Simon Borg-Olivier – Yogic Kaleidoscope

Last updated on 22/11/2022

Talking to Simon Borg-Olivier is like going snorkelling with Jacque Yve Cousteau – you suddenly find yourself in a bathyscaphe at the bottom of the ocean exploring its depth and multifacetedness of creatures you never knew existed, although in our case it’s the ocean of Yoga and the creatures are different angles to view mudras, kriyas, asanas, yogic breathing and the concept of movement itself. In this fascinating talk Simon takes us on a wild ride through many different angles to view the common things – from questioning the validity of the most basic instructions like lifting your arms and drawing your shoulders down in Surya Namasakara to how almost any yogic tool can cause a different outcome based on your intention and tiniest details of your technique.  

We speak about Simon’s ideal practice routine, how to nourish yourself with practice in the hard time of Covid-19 caused isolation, how to stay connected while being isolated and physically disconnected, how to expand your meditative practice far beyond the formal time spent on the yoga matt. This interview offers you so many dimensions to explore, think and question your views and believes, and we felt very enriched, and once again mystified with all the new pieces of the yogic puzzle.

Show notes

• Looking into drishti and physiological aspecs of chanting
• Simon’s take on breathing practice
• Practice of kriyas – the intricacies of Nauli & Lauliki and dosha specific objectives
• Moving from the core
• Self isolation and how yogic tools can help: meditative states
• Meditative cleaning 🙂
• Thoughts on what makes a supportive practice vs. increasing stress level through activity
• Coping with isolation and finding a perspective in the info swamp
• Breathing waves geekery
• Ratios in Nadi Shodana and the subject of Kumbhaka
• Are you able to breathe into your chest in a relaxed way?
• 7 stages of Hatha Yoga treatise and Basti kriya as a prerequisite for mudra, asana and pranayama
• Important paradigm shifts to happen in modern postural yoga
• Kapalabhati, Bastrika, Nauli and the danger of misinterpretation of their purposes
• Shades of Kumbhaka
• Incredible hyperventilation experiment
• Words of caution and thoughts on selecting a teacher and teaching

Check out YogaSynergy or his personal website for more information on Simon’s teaching.

Need more inspiration from Simon? Here is another great and insightful interview with him.