Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Simon Borg-Olivier”
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
This video is Part 28 of a YogaSynergy Spinal Movements Sequence taught by physiotherapist and Director of Yoga Synergy, Simon Borg-Olivier, which he teaches in person in courses throughout the world as well as Online in courses at RMIT University and Online in courses at YogaSynergy called Yoga Fundamentals and Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga. In this part Simon …
This video is Part 27 of a YogaSynergy Spinal Movements Sequence taught by physiotherapist and Director of Yoga Synergy, Simon Borg-Olivier, which he teaches in person in courses throughout the world as well as Online in courses at RMIT University and Online in courses at YogaSynergy called Yoga Fundamentals and Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga. In this part, Simon …
