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Posted by Strength/Flexibility/Health/EDS | Oct 3, 2015 | Mind/Body/Soul, The Hypermobile Yogi - Yoga A PROUD for Hypermobiilty Syndromes/EDS | 0 | MEMBER OF SHOP!

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SYNDROMES #EDSFi tTip – Standin g leg exercis es for “Yoga is dangerous for EDS.” Hyper mobilit “I was told not to do yoga.” y and Dysaut onomia “Yoga will make you end up in a wheelchair.” or POTS Oct 23, I’m sure that you’ve heard all these phrases before, 2016 and many people feel that all three are absolute truths. While we all are entitled to our opinions, the fact is there is no black and white factual statement SUBSCRIBE that has come out about doing yoga when you have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Usually, our ideas stem from personal beliefs, from what we have been Stay in told by someone we trust, or from our experiences Touch! with yoga. We are all different and what works for Join our mailing someone else, may not work for you and vice versa. list to receive the latest news This applies to the practice of yoga. and updates from our team. There are countless people with hypermobility/Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, who have been practicing yoga for years and have done well.

There are also those who tried it and were not strong NAME and self-aware enough to know how to protect their hypermobile joints when practicing yoga. In their EMAIL defense, extreme hypermobility used to be gloriﬁed, not just in yoga, but dance, gymnastics, and other SUBSCRIBE! sports where being able to contort your body in extreme ways was viewed as a value and helped give you that edge over others who could not do the same.

VIDEOS You take that same person who is not aware of how to VIDEOS protect their hypermobile joints when practicing yoga and pair that with an instructor who may not be aware of the damage that can be done long-term to the body I when pushed to those extreme positions, and you can see why many EDSers were told not to do yoga. I When you learn more about the philosophy of yoga and the various types of yoga, it becomes apparent #EDSFitTip – how much more there is to the practice of yoga. Many Standing leg perceive yoga as a form of exercise where you need to exercises for Hypermobility push poses to the extreme – it’s quite the opposite. My and feelings on the topic of yoga and EDS probably come Dysautonomia or as no surprise to anyone who reads what I post or sees POTS my Instagram yoga challenge pictures. However, I Featured Video have not always liked yoga, nor thought it was beneﬁcial to me. I felt that yoga was quite annoying, Colloidal Silver but I never questioned if it was good or not or not for Healer – How me once I diagnosed with EDS almost 11 years ago. Much Can It Really Help? Then again, I was also told to not workout at all and didn’t listen. So, it’s likely anything I was told about yoga would have gone in one ear and out the other as MOVE well. All I knew was that movement felt good and not MORE. moving caused more pain. The exercise was and still is MOVE BETTER.: my biggest coping mechanism for Chronic Fatigue MOVING Syndrome (CFS) as well. NATURALLY WITH HYPERMOBI LITY

Finally being able to hold crow pose – Winter 2014/2015 PHYSICAL THERAPY AND MANUAL RELEASE OF THE My opinion about yoga changed when I bought MASSETER MUSCLE a Bryan Kest’s power yoga tape (a VHS tape to be IN INDIVIDUALS WITH exact!) when I was in college. I purchased this video HYPERMOBILITY because I’ve always done intense workouts and SYNDROME/EHLER wanted something like yoga to help balance out my S-DANLOS SYNDROME (EDS) workouts. I also wanted to do something when I didn’t feel like working out. I liked the idea of yoga, but a traditional class was way too slow and tedious for me. I wanted more intensity and the pace to move slightly fast, which is how I learned that there are different types of yoga practice. From what I read, vinyasa flow yoga and ashtanga yoga seemed to be more up my alley. Bryan Kest’s power yoga tape was the perfect blend of ashtanga and vinyasa flow yoga practices, and it soon became a regular in my workout routine. I even The masseter muscles — worked out to Bryan’s video the morning of my responsible for “mastication,” or wedding. Because I’ve always followed the Just 5 chewing. Our masseter Minutes rule and have done it for years, that still muscles are also part of a bigger, more complex applied on my wedding day. Plus, I needed a way to muscular network that calm my butt down. links to many other muscles in our bodies. Masseter muscles help I’ve included highlights from two articles that keep the head on the specifically address yoga and Ehlers-Danlos spine, the joints of the Syndrome. One article is from a yoga teacher, who also head and neck in place, and stay in has EDS and her thoughts on how to teach yoga to communication with people with hypermobility. A yoga article for those other […] with EDS, written by someone who has EDS and SHARE THIS: teaches yoga – perfect!   

