Yoga Synergy how to breathe part1

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 …

back pain with Yoga

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 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 …

Yoga Synergy Blog

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 …

Essentials of Teacher Training: YOGA FUNDAMENTALS: Yoga Synergy 120 hour Online Course

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 …

Spinal Movements Sequence (Part 16): Vinyasa – balancing forward bending with backward bending

This video is Part 16 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. Video Transcript: Each extension movement is followed by a flexion movement of the spine. …

Spinal Movements Sequence (Part 6): Lengthening the Spine and Bending Backwards (Spinal Extension)

This video is Part 6 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. Video Transcript: “Now I deepen the movements using hips and armpit muscles. Pushing the …