Lecture and Demonstration Yogic Internal Relaxation Power, by Simon Borg-Olivier at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, January 2010
This is a video lecture on the essence of yoga and its related anatomy and physiology of yoga, a demonstration of some advanced yoga and a short beginner level class i gave to about 800 people at Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney at the start of 2010. Thanks to Sheona White for organising this and Ross Glendenning and Verity Gill for there assistance in demonstration.
Simon Borg-Olivier demonstrating ha-mula bandha with tha-uddiyana bandha, defining the abdominal external oblique muscles
Simon Borg-Olivier demonstrating tha-mula bandha with tha-uddiyana bandha, defining the rectus abdominis muscles
In addition to the physical yoga demonstration and the lecture I demonstrate here strength using internal relaxation power from diaphram, a relaxed abdomen and a relaxed neck. I also demontrate breath-control that can slow the heart rate from 88 to 33 beats per minutes in about 45 seconds. Thank you  to 3 of my main teachers who taught me the essence of this work. Prof Bhim Dev, Natanaga Zhander (Shandor Remete) and Zhen Hua Yang. These are three men who i consider to be modern super yogis who seem to actually demonstrate what appear to be the Siddhi (super) powers of yoga.
In this lecture I begin by saying what my current teacher Master Zhen Hua Yang says are the three things you need to do achieve yoga. These are:
1. Unblock block the blockages of the movement of energy (prana/chi) through the channels in the body.
2. Make the energy move.
3. Just sit back and enjoy and the natural state of paradise that is within us.
One of the main things that block energy inside the body is excess tension. This is especially so in any of the 12 very special muscles (or muscle groups) that have dual control in the body, i.e. they can be controlled by the conscious mind and the unconscious mind independently. One of these, perhaps the most important because everyone can access it, is the diaphragm. It is really important that during your yoga practice and especially in your daily life that your diaphragm is not inhibited by inappropriate abdominal muscle tension, and it is also important to know how to breathe correctly in your yoga practice.
In this video I demonstrate breath-control (pranayama) techniques that I was lucky enough to learn from the brilliant teacher who i spent the longest time learning from, Natanaga Zhander (Shandor Remete), to control my internal organs as well as the rate of my heart beat.
In this video lecture I also demonstrate a simple version of what was initially taught me by one of my earliest, most incredible, but yet humble teachers, Professor Bhim Dev about 30 years ago. I used to occasionally help Professor Bhim Dev on stage to set up to demonstrate lying on a heavy bed of nails, me and one other person lifting a 60 kg block of concrete on his  bare abdomen, and then finding a member of the audience who would use a sledge hammer to crack the concrete bock while it lay on his chest and while he would lay on the thick bed of nails!
Also, in this lecture video I demonstrate pushing my throat against 2 fingers of pressure. The ability to do this is something that is a necessary prerequisite to being able to do a physiologically sound headstand, i.e to be completely relaxed with all the weight on the head (this is not something that is generally safe for most people as most people are better off taking much more weight on the arms in headstand). Both Professor Bhim Dev and Master Zhen Hua Yang have demonstrated to me the ability to bend iron bars with their throats, So what I show here is quite mild in comparison, but because I can now (after decades of practice) start to get a hint that some things that I once thought were siddhi or super powers are actually achievable, and quite scientifically legitimate with correct practice, now I am beginning to believe that the idea of achieving what would seem like siddhi or super powers to an untrained person are simply things that the human body is actually capable of with good practice.
Hi Sommer – great to hear from you
lovely you could come to my lecture especially from so far away
actually it was a fun lecture – there was about 600 people in class i held after it
lots of fun
lots of love to you, simon
Comments 4
great lecture simon! almost feels now that i attended the lecture too! all the way from tokyo 😉
Author
Hi Sommer – great to hear from you
lovely you could come to my lecture especially from so far away
actually it was a fun lecture – there was about 600 people in class i held after it
lots of fun
lots of love to you, simon
Really amazing talk & demo. Fascinating! WOW!
thanks so much to share this for free