by Simon Borg-Olivier Many people in Australia and around the world are now practicing postures and movements, similar to those seen in hatha yoga, on poles in ‘Pole dance’ studios and on hanging circus silks and rope inversion swings. I was fortunate enough to learn how to do yoga on poles and ropes two decades ago in India in the …
Kundalini, Chakras, Prana and Two Real Intertwining Snakes
by Simon Borg-Olivier In this blog I want to discuss some points about Kundalini energy and Chakras. Much of the information available on the subject of Kundalini is esoteric and so not easy to justify with rational conventional science. I think the best explanation of the science of kundalini comes from Jana Dixon and her excellent book ‘The Biology of Kundalini”. …
Exercises for the Healthy Development of Babies and Children
by Simon Borg-Olivier In this 9 minute video I am using my understanding as a physiotherapist and yoga teacher to give exercises to my 9 month old son Eric. This training takes advantage of the natural spinal reflexes that are most prevalent in babies. These spinal reflexes help to facilitate the exercises that I am getting him to practice. I …
Accessible Spinal Movements for Internal Health, External Energy and a Pain Free Back
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 …
Breathing (Part 1): How to breathe to help your spine, internal organs and energy levels
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 Relieve Back-pain and Bend Backwards Without Hurting your Lower Back
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 …
How to Clean Your Body and Mind: Kriya Yoga
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
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 …
How to Nourish and Strengthen your Hips with Intelligent Postures and Movements
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 …
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 …