So happy to see this! I have severe hypermobility (9/9), and my physiotherapist prescribed yoga (specifically hatha), to build strength in my small muscles. Some of my physio exercises are very much like yoga, and include some stretches, but I'm generally instructed to avoid eg yin classes, until my muscles are strong enough to compensate for the laxness of my ligaments.

I really enjoy yoga, but it's difficult to mind the limits I don't feel. All too often I have what feels like a really great practice, only to have to rest the next day, as my muscles have turned themselves into knots trying to keep my joints stable.

It's also hard to keep from overdoing it, because my natural energy level is high (thanks for the tip on the adrenaline levels -- I hadn't read that), so pacing myself isn't sonething that comes naturally.

Anyway, all this to say, thank you for this video. I would love to see more classes on the kinds of modifications and styles for hypermobile people. :)

Hi Kk,
Thanks so much for your comment. I know how frustrating it can be to find physical exercise and options when you're hypermobile and I'm glad that I can contribute some to filling the need for them!
I recorded a podcast recently with another Yoga Anytime teacher Kelly Conner, where we discuss hypermobility more in depth, you can find it here:
http://www.sunroseyoga.com/sa madhi-rush-episode-187-the-paradox- of-flexibility-with-renee-sills/
Wi shing you all the best.
Renee

Thank you, Renee, I will check out that link!

Good stuff Renee, thank you!

It was so interesting to hear your talk here! That irrelevant-to-me-cueing is one of the reasons I never got into yoga; as a super flexible but weak person I was rarely having the feeling the teacher was talking about and yoga classes left me feeling like a weirdo.

And I also have little concept of my body in space.

One strange thing now, I can stll bend my hands and can get into lotus feeling a stretch, but my hamstrings are super tight...maybe the first two things are mediated by ligaments and the hamstrings by muscles?

I am going to look up your podcast and find the joint images you describe. Are there other good resources to learn more about protecting joints in the hypermobile?

Sascha, it's neat to find other "weirdos" lol 😅 (I totally know what you mean about that feeling!)

For me, when I get tightness, it's usually actually in an area where the ligaments are so loose that the muscles are going crazy compensating and tense up chronically. One thing to note is "tight" might not really be, relative to others -- I had to go to physical therapy for a problem stemming from "tightness" in my ankle/heel, and my physical therapist demonstrated that my *bad* side still had significantly more flex than hers. But it still causes problems, because it's relative to your body!

I use kinesiotape to stabilize joints, and provide the cues such as "you're leaning too far!". Kinesiotape moves with you, but you start to feel a gentle resistance at a certain point -- that sensation common to "normal" people, but quite foreign to us "weirdos" 😄

Hi Sascha and Kk-
Yeah it's pretty crazy to be hypermobile and still tight! Hypermobility has more to do with the comparative laxity of connective tissue where it attaches to the bone combined with long muscle fibers. Even if the muscle fibers are long they can still be, and feel, tight. I also experience a lot of tightness in my hamstrings but since stretching does nothing for them it can be challenging to figure out how to relieve. I find that a mixture of active stretching (pushing against the stretch) and myofascial release through foam rolling or using a tennis ball is the best cure for me. Thanks for your comments! Feel free to let me know how those work or ask questions about them. - R

I am very excited to have found your informative presentations. I was warned years ago that I would need to keep moving to avoid arthritis. This fell on deaf young ears. I was pretty so what? About yoga for a long time but have found the more flowing/breathing styles 'calming' and mood elevating- if that's such a thing - they seem to 'oil' my joints as well. I'm not sure whether this is beneficial but I used to do a lot of flinging my body around as a kid, now I really concentrate on form and precision in movement. I really value your advice. Thank you.

Hi again, I listened to your podcast with Kelly Sunrose and have also been trying to find books about hypermobility but it seems like they are all aimed at people with more intense conditions like Ehlers Dahnlos. Tonight though I followed a class called "begin to yin" and was frustrated because several of the poses were described as long slow stretches and for me there was no stretch, and I wasn't sure what to do-- stretch further? Do it without sensation? Fast forward? Maybe restorative would be better for people with hypermobility joints than yin is? What do you think? (Also, I live in Portland too -- do you ever do private sessions?). Off to go try and find a picture of joint capsules...

I am currently waiting to see a rheumatologist, because my doctor thinks I have the hypermobile form of Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS). There are 13 subtypes and hypermobile Ehlers Danlos is the most common, but is quite under-diagnosed. Many experts believe that most cases of hypermobility are actually the hypermobile Ehlers Danlos subtype.

More info on the 13 Ehlers Danlos types: Ehlers Danlos Society

I've had several systemic problems ever since birth (digestive, autonomic, cardiac, joints, bones, etc.) -- some quite severe and quality-of-life-limiting, and all of the problems have been labeled "idiopathic". It now appears that everything is related to Ehlers Danlos. Crazy to finally be learning this at the age of 37! At the same time, it's a great sense of relief to be getting some real answers.

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