Video and Transcript: Yoga and Hypermobility Syndrome

Hi, everyone! Dr. Orit Hickman here from Pain Science Physical Therapy. I wanted to put together a very short video on the use of yoga to address hypermobility. 

For those of you who live with hypermobility syndrome or who have been told that you have a certain amount of hypermobility in your body, a lot of times providers will say to you not to use yoga for your exercise choice. And, the reason for that is the tendency is that yoga-some yoga practice really will focus in on getting more and more mobility. However, a lot of yoga practice is actually about living in mid-range with the body. 

So, what does that mean? A great example is if you are doing a movement such as a plank position. And, I'm going to show you that really quickly here. That-you might find that you go from plank to downward dog, and it’s really easy for you to move through those ranges. However, if you work with a physical therapist who specializes in yoga and or hypermobility, they can typically teach you how to live in your mid-ranges of movement. So, what does that mean? That means you actually have to work pretty hard to engage the muscles around your trunk, around your hips, around your shoulders, around your arms to prevent moving too far. And, if you do this correctly, it’s actually very hard work. 

So, I’ll give you an example. And, I am absolutely not a yogi, and I also don’t have hypermobility. So, you’re going to have to bear with me, and for those of you out there who have great yoga experience, please don’t tear me to shreds. So, I’m going to give an example. So, one of the things-one of the movements that you might do is you might move from a plank position into a downward dog. So, if you’re in-if you’re in plank, in this position, it’s incredibly important that you are engaging your core to stabilize. Now, if you move from plank up into downward dog, and you can see I don’t have a lot of flexibility, so it’s not easy for me to move into these end ranges. But, I have to work pretty hard. And, if I bend my knees slightly, and I engage my core, and I really push through my hips, I will maintain and stay within mid-range. 

So, if you work with a provider, and this is what I-this is really what this video is about is to encourage you to meet with a clinician who specializes in working with patients who have hypermobility so that they can actually take you through movement and be very mindful with you and teach you how to work and be in your mid-ranges of motion, so to not just over-stretching joints that are already too mobile or too flexible. So, this is just a quick, quick video just to give you a suggestion that if you are somebody who does enjoy yoga and you have hypermobility, I want you to get with a physical therapist so that they can teach you how to live in your mid-range because when that happens, when they do that, you’re actually going to build a lot of strength in your muscles to help stabilize your joints versus… It’s so easy for you to just move into those end ranges and be very, very flexible because you have that flexibility. But, it’s harder to engage your muscles to control the movement and prevent you from going too far.

So, I hope that this was helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to just pop them in the chat below. And, I hope you have a great day!