Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga”
Basic Spinal Movements In this blog I will be examining a sequence of postures done from a simple standing posture that in its simplest form involves moving the trunk and spine into its 8 main ‘pure’ positions. This is one of the most effective and accessible practices for anyone and can give tremendous release of back and other pain as …
In this blog I will be discussing the the physical and physiological effects of breathing. There are two main reasons we breathe. The main reason is the physiological reason of getting oxygen into our cells. Perhaps surprisingly to many people the best way to achieve this is to safely breathe as little as possible (hypoventilation) to stimulate the Bohr effect …
How to ‘open’ your mid-spine in back bends and not squash your lower back *** Lengthen your Psoas at the hips (hip extension) and immobilse L5-S1 *** Breathe in to your abdomen (use your diaphragm) *** Breathe out from your chest (ha-uddiyana bandha) *** Psoas then extends your spine from T12-L5 (and not L5-S1) because the diaphragm attaches to the …
By Simon Borg-Olivier, 1st April 2014 The sat-kriyas of hatha yoga are six kinds of ‘cleansing processes’ for the body and the mind. They have many manifestations. One of the best explanations of these sat-kriyas and their many variations can be found in the Yoga Makaranda of Sri T. Krishnamacharya. The kriyas are of six types: 1. Dhauti Kriya, 2. …
What I learnt from doing yoga underwater: 1. How to use my ‘inner body’ to move and enter postures rather than relying on gravity or momentum. 2. How to flow smoothly between postures in curves rather than jagged edges in order to gather energy with each movement rather than just expend energy. 3. How to move in and out of …
In this short video below I discuss the seven main ways you can exhale and how by understanding and mastering these ways of exhalation you can stimulate the pleasure centres of your brain, improve core strength, save energy, reduce stress, make your spine more mobile and flexible, and massage your internal organs to improve the function of your digestive …
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 …
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 …
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 …
EDIT: We have renamed our course Advanced Yoga Fundamentals: Essentials for teaching Yoga We are very proud to present our online course ‘Essentials of Teacher Training: Yoga Fundamentals’. This course is the culmination of 30 years of teaching experience and 45 years of yoga practice. The course is useful on many levels. It gives 28 versions of an accessible but challenging …
