S 2| EP. 10

Hypermobility and Yin Yoga: What You Need to Know

Hypermobility is a word that is unskillfully tossed around the Yoga-verse like confetti. Teachers labelling their students as Hypermobile with a good understanding of what Hypermobility actually is.

Hypermobility is a term often used when a person’s joints appear to have more range of motion than “average” and is sometimes referred to as being “double-jointed.” 

Some people who appear to have “hyper-mobile joints” to the untrained eye may actually have a normal range of motion for their individual skeletal structure, and there is no harm in that person mindfully exploring the range of motion in their joints. 

As Yoga professionals, we need to be very careful about tossing the word around casually because Hypermobility is an actual medical condition, one that as Yoga Teachers we are not qualified to diagnose.

Regardless of the style of Yoga, as Yoga teachers, I hope our intention is to encourage our students to practice within a pain-free range of motion. 

So if a student is experiencing pain due to a previous injury, we should encourage them to seek out a different pose or the use of props to support their practice. 

In some cases, the pain could be a joint hyper-mobility syndrome like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, but we can't tell by looking at them, and as Yoga professionals, we need to stay within our scope of practice and not attempt to diagnose people

 Because of Yin Yoga's relationship to Fasica and Connective tissue, it often gets a bad rap when it comes to hypermobile folks.

Yin Yoga is not likely the best choice for those who have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome but does that mean that those people can't practice Yin Yoga?

Well as the case often is in Yin circles the answer is It depends.

Meet My Guest Expert for Today's Episode:

Libby Hinsley is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Certified Yoga Therapist specializing in the treatment of hypermobility syndromes and yoga-related injuries.

She has taught yoga since 2005 and has trained yoga teachers since 2010. Her teaching and practice have been most influenced by the lineage of TKV Desikachar.

Her book — Yoga for Bendy People: Optimizing the Benefits of Yoga for Hypermobility — explores how people with joint hypermobility syndromes can use the tools of yoga to support their thriving.

As a person living with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she is committed to raising awareness about hypermobility syndromes in the yoga community and beyond. Libby is also the founder of Anatomy Bites, a monthly membership for yoga teachers who want to learn anatomy in a fun, supportive, and relevant way.

You can find Libby Here:

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Anatomy for Yoga with Paul Grilley

Hang Drum Music by Fred Westra