Hosted by Jim Harrington Yoga and Valley Shala – Hout Bay
Daily practice non-residential retreat of at least 6 hours training per day
Cape Town August 23 to 28
Times : 9 am to 4.30 pm
Simon was a mentor to Jim Harrington since in the late 1990’s in Sydney. He is an influential and globally recognised master teacher. Authored the Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga in 2005.
MORE ABOUT SIMON
Simon Borg-Olivier www.simonborgolivier.com
INSTAGRAM – @simonborgolivier
Cost of Training: Participants are encouraged to book early to enjoy a discount. Early bird Rates as follows
R8900.00 (33% discount before June)
R9900.00 (21% Discount Before July)
R 10890.00 (10% discount before August)
Full cost : ZAR11970.00
Download the INFO BROCHURE Pdf HERE
TRAINING FORMAT:
My in person workshops & retreats generally include to dynamic meditative practices of posture, movement & breathing, including yoga and qigong. They also contain elements of breathwork, self-massage, chanting, non-contact martial arts, dance and movement-based physiotherapy. The general format is as follows:
MORNING SESSION/PRACTICE:
In the morning, I teach a more meditative, fluid, and dynamic practice, including silent static meditation, chanting, self-massage, fluid joint exercises and spinal movements from the core, and static and dynamic breath-control exercises with music (of all types). We also practice various powerful and ancient internal cleansing exercises (kriya), many of which are hard to access elsewhere. Often, these practices can culminate into free dance and non-contact internal martial arts movements.
MIDDLE SESSION (intensive trainings only):
In the middle of the day, we have a couple of hours for the more theoretical aspects of self-practice and the possibility of teaching others. Here, I also deal with individual musculoskeletal problems and medical conditions and help people understand the nature of the therapeutic applications of posture, movement, breathing, and mental control. I show participants how to use fundamental principles to help teach people in an individual or group situation. Some people might call this Yoga Therapy.
AFTERNOON SESSION/PRACTICE:
In the afternoon, I use the Synergy System to practice postures, movements, and breathing that resemble the more normal vinyasa style taught in many modern yoga classes. These sessions will include an interactive theoretical workshop section where each exercise is analysed, practised with verbal cues, and then practised in a beautiful meditative way to music with only visual guidance. It is a very effective combination that trains your body to effectively practice without your mind interfering with the meditation.
Each part of the teaching is initially taught with verbal instructions and then repeated as a visually-guided meditative practice to various types of music.
BIOGRAPHY:
Simon Borg-Olivier, MSc, BAppSc (Physiotherapy), APAM c-IAYT, has studied and taught traditional posture, movement, breathing, and meditation, with great masters from Tibet, Japan, India, and China for more than 40 years. Simon is a physiotherapist, research scientist, and university lecturer. He has often been invited to teach at conferences internationally since 1990. He is co-founder of YogaSynergy, one of Australia’s oldest yoga schools. Simon combines modern medical science with traditional practices to create loving connections within the self for internal health and happiness as a model for how we are in the world.
ABOUT WHAT SIMON’S TEACHING:
“I share a system of gentle movements, a dynamic meditative practice, that puts you in the flow state
My system is based on my 25 years as a physiotherapist, and 40 years Hatha Yoga and Qigong teacher. This practice is less like a workout and more like a work-in. Imagine feeling more energised, calmer, and happier after each gentle session and having all the pain in your body dissolve. Regular practice allows you to sleep well, digest well, heal from musculoskeletal injuries and medical conditions, and rarely if ever get sick.”
Main Practices in 5-Dimensional Synergy Flow Teacher Training & Retreats
I teach six foundational practices that form the heart of the 5-Dimensional Synergy Flow system. These are divided into two parts:
MORNING PRACTICES
Morning Practices – which focus on building inner awareness and functional movement from the inside out. I refer to this as the 5 Dimensional Flow System.
Each morning session is dedicated to one or more of the five practices of 5-Dimensional Flow. These are:
- Mind Synergy
Learn to synchronise your thinking brain (in the head) with your action brain (in the gut)—the enteric nervous system at your true core. This connection is what enables a flow state: a calm, powerful zone often described by elite athletes and meditative masters alike.
Mind Synergy practices include:
Accessing the unconscious mind through 12 key “bridges” between conscious and unconscious systems.
Use of voice, chanting, affirmations, and breathwork.
Self-massage techniques for calming and centring.
Dynamic meditation through joint and spinal movements.
Static seated meditation for deep internal stillness. - Joint Synergy
Learn to initiate movement from your core rather than your limbs. This reduces wear and tear on the joints, resulting in greater longevity, pain-free movement, and increased strength and flexibility in the arms and legs.
Joint Synergy creates:
A deeply warming and calming internal effect.
A foundation that transitions easily into any movement pracitces, including yoga, dance or internal martial arts practices. - Spinal Synergy
Discover how to move your trunk—the expanded version of your core— in the four primary directions of spinal movement (forward, back, side, twist), as well as in expansion and contraction.
Benefits of Spinal Synergy include:
Improved spinal mobility and core strength.
Greater energy and vitality.
Relief from back pain.
Improved function of internal organs.
A movement base that can evolve into a creative and expressive personal flow or dance. - Breath Synergy
Learn to coordinate breath with the three-dimensional expansion and contraction of your trunk—height, width, and depth—to regulate internal pressure and access energy reserves.
Breath Synergy helps to:
Increase physical and mental energy.
Promote a deep sense of calm and emotional balance.
Enhance digestive, reproductive, and immune system health. - Core Synergy
Explore how your core can move and project shape in five dynamic ways within three-dimensional space. This practice integrates all previous dimensions and becomes a gateway to:
Yoga Synergy
Qigong
Internal martial arts
Dance and creative expression
Therapeutic applications for musculoskeletal and medical conditions
This fifth synergy forms the bridge between foundational self-awareness and complex, flowing movement.
Afternoon practice
Yoga Synergy: Integration through Movement Sequences
We bring everything together. Afternoon Practices integrate the morning’s principles into structured yoga sequences with meditative flow.
This is based on the postures of the Yoga Synergy System with an approach based on 5-Dimensional Flow so I refer to it as 5-Dimensional Synergy Flow.
These afternoon sessions involve guided sequences from the Yoga Synergy System, co-developed by myself and physiotherapist Bianca Machliss. Influenced by teachers such as Sri B.K.S. Iyengar and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, our approach may resemble what many know as “vinyasa flow,” but it goes far beyond.
Yoga Synergy practice is about:
Accessing postures through natural, core-initiated movement.
Developing strength without tension, and flexibility without strain.
Improving blood flow without overexerting the heart.
Synchronising breath, movement, and mental focus into a meditative state.
Allowing the thinking brain and gut brain to work together in harmony.
This integration enables a practice that is deeply functional, restorative, and transformative, regardless of your previous experience.