Posted on our facebook site by Naomi Nina Silove on March 31, 2009 at 4:39pm

Dear Bianca, Simon and others involved in the creation of this group,

Thank you so much for putting time into this wonderful resource. 

I am wondering whether you advocate particular nutritional principles that you find complementary to yoga (specifically, not just in terms of general health and well-being)? 

Best wishes,
Nina

Posted on our facebook site by Ruth Weeks on April 1, 2009 at 11:27am

I’m interested to read more about this too, as I know that Simon has just finished a 56 day fast.

Posted on our facebook site by Vitoria Borg-Olivier on May 3, 2009 at 10:39pm

While Simon is busy having a coconut or 10 (actually it’s his busiest time ever with writing the updated Anatomy and Phyisology of Yoga Book ) I’ll make a comment about nutrition in this yogi-day-and-age! Obvious best choices are OrGaNic!! Then wholefoods and anything made by hand (preferably your own) and the tip of the controversial iceberg would be to keep it vegetarian if at all possible. Have a yummy day!! 🙂

Posted on our facebook site by Simon Borg-Olivier on June 25, 2009 at 8:36pm

I am very passionate about nutrition, but its relationship to yoga and especially breath control is essential.
The following article was written by John McWhorter in 2007 after he interviewed me and a number of Australia’s leading Yoga authorities on the relationship between yoga and fasting. 
John interviewed me after I had just completed a 35 day juice fast around the time of the birth of my son in 2007. Earlier this year I completed a 56 day juice fast. I cannot emphasise enough the value of a properly performed fast or modified fast to your mental and physical health as well as to your yoga practice. However, it is also important to state that you should not attempt any sort of fast unless you have been properly instructed by a respected authority on yoga, physiology, diet and fasting. Any sort of diet especially a fasting diet, including a diet of just fruit and vegetables is potentially dangerous unless it is balanced with a correct breathing practice, which ideally involves a relatively advanced practice of pranayama (breath control) and meditation where the total amount of breathing (minute ventilation) is reduced. We will be presenting more on fasting and diet at a later date. In the mean time a whole chapter of yogic nutrition and the relationship to breathing is in our book ‘Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga’, which is available for purchase as a downloadable pdf file (2009 edition) or as a hardcopy book (2007 version) at www.anatomy.yogasynergy.com .
John McWhorter is a regular practitioner of YogaSynergy. He is also a yoga teacher and an accomplished writer. Thank you John for letting us publish your article. It is our great pleasure to present it on the YogaSynergy website. 
You can read the article at http://tinyurl.com/fastingandyoga

Posted on our facebook site by Anonymous on June 28, 2009 at 8:39am

Great article and topic. Do you offer yoga & nutrition/cleansing workshops sharing with people your experience of what a ‘properly performed fast’ might look like not only from a nutrition perspective but your personal experience and yogic viewpoint? Also how a fast can be combined with everyday living (maintaining sufficient vitality and energy to continue to work and practice yoga)?

My father completed a 45 day juice fast a few years ago when diagnosed with prostrate cancer which proved very helpful. Whilst the fast drastically helped with improving health (both with cancer and also clarity of skin, eye colour from blue/grey back to clear blue) energy levels were reduced considerably and my father stopped working during that period (primarily due to energy and vitality reasons). The fast was not supported by any yogic practices such as pranayama or meditation which I am sure would have helped a great deal and probably would have provided much needed vitality and energy.

It would be interesting to hear about your perspective Simon, how you maintained energy and vitality and in completing a fast from a health perspective. A yoga & fasting/nutrition workshop would be great!

Posted on our facebook site by Simon Borg-Olivier on September 3, 2009 at 2:26pm

Hi – sorry to take so long to respond – i will try and answer your post in more detail soon but in the mean time i want to tell you i am giving another talk on nutrtion. Read my next post or contact me re details
Best wishes, simon

Posted on our facebook site by Anonymous on September 3, 2009 at 6:02pm

Hi Simon,