Hip problems, arthritis and osteoporosis are very prevalent in later life. It is very important to strengthen your hips by carefully applying specifically chosen muscle activations in an intelligent combination of postures and movements. As exercise-based physiotherapists and long standing yoga teachers and practitioners Bianca Machliss and I (Simon Borg-Olivier) have seen over and over again the need to not …
How your yoga practice can make you fat and weak
Bad diet, an unfocused mind, stressful practice, not using your diaphragm, holding postures too long, over-tensing muscles, not being able to properly activate muscles and abdominal over-breathing can all make your yoga practice ineffective and impede your progress for a lifetime. We previously posted an article about the basic tenets of the Yoga Synergy Method, which can make any style …
Holding your breath for increased strength, flexibility, healthier digestion and to eat less food
Although there are many benefits to learning how to use all the muscles of breathing, and to learn to breathe in many ways, in the more advanced stages of yoga it is the art of breathing less than normal (hypoventilation) that gives the most physiological benefits. The less you breathe in and out the more you will build up carbon dioxide …
To Breathe or Not to Breathe!
Breathing less than normal can calm the nervous system, decrease appetite and cause more oxygen to be transported to the brain. Breathing more than normal can have some beneficial effects too, however it also can make you feel dizzy, jittery and hungry. It is also better to keep breathing exercises and physical exercises separate until one is firmly established in the physical exercises. Once one no longer needs to focus on …
How to Practice Any Yoga Style and What Makes a Good Teacher
by Simon Borg-Olivier MScBAppSc(Physiotherapy) I am constantly being asked during workshops and after classes what my opinion is about different yoga styles. I do not want to speak against any style of yoga because, with the right principles, all yoga can be performed in a safe and effective way that will help you both physiologically and anatomically. A yoga practiced …
Principles of Yoga Therapy: Practical Therapeutic Applications of Yoga
How does the practical application of some physiology and anatomy theory can make a difference in your yoga practice? Below we have presented some ’quickies’ on how to make not just your yoga practice but your daily exercises more intelligent, more effective and safer. Then we have some of the basic principles of Yoga Therapy that have been adapted from …
Niyamas – Sauca, Santosha, Tapas, Svādhyāya, Ishvara Pranidhana
NIYAMAS by Claudia Blaxell Once we begin practising yama, we can strengthen these behavioural restraints with five specific actions that constitute the second limb of yoga, niyama. In niyama, Patañjali gives us tools to help us refine ourselves, so we can live more happily and wisely. Sauca means purity. You are practising sauca if you have pure food, pure intentions …
Yamas – Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Bramacharya, Aparigraha
YAMA by Claudia Blaxell Yama, the first limb of yoga, is a code of behaviour designed to build moral conduct. In the Yoga Sutras Patañjali names five actions that must be restrained if we wish to act for the right ends. These restraints are the yamas, and they are as relevant today (if not more) as they were to humans …
Ashtanga Yoga Drishti in Surya Namaskar
According to Sri K Pattabhi Jois, in his classic book ‘Yoga Mala’, during the ‘Salute to the Sun’ sequence (Surya Namaskar), your eyes should gaze upward toward the ‘Third eye centre’ (broomadhya drishti) on each inhalation (all the odd numbered vinyasa) and your eyes should gaze downward toward the tip of the nose (nasagra drishti) on each exhalation (all the …
Is it Correct to ‘Pull the Navel towards the Spine’? Answer: Yes and No!
Many people in the world of yoga, Pilates and fitness tell their clients and students to do something like ‘pull the navel to the spine’. If you google this expression you find articles that give a flurry of controversy on whether on not it is a good idea to ‘pull the navel to the spine’. In this video, exercise-based physiotherapist …