“ You know, my yoga  didn't get here by itself. It's been a long road and it's taken a lot of doing. This yoga of mine, it is like mystery stories, the kind that Shakespeare saw when he was growing up. I think you could trace what I do in yoga back that far. My  yoga was on the fringes then, and I think is on the fringes now. And it looks like it has  been on the hard ground. "                                                          

                                                                                                            - Pierre Bismuth

Bob Dylan Teaching

"Well voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are.  Instead, they matter ONLY if they convince you that they are telling the truth."

So, thats just it.  Slow down and make the poses truthful.  Be curious, watch and breathe.  Be razor sharp in your observation to unearth some stuff embedded deep inside and look NOT so pretty but instead look and BE truthful propped up with lots of blocks and blankets.

To slow down, notice and allow the poses to be more truthful is tough.  Practicing yoga becomes a journey and not just a simple, rote, calisthenic class.  This investigative style of practice has informed my teaching tremendously.  My words blossom to "nudge" students gently into new terrritory-------not control or force their limbs into picture-perfect forms.  As I witness my body, along with my students, unfold into asana architecture,  I am inspired by the beneficial yet mostly "imperfect" forms that have take shape.  

For this reason, I am stepping further and further away from the overcooked-vinyasa flow style of yoga practice.  To unmask my holdings, along with my students, I must hold and watch.  HOLD, BREATH, and FEEL…..Yoga is an art and there is certainly no "right" practice- only different paths/practices to allow conscious, TRUTHFUL, communication with the tight, strong, weak, loose secrets of our bodies.  I thank Rodney and Colleen for their teachings that opened this less frenetic yogic path up to me.  I feel more and more truthful each time I practice and the poses only matter if they are telling the truth.   - Sue O'Connell

The Spiritual Message in Bob Dylan’s Speech 

In some ways Bob Dylan still seems somewhat baffled at his success and the fact that he is referred to as the voice of a generation. He claims that there is no secret to writing beautiful and meaningful lyrics. He has lived his music. He has a respect and love for who came before him ~ his teachers. Their message, their lyrics became so much a part of him that it was only natural that he began to create his own without any thought to fame, celebrity or monetary success. He just tapped in to his own voice. When you find your passion, something you love, live it and allow it to become a part of you. Find your teacher, learn from them, respect their work, practice what they teach, but never forget who you are. Find your own ways, your own voice and be true to who you are. At times you might be criticized and it may get hard, but staying true will allow you to live with yourself with comfort and ease which is much more important than trying to please others. “Voices are not measured by how pretty they are,” Dylan said quoting Sam Cooke. “They’re to be measured by whether they’re telling the truth.” There is so much to talk about in referencing this speech. The obvious is the work on asana ~ practice, practice, practice until it becomes a part of you. But also allow yourself to feel that place inside where you might feel a tug of war between what you feel, what is your authenticity vs. what is expected of you or what you pretend to feel based on others expectations. You might realize that your real joy looks very different. Various situations will present themselves in ways that may compromise your authenticity. That is when the work begins ~ the practice of realizing your truth as opposed to your habit. We rarely verbalize what our values are, but when we do, our intentions become very clear. When we’re clear in our intentions, when we’re definitive inner convictions, we begin to feel a shift. Our relationships feel it as well and then changes can begin.                                     - Debbie Charych 

Categories of Poses for  Mar- Ap HW:

1. Asymmetrical Backbends
2. Symmetrical Backbends
3. Asymmetrical Forward Bends
4. Symmetrical Forward Bends
5. OpenTwists
6. Closed Twists
7. Inversions
8. Hip Openers

What Bob Dylan said of his friend and fellow songwriter Billy Lee, "He was a true original....He did it all.  He was a deep, truthful man.  He wasn't bitter or nostalgic.  He just accepted. He knew where he came from and he was content with who he was.", not only seems true of Billy, but Dylan himself, and speaks to my own experience in my yoga practice.  The word self containment comes to mind.

Maybe there are other ways to become deep, truthful, accepting, self contained while acknowledging where we have come from, as Dylan did, but I know of no better way than through a sustained yoga practice..Honoring where I have come from, as Dylan did by acknowledging the source of his material, keeps me mindful of the "Great Chain of Being", where we each have a unique and definite place in the universal order of things but are at the same time deeply interdependent.  We each have a part to play but are actually interconnected and develop with and through each other and all of creation.  This is what I am beginning to feel through my yoga practice.

Bob Dylan Musicares Person of the Year Speech:

I have been inspired by every perspective and interpretation of Bob Dylan’sspeech.  Thank you all for sharing.

 

There is so much to think about after reading this speech-

A couple of phrases grabbed me from my first reading of it and have

stuck with me.

Dylan has been accused of making a career of Confounding Expectations.

How great is that?

It made me think about expectations- mine, others, how expectations enhance us, excite us, how we benefit from expectations, how they can limit us.  

The definition of expectation is: A strong belief that something will happen.  A belief that someone will or should achieve something.

That’s not a bad thing. Unless expectations prevent us from doing what is true for ourselves. That’s the limiting part. The Shoulds. The expectationswe put on ourselves as well as the ones put on us from outside of ourselves.“I should be a doing my asana practice and look just like this ..”, in spite of the pain in my knee. I should be, look, sound, or whatever like something other than myself  as I am in this moment in time and space and in this body.” “His voice should sound more like that”. Expectations can crush us.  They can prevent us from Singing the Truth.

Or, like Bob Dylan, we can Confound Expectations.

I looked up the word confound. I have been using it recently. I like it.

It means: To cause surprise or confusion in someone, especially by acting against their expectations.

Synonyms for confound are: amaze, astonish, dumbfound, stagger, surprise, startle, stun, throw, discompose, shake, bewilder, bedazzle, baffle, mystify, bemuse, perplex, puzzle, confuse, take aback, shake up, catch off balance, flabbergast, blow someones mind, blow away …flummox, faze, stump, beat, fox, (and my favorite)- discombobulate.

It seems like it would be a full career to do all of those things.

Dylan did them all by Singing His Truth. What else could he do? Did he have a choice? Do any of us?

Confound Expectation. Sing the Truth.

                                                                                                             - Diane Sjoholm

GIVING BIRTH TO THE UNIVERSE

The outbreath is an experience of the life force. In the Lamaze method of natural childbirth, they talk about breathing out and letting go as you are giving birth. The outbreath is like giving birth to the universe. You just let go.

                                        - Chogyam Trungpa