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Many individuals with hypermobility are attracted to yoga for a very simple reason: they’re good at it! The inherent flexibility allows beautiful and bendy poses, which in turn brings a lot of praise from the yoga community. While this affirmation can do wonders for our self-confidence, an uncontrolled yoga practice often leads to more pain and joint instability.
Questions often come up about hypermobility and yoga – whether it’s good or bad. And there are several reasons why I don’t recommend traditional yoga for people with hypermobility, but don’t get discouraged – I have a solution too – so keep reading!
- Ditch the Stretch. First and foremost, I don’t recommend static stretching. It is very common to feel tension in muscles and want to stretch to relieve this sensation, but this can actually worsen the underlying problem. Our nervous system will produce tension in the muscles in efforts to create stability where it is lacking. Stretching can actually decrease that stability and increase your risk for injury.
- More Isn’t More. Secondly, many teachers and yoga practitioners have the mindset that when it comes to mobility and flexibility, more is better. In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth! Poses that encourage positions like the splits or arm binds take your joints into extreme ranges of motion, ultimately causing stress on the ligaments. This is not good for long-term joint health, because we need stability from our ligaments for protection.
- Asymmetric Irritations. The third reason I don’t recommend traditional yoga is the inherent asymmetry that exists in the poses and sequencing. The majority of class requires one leg to be really far forward and the other to be really far back. (If you’re familiar with yoga poses, think of Crescent Lunge, Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Wide Legged Forward Fold, Half Pigeon, etc.). This asymmetry may not pose a problem for some, but for the hypermobile population, it can cause serious irritation of the lower back and ligaments of the sacroiliac joint.
- Stressful Hyperextension. Lastly, traditional yoga places the body in many positions that encourage joint hyperextension. Without proper cueing, it can be incredibly hard to do a Triangle Pose and not hyperextend the knee or hold a High Plank without hyperextending the elbows. Similar to deep static stretching, this can create stress on the ligaments and reduce joint stability.
Now here’s the kicker... I don’t think people with hypermobility need to STOP doing yoga... I just think they need to practice DIFFERENTLY!
I created Stability Flow for this reason.
Stability Flow takes creative yoga flows and shifts the focus from extreme flexibility towards strength and stability. You might find that the classes feel much harder than traditional yoga, but that’s because you’re no longer relying on your ligaments for support, but learning to use your muscles instead. You’ll also notice that you flow in and out of weighted movements. This allows you to build necessary strength in a safe, controlled manner, without ever having to leave your mat.
Your practice will still include all the amazing benefits of yoga, such as breathwork, balance, and body awareness, but without the unwanted stress on your body.
If you’re interested in trying Stability Flow, visit stabilityflow.com for a free week for all of our Mayo Clinic EDS blog subscribers.
Author: Lauren H. Shelton, PT, DPT, OCS, RYT-200
IG @dr.lauren.yoga
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Thank you for posting this and emphasizing that people with hypermobility don't need to stop doing yoga. I came to yoga with chronic pain from small fiber neuropathy, central sensitivity, and what was then an undiagnosed inflammatory arthritis and POTS. My hypermobility diagnosis came much, much later.
I have a different experience to share. I wasn't drawn to yoga because I could hold the dramatic poses. I actually never thought I was or could ever be "good" at yoga in the way most people describe people with hypermobility are good at it. I didn't think of myself as flexible, and I wasn't very obviously flexible--my care team believes surgery when I young and the untreated inflammatory arthritis masked my hypermobility, And my other systemic symptoms are more obvious than the joint hypermobility, though we've concluded it is contributing to my chronic pain, and I'm grateful we're trying to take steps to address that now by building more of the stability and strength you write about.
I really connected to mindful, trauma-informed yoga and kind of feel that approach to yoga is sometimes underrrepresented--I guess I stumbled upon what I'd describe as gentle, mindful movement, paired with breathing with an emphasis on customizing and honoring what's best for your body--which usually meant a focus on very accessible and customizable positions that naturally avoided end range of motion, and not necessarily what a pose "looks" like, or getting into "the full integrity of the pose" ::cringe:: Sometimes that included more obvious flows and postures meant to challenge my body physically and build strength, which I do enjoy, but mostly it was about releasing or relieving tension and calming down my nervous system.
In those kinds of classes, I learned I didn't have to be "bendy" and "elegant" or do dancer's pose in a scenic locale to be "good" at yoga. The magic was in learning to feel comfortable and okay with customizing for what worked for my body and brain, no matter how I showed up on any particular day. Right now, public classes that emphasize more strength-building or strength-based flows are still too challenging for me. With central sensitivity syndrome, I need to start slowly with activity and progress slowly, so it can be difficult for me to keep up or feel comfortable enough to stop or pause when it feels like too much in a group class. I know I always could, and going at my own pace should be supported, but sometimes it's just hard to do when I want to do more.
I hope one day I will feel confident enough to return to a class like the ones you're describing.
Thanks again for sharing.
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