What Is The Relationship Between Hypermobility & Yoga?
Symptoms of Hypermobility
These are *some* symptoms and are not intended to diagnose, only bring awareness. Hypermobility is a spectrum, so even if you can't easily touch your toes today, that doesn't mean you don't experience other invisible symptoms of hypermobility.
Chronic Pain
Stomach Issues
Unstable Joints
Chronic Anxiety
From Fibromyalgia to inflammation and even repeated injuries that just won't go away.
You might experience a variety of GI issues, from constipation to food allergies.
The most common sign is unstable joints that can move past the normal anatomical barrier, forcing the limb to lean onto connective tissue like tendons.
According to a recent study, up to 70% of people with anxiety have hypermobility. This has to do with the elasticity of the vein walls.
Yoga is wildly popular for hypermobile people because, frankly, we're not the best at other sports and activities. We strain this and break that...but with yoga? That's where bendy people really shine!
The downside? Pushing yourself past the point of the normal Range of Motion (ROM) will absolutely lead to long-term chronic pain, if not permanent injury. All of those yogis out there doing the super salted extra bendy pretzel pose? Yeah, ask them how their hips are in ten years.
The simple fact is that a lot of yoga is about going deeper into a pose, but when you're already able to commit to the depth without pain, how do you know when enough is enough?
Most hypermobile bodies lack the ability to signal when a joint has experienced an end-range movement. The nervous system literally struggled to say, "HEY! STOP!" so people injure themselves without realizing it.
This is particularly prevalent in Vinyasa yoga, which is why at Elystara, we will only be engaging in Hatha yoga for private clients (group offerings vary). Hatha yoga offers the opportunity to move through poses with care, allowing practitioners to gain attunement with their own bodies.
The Problem Of Yoga & Hypermobility
What To Expect In The Sessions
Here are some of the ways that my hypermobility-informed yoga sessions will differ from the average yoga sequence. Please note that everything is customized, so this is a baseline, but not a definitive explanation.
Self Awareness
Breathing Techniques
Props Offered
Balanced Squences
Learn about your body and the possible ways hypermobility affects your day-to-day life. This may lead to a better quality of life, as well!
We'll focus on different breathing techniques. It's been proven that the breath can relax connective tissue, which helps prevent injuries.
You can purchase your own props, but if not, I'll bring the required props that you'll be able to use during your session. This is for in-person sessions only.
Hypermobile bodies need to be moved in certain ways to avoid long-term injury. The sequences will focus on keeping the body balanced while strengthening.
My decision to become a yoga instructor started when I was helping one of my step-kids stretch. He's decidedly not hypermobile, in the worst of ways, but as I clumsily instructed him to do this or that, the realization arrived like a lightening bolt: I love helping people. And with my decades of yoga, rehab, injuries, and research...I could be a real boon to other people who struggle within their own bodies.
I started my yoga certification a week later.
In that time, I've quickly come to realize the severe amount of misinformation or lack of overall information about hypermobility in the yoga community. In fact, a lot of pose prompts are dangerous for hypermobile people. A lot of yoga injuries stem from striving to contort in pretzels, instead of focusing on coming in and out of poses safely.
There are plenty of yoga instructors out there ready to help you with a handstand. For my students, it's about discovering and retaining the real health benefits of yoga—and avoid chronic pain due to trying to do an extra salted pretzel pose or whatever.
So if you're looking to take a safer step forward or a healthy step back, I'm excited to work with you!
Why I Specialize in Hypermobility Yoga
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