Archive for the ‘Diet’ Category

We are very proud to announce the arrival of our new online course Yoga Fundamentals — http://fundamentals.yogasynergy.com/ — This course has been in preparation for the last 4 years and is based on the very popular and award winning course of the same name that we wrote some time ago for RMIT University’s Master of Wellness Degree. The Yoga Synergy version of this course has been developed, adapted and modified for use by the general public.
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Article By Simon Borg-Olivier: ‘Using your diaphragm to simultaneously enhance power, core stabilisation, relaxation, digestion, immunity and sexual function’:

The diaphragm is a major muscle that is the key to internal power, as well as an often forgotten but very important contributor to core stabilisation. In addition, the diaphragm has important neurological control over the autonomic nervous system. Diaphragmatic breathing is the simplest way to stimulate activity of the parasympathetic nervous system. Core stabilisation practiced as many people do it, for example by pulling the navel to the spine, creates tension that can restrict the diaphragm, resulting in limited trunk strength and stability, reduced power to the limbs, as well as inhibiting the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls the digestive, reproductive and immune systems. In this lecture you will be shown how to use intelligent postures and movements to create abdominal firmness that allows the diaphragm to be used for the generation of increased power and superior core stabilisation while stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system to enhance relaxation, digestion, immunity and sexual function.
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This video was shot in the Bahamas in October 2009 at William Truebridge’s Freediving Masterclass where I had the honour of being invited to teach these amazing elite athletes yogic techniques of how to be relaxed in stressful situations. The video shows me using breath-control techniques (pranayama) to slow my heart beat from 88 to 32 beats per minute in 45 seconds.

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In this short video I am talking about pranayama and what I learnt from traditional yoga teachings and also from western medical science. If you are interested you may consider coming to my one day workshop on Sunday July 11 2010 – you can find out more at www.enlightenedevents.com.au

Posted on our facebook site by Simon Borg-Olivier on September 3, 2009 at 2:27pm

Hi Everyone, 
As many of you know I gave a 3 hour talk on nutrition, diet, exercise and breathing a few weeks ago. Because of the huge interest generated (the talked booked out at 120 people, and we had to turn quite a few people away) we have decided I will be giving a shortened (1 hour) free version of this talk next Friday night (4th September 2009) at our Bondi school. Again the talk will focus on the relationship between yoga, exercise and the way you breathe with how that relates to what you eat and how your body attempts to digest it inside you. The long version of this talk I gave earlier this year is now available for sale as a 3 hour DVD that you can order online from www.yogasynergy.com or from our office at +61293897399 in case you are interested. 
I will be talking about how the way you breathe can affect your ability to digest food and also your desire to eat food. The only scientifically proven diet is the calorie reduction diet. It basically says that the fewer calories you eat the longer you live. But to do this without feeling hungry is hard unless you can balance this with the right type of breathing for your diet. The way to do this while maintaining the health of your bones and body systems is to make the main component of your food as fresh as possible with an emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables. After 40 years of pranayama (yogic breath-control in the form of learning how to actually breathe less than you normally do and not more than you usually do) I am happy to say that I eat whatever I like whenever I want to. However, I only ever feel like eating fresh healthy foods. I never feel like having processed foods or heavy foods. It is ok to restrict yourself for a week or even a few weeks but it is not healthy (physically or psychologically) to feel like you restricting yourself for long periods of time. 
I would like to share some of the many tricks that allow diet and lifestyle to harmonise with exercise and breathing. To assist me my wife Vitoria Borg-Olivier and exercise physiologist Sam Mower will be presenting some great food supplements and superfoods that can help you make the transition to a healthy lifestyle and also be of assistance in raising kids. They will also have some of these often hard to get superfoods for sale if you would like to try some. Vitoria has done amazing work in bringing up our kids eating unprocessed (not from packets and without chemicals) fresh food. Sam Mower will also be talking about the relationship between regular exercise and diet. He is also an expert on nutrient supplements and talks about the many beneficial effects of fruit and vegetable juice powders such as ‘Juice Plus’ which has had many scientific trials done on it that validate the benefits of fruit and vegetables. I live on fruit and vegetables and so have many great yogis past and present. This is a really important factor that helps you have excellent health and allows you to do better yoga and exercise. This especially helps your ability to hold the breath for pranayama (breath-control exercises), kriyas (internal cleansing exercises) and mudras (energy-control exercises). Once breath-control is established concentration, relaxation and meditation are much more achievable.