Modern medicine often suggests that those that are super bending try yoga to stabilise the joints although they are not specific about the type of yoga or why we should practice it. 

They are asking us to find strength around every joint which yoga can offer under the right circumstances, however it can also exacerbate the issue.

A lot of the cues I give in yoga classes are designed with hyper-mobile bodies in mind, as mine is one of them. And yes, I have caused myself injury not only from yoga but from gym training because of a lack of awareness in the wellness world about how hyper-mobility affects the individual.

How do you know if you are hyper-mobile? Have a read below and please share this if you feel it would benefit someone you know:

• Do you have joints like fingers, knees, elbows or wrists that hyper extend (make shapes that other people’s just don’t)?

• Is flexibility easy for you but strength and stability are difficult to find?

• Do you have issues with your gut like bloating and discomfort after eating, dizziness after standing, anxiety or feel a little clumsy?

It’s important that we practice yoga a little differently from our less stretchy friends… 

Hyper mobiles can find they are a little bit clumsy, often knocking into things as you walk around. Hyper-mobility affects our proprioception our knowledge of where we are in space. So not only does this affect our day to day but also our practice. Balances can be particularly tricky. Here’s the science behind it:

Proprioception is your bodies ability to sense movement, action, and location. It’s present within every muscle movement you have. Without proprioception, you wouldn’t be able to move without thinking about your next step.

As we actively explore the environment, our motion relative to the world stimulates numerous sensory systems. Notably, proprioceptors provide feedback about body and limb position, while the vestibular system detects and encodes head motion. When the vestibular system is functioning normally, we are unaware of a distinct sensation because vestibular information is integrated with proprioceptive and other sensory inputs to generate our sense of motion.

So when this is affected by fatigue created by an enlarged amygdala it is harder for the body to compute, by giving yourself time to train your vestibular system you will build on its ability to to function and might help that clumsiness a little.

This is a little drill to use before you balance to see if it helps. Hold your thumb at arm’s length in front of your face. Keep your head still but move the thumb from side to side following it with your gaze repeat a few times. Try a balance before you do and then after to notice the changes.

Hyper mobility begins in the brain. The Cerebellum is sometimes referred to as the little brain, it is located at the back of your head above and behind where the spinal cord attaches to your brain. When the cerebellum is affected we can struggle to balance and reach for objects. This can make yoga practice a little more tricky as all our standing postures require the ability to balance.

Try this to add some stimulation for your cerebellum in your practice:

Grab a yoga block and place it under one foot, this makes the surface wobbly and practice some balances from here. It could be as simple as lifting the foot on the ground away or using some of our familiar balances such as tree pose on the block or you could practice outside on the grass even a walk across an uneven surface.

Another useful practice is rubbing down. What do I mean by rubbing down? Literally using your hand to gently massage each joint before your movement practice. This is a super simple way to allow awareness into these areas. You could then use some Cars (controlled articular rotations) of each joint to allow your brain to map the space you have available.

Try out one of my group classes or book a 1:1 session where I will provide you with extra guidance and advice throughout. 

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Ashley