degrees and have fallen in love with marketing and sales a long time ago-
The reason I came back to yoga, is because the potential of what it can be.

Developing, or just “starting” Rock Star Yoga, and setting one foot in front of the other, is simply the absolute best thing I can possibly imagine doing with my life.

To take yoga, the Indian system of movement and breath, and to within that yoga system pick sides with the free-flowing forms of yoga, most famously taught by Shiva Rea (see bottom of this post for her talk on Burning Man); And to combine that with the energy of rock music, and perhaps even the energy of a rock concert.

To move beyond the silence, and the breath, and be taken over by another power, another energy, where we are no longer aware of our individuality, no longer aware of our thoughts or our worries.
And we’re one with the highest vision we have for ourselves and for the world.

It is for that, we must keep the faith.

.
~Suzanne
Rock Star Writer
Paypalme

yoga journal Saturday January 15

Bon Jovi cd: Keep The Faith, 3 November 1992.
duration: 1h+, 12 songs
type of yoga:
I used our free download
Bon Jovi Yoga Set List 2.0 – yoga framework incl sticky men schedules
and practiced 1-3 fully
1. Opening sequence, half sun salutations and full sun salutations
2. Balance poses
3. Standing poses
from 8. Legs up the wall pose with pillow
9. long relaxation, final two songs Blame It On The Love Of Rock & Roll and Little Bit Of Soul

About Daily Bon Jovi Yoga and Rock Star Yoga:
Uncovering Rock Star Yoga; A Journey

************

1. Subscribe to receive there posts in your inbox.
You can find the subscription button on this page, probably on the top right.

3 YouTube: yoga met Suzanne Beenackers (Nederlands)
start snel weer op -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA81I4RdVvgtGK99T3Io3Ew

other:
yoga on YouTube by me:
PRO videos 2015 2016
Archive home yoga – English

Rock Star Writer, my blog dedicated to Bon Jovi, sex, and rock n roll.
our Facebook page Rock Star Writer
Twitter account

Art & Popular Culture: World Between Worlds
YouTube Rock Your Business

closing:
1. Shiva Rea on free flowing movement
2. playlist from my channel, of beginner yoga
3. Rock Star Yoga opening prayer

2. playlist from my channel, of beginner yoga
one of the playlists from my old work

3. Rock Star Yoga opening prayer
Inspired by a speech Madonna gave in 1990, when she was defending her daring artistic choices to the Vatican, this is the opening prayer to Rock Star Yoga: