Yoga for Well-Being in hEDS/HSD

I am wondering what the support is to say that yoga is good for people with EDS hypermobile. The way it has been explained to me, it clearly is not. I mean, if all you're talking about is meditation and breathing in poses, it might be okay, depending on the pose. But even the health of meditation can be questioned. (Is it good to focus on removing yourself from the world? For some people, this could actually encourage unhealthy withdrawal.)

People with hypermobility are not mobile in every joint, nor hypermobile the same amount. So, the hypermobile person is going to stretch the joint which is the most mobile. Exactly what you don't want to do. It has been explained to me, by people who say 'yoga is good for everything', that you don't stretch that much. I wonder why exactly, you would do the cobra pose and not stretch. Is this called "not stretching cobra"?

Yoga is generally not good for people with hypermobility. Meditation is not good for "everybody". They happen to be very cheap to teach with lots of teachers ill equipped to deal with something so complicated as hypermobility.

However, these integrated medicine departments seem so happy to push it on every patient. It is so much easier then dealing with the complex reality which is hypermobility.

I would ask that, since these articles are supposed to be related to medicine, that the people writing them would please supply peer reviewed articles from respected medical journals.

Welcome, @cierann. You are so right. Everyone is different. While some yoga postures may be right for one person with EDS, they may not be right for another. EDS is as individual as the person themselves.

Dr. Munipalli agrees and underlines:
"If a person with hypermobility is practicing yoga, they should avoid prolonged passive stretching at end range, avoid positions that could cause shoulder dislocation and remember that the focus on practicing yoga is more for the inner experience than performance. Yoga supports patients with hypermobility by providing calming to the nervous system, mind-body focus, self-care, stability particularly with smaller and slower movements. It also helps patients with hypermobility to be conscious of not stretching excessively which promotes injury."

As the blog post states, Mayo Clinic uses "the physical therapy guidelines (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/ehlers-danlos-syndrome/newsfeed-post/exercise-for-heds-and-hsd/) to prevent joint injury, just as we do for any exercises. Low impact is better, and yoga is included in that category with swimming, walking, elliptical, etc”

Any physical activity can be dangerous to a point, even “low impact“ activities. So if anyone feels like they need more individual guidance, they should consult a therapist who is familiar with treating hypermobility.

Personally, I do not regard meditation as removing myself from the world, but rather connecting with it. Again, this underlines how everyone is different as you said. 🙂

Ann, I like to get to know more about you? Do you live with EDS? If yes, how long? What activities do you like to do?

Here are some additional resources for people living with EDS interested in yoga practices.
Yoga for Bendy People: Optimizing the Benefits of Yoga for Hypermobility by Libby Hinsley, Jill Miller
https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Bendy-People-Optimizing-Hypermobility/dp/B0B2TSN3W3
Yoga for Bendy People was written for yoga teachers and practitioners who want a deeper understanding of hypermobility syndromes and how to optimize the benefits of yoga for people who have them.

A well-designed yoga practice not only avoids injury, but leaves the body better supported, the nervous system better regulated, the mind clearer, and the heart more connected to its purpose.

Author Libby Hinsley is a long-time yoga teacher, teacher trainer, and physical therapist. As a person living with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she is passionate about raising awareness about hypermobility in the yoga community and beyond. She has experienced the chronic pain, joint instability, and yoga-related injuries so common among bendy practitioners.

In the book, she offers guidance on how to develop a sustainable yoga practice tailored to the unique needs of bendy practitioners — body, mind, and spirit.

Readers will:
- Learn about the latest hypermobility research and most common syndromes
- Discover how to avoid the common injuries bendy people face in yoga practice
- Understand how asana, pranayama, meditation, and more, can support bendy people

As an old lady who grew up an athletic Tomboy, and practiced Yoga for about 10 years at maybe age 55-65, I have to say that Yoga must be done with extreme care by those of us with hypermobile joints. I was the only person in the Yoga class who could easily do most poses, and I believe doing those poses helped lead to the issues I have had since.
Yoga's ability to teach deep relaxation is terrific, but I would not suggest doing the poses unless your musculature is terrific and even so .... be careful!

Doctors, PLEASE stop recommending this sport/religious practice/whatever the heck this is to people who actually have EDS. Especially stop recommending it to people like me who have *Classical* EDS. I have mild to moderate INHERITED, DIAGNOSED BY A GENETICIST Classical EDS and am currently lying flat on my back with my legs elevated, ice packs on my knees, and a heating pad on my ankles. I exercise daily with light weights and a treadmill. I’m not an athlete, but I am trying to be active.

After ten minutes of “yoga class” whatever, I sprained both knees and ankles. I want to finish my usual routine for today, but a wild yoga experience has happened. Instructor claimed to “understand,” which I assume to mean she is one of those people who self-diagnosed with EDS on Tumblr.

After I noped, she became dismissive. She also “had flu-like symptoms,” but insisted “I don’t feel like I have the flu inside.” She asked me, “What do you want?” from the class. Well, strength and weight loss. Multiple docs told me this was a thing. Multiple docs were *very wrong.* I mean, I just saw a grown, allegedly sane woman bounce up and down repeatedly on her own kneecap. Outside of religion, I can think of no conceivable reason a human would subject themselves to such a practice. There is zero upside to doing such a thing to your body, and none of what I saw is “relaxing.”

This is pretty a wooey business, in my opinion, yet for some reason, educated people act like hypermobile people can get something out of it. I know what I got out of it—bruises and sprains. I was also emotionally beat up to the point that I was on the verge of tears, embarrassingly. Never again!

(Diagnoses: Classical Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Atheist, no impressed with yoga)

I love yoga and find it very helpful in maintaining my mental and physical health.

When I sit in Sukhasana pose, my legs go numb and tingly; I have hEDS and wonder if this might have anything to do with it?

Welcome, @janma. I wonder if when you sit cross-legged, you may be compressing the nerves and blood vessels in your legs, which can lead to numbness. Do you find that moving around afterwards, normal sensation returns? Have you tried sitting slightly elevated (on a block or rolled mat, in Sukhasana pose?

Thanks Colleen! I sit elevated by a low foam block, or a bolster, with my bent knees resting on blocks, which helps minimally. I definitely think it’s compressed nerves/blood vessels, as feeling returns after moving around upright. I just wondered if my loose hip joints had anything to do with it ☺️