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So Flexible It Hurts: Living with Hypermobility & EDS
"If you call yourself lazy or out of shape, you really are not. You're an Olympic-level competitor, because your body is doing so much more than everyone else." —Donna Piper
Modern medicine often misses this critical truth: flexibility can be a disability. Hypermobility forces your body to burn energy just to maintain basic stability.
For Donna Piper, 'flexibility' wasn't a gift—it was a hidden disability that stole her energy and fueled chronic pain. As a movement therapist, Donna believed her hypermobile joints were an advantage, until they triggered fatigue so severe she couldn't drive without bracing herself.
In this episode, Donna reveals how Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) forces muscles to work overtime just to hold joints in place, why this drains energy "like running a marathon while holding a Jenga tower," and the surprising link between "bendy" joints and conditions like POTS, MCAS, and lipedema.
Join in and learn how to do the side-lying breath reset technique that calms hypermobile joints without overstretching.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lipedema_donna
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
02:47 Living with Hypermobility and EDS
04:15 Connective Tissue Disorders and Their Impact
08:46 Hypermobility and Energy Management
12:34 Side-Lying Breath Reset Technique
15:10 The Importance of Community and Self-Advocacy in Managing Chronic Illness
Resources:
🤔Got a question for me? Every month, I do a listener coaching episode—and I’d love to hear from you! Send your questions, stories, or flare-up confessions to [email protected], and you just might hear your answer on the show.
🔗Links
EDS: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/
EDS/MCAS: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9022617/
Hypermobility: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-hsd/
Dr. Melissa Koehl, PT
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.melissakoehl.pt/?hl=en
Website: https://www.chimera-health.com/
X:
Your 'double-jointed' party trick? For EDS patients, it's actually their muscles working overtime 24/7. Learn why hypermobility = chronic fatigue in this week’s episode!
#DearBodyImListeningPodcast #Hypermobility #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #EDS #ChronicIllness #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness #HSD #POTS #MCAS #Lipedema
Quotes:
02:51 "What they didn't see, and what I didn't realize, was that flexibility comes with pain and fatigue. The way my body could overwork itself just to hold it together." —Donna Piper
03:43 "I didn't realize that gripping wasn't supposed to be there. I realized that it was creating a lot of symptomology, and I just didn't know how to take care of myself." —Donna Piper
04:53 "Now I understand how much effort it takes to go on a car ride, or just hold myself up from the inside." —Donna Piper
05:01 "The wild part is EDS, HSD, lipedema, POTS, MCAS— they're all connected, and not everyone knows that." —Donna Piper
07:01 "Everything is highly, highly, highly individualized." —Donna Piper
10:46 "All of that extra work that I'm doing to substitute what my body needs for stability takes a lot of energy." —Donna Piper
12:24 "If you call yourself lazy or out of shape, you really are not. You're an Olympic-level competitor, because your body is doing so much more than everyone else." —Donna Piper
Meet Your Host:
Donna Piper is a Relationship Coach, Trauma Expert, and Akashic Records Healer dedicated to empowering successful single women to transform their love lives and attract fulfilling partnerships without sacrificing their professional ambitions.
With a holistic approach blending therapeutic coaching, trauma-informed techniques, and Akashic Records wisdom, she guides clients to release limiting beliefs, heal emotional blocks, and cultivate unshakable self-trust. Her work focuses on aligning mind, body, and spirit to create lasting change—helping clients refine communication, deepen self-worth, and build the foundation for healthy, loving relationships.
Donna’s sessions are a safe haven for those ready to break cycles, embrace vulnerability, and design a love life that harmonizes with their thriving careers. For women committed to both personal and professional fulfillment, she offers tailored strategies to unlock their full potential and step into the relationship of their dreams.
View all episodes
By Donna Piper
"If you call yourself lazy or out of shape, you really are not. You're an Olympic-level competitor, because your body is doing so much more than everyone else." —Donna Piper
Modern medicine often misses this critical truth: flexibility can be a disability. Hypermobility forces your body to burn energy just to maintain basic stability.
For Donna Piper, 'flexibility' wasn't a gift—it was a hidden disability that stole her energy and fueled chronic pain. As a movement therapist, Donna believed her hypermobile joints were an advantage, until they triggered fatigue so severe she couldn't drive without bracing herself.
In this episode, Donna reveals how Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) forces muscles to work overtime just to hold joints in place, why this drains energy "like running a marathon while holding a Jenga tower," and the surprising link between "bendy" joints and conditions like POTS, MCAS, and lipedema.
Join in and learn how to do the side-lying breath reset technique that calms hypermobile joints without overstretching.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lipedema_donna
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
02:47 Living with Hypermobility and EDS
04:15 Connective Tissue Disorders and Their Impact
08:46 Hypermobility and Energy Management
12:34 Side-Lying Breath Reset Technique
15:10 The Importance of Community and Self-Advocacy in Managing Chronic Illness
Resources:
🤔Got a question for me? Every month, I do a listener coaching episode—and I’d love to hear from you! Send your questions, stories, or flare-up confessions to [email protected], and you just might hear your answer on the show.
🔗Links
EDS: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/
EDS/MCAS: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9022617/
Hypermobility: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-hsd/
Dr. Melissa Koehl, PT
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.melissakoehl.pt/?hl=en
Website: https://www.chimera-health.com/
X:
Your 'double-jointed' party trick? For EDS patients, it's actually their muscles working overtime 24/7. Learn why hypermobility = chronic fatigue in this week’s episode!
#DearBodyImListeningPodcast #Hypermobility #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #EDS #ChronicIllness #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness #HSD #POTS #MCAS #Lipedema
Quotes:
02:51 "What they didn't see, and what I didn't realize, was that flexibility comes with pain and fatigue. The way my body could overwork itself just to hold it together." —Donna Piper
03:43 "I didn't realize that gripping wasn't supposed to be there. I realized that it was creating a lot of symptomology, and I just didn't know how to take care of myself." —Donna Piper
04:53 "Now I understand how much effort it takes to go on a car ride, or just hold myself up from the inside." —Donna Piper
05:01 "The wild part is EDS, HSD, lipedema, POTS, MCAS— they're all connected, and not everyone knows that." —Donna Piper
07:01 "Everything is highly, highly, highly individualized." —Donna Piper
10:46 "All of that extra work that I'm doing to substitute what my body needs for stability takes a lot of energy." —Donna Piper
12:24 "If you call yourself lazy or out of shape, you really are not. You're an Olympic-level competitor, because your body is doing so much more than everyone else." —Donna Piper
Meet Your Host:
Donna Piper is a Relationship Coach, Trauma Expert, and Akashic Records Healer dedicated to empowering successful single women to transform their love lives and attract fulfilling partnerships without sacrificing their professional ambitions.
With a holistic approach blending therapeutic coaching, trauma-informed techniques, and Akashic Records wisdom, she guides clients to release limiting beliefs, heal emotional blocks, and cultivate unshakable self-trust. Her work focuses on aligning mind, body, and spirit to create lasting change—helping clients refine communication, deepen self-worth, and build the foundation for healthy, loving relationships.
Donna’s sessions are a safe haven for those ready to break cycles, embrace vulnerability, and design a love life that harmonizes with their thriving careers. For women committed to both personal and professional fulfillment, she offers tailored strategies to unlock their full potential and step into the relationship of their dreams.