TEACHING YOGA TO PEOPLE FASCIA = WITH HYPERMOBILITY – JESS CONNECTIVE GLENNY TISSUE = THE GLUE THAT HOLDS OUR “Is there such a thing as “too flexible”? BODIES TOGETHER = EVERYWHERE IN OUR BODIES! “These suggestions for working with yoga students with Hypermobility Syndrome / Ehlers Danlos (HMS / EDS) are written in response to the many requests for help and advice I receive from teachers of hypermobile students. They are neither exhaustive nor gospel. They are personal experience rather than Someone in the EDS Hacks FB group posted expertise. I have been practicing yoga with Ehlers an excellent article the Danlos (Hypermobility Type) for 32 years and have other day. The woman experienced many different attitudes and who posted the article commented that reading approaches from teachers. In the last decade, I have articles like the one also been fortunate enough to teach many students below help her better with hypermobility. understand what is going on with her body; thus, helping her find While teachers with a normal mobility range are appropriate ways to help alleviate her sometimes, understandably, anxious about how to symptoms. And we work with hypermobile students in a beneficial way, couldn’t agree more. […]

most of the principles for teaching hypermobile SHARE THIS: people are also good practice for working with all students, so hypermobile people are easy to integrate    into a general yoga class. Individual techniques for individual postures are outside the scope of this writing, but pretty much any principle for alignment SPONSORED and physical integrity you have learned is potentially ADS a great tool for hypermobile students. Feel free to use it.“

To read the rest of Jess’ article, go to Teaching Yoga to People with Hypermobility. ~ Jess Glenny

Pike handstand for IG yoga challenge – over a year of PT for my neck and back, as well as slowly building my wrist strength to get to this point.

The second article was ﬁrst published in Self Magazine online and has been featured several other places. In this article, one woman discusses her battle with EDS and how she copes with chronic pain through yoga.

Christine, who is featured in the article, is a someone who I met via the Facebook page Yoga for Ehlers- Danlos Syndrome, Fibromyalgia & Hypermobility. She also submitted a story for Our Stories of Strength – Living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. An excerpt of her story is below:

THE HEALING POWER OF YOGA: HOW PRACTICING HELPED ME COPE WITH PAIN

“Many of us have dealt with a painful injury or illness at some point in our lives—some more serious than others. But for Christine Spencer, a 30-year-old from Collingswood, NJ, dealing with severe pain is an ever- present fact of life.

Spencer was diagnosed at 13 with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a debilitating connective tissue disorder related to ﬁbromyalgia. It causes hypermobility, muscle tension, constant pain, and in some cases, death.

When her symptoms worsened and caused her to withdraw from college, doctors wrote her a prescription for a cocktail of medications, including painkillers.

“This was the only way western medicine knows how NEVER BET AGAINST to deal with disease,” Spencer says. OCCAM: MAST CELL RESEARCH “I did some physical therapy, but no one gave me a long-term plan to help me heal.” 86 REVIEWS!

For months, she was completely bedridden and unable to carry on with any semblance of a normal life.”

To read the rest of Christine’s article, go to Yoga for chronic pain with EDS. Christine’s blog, The Gluten Free Yogi, is also linked to my website. When she posts, her new posts are also updated on my site.

“It’s Really Not All In Finally, it is nearly impossible to cover all that goes Your Head!!! After into the practice of yoga with Ehlers-Danlos struggling with health issues for most of my issues for most of my Syndrome in one post. However, I will continue to life, it was reading Dr. write about yoga for EDS, share resources and my Afrin’s work that ﬁnally journey with yoga. When done correctly, yoga can be brought all the pieces together. How I wish an amazing way to learn how not to hyperextend and this knowledge was gain strength and stability. Yoga is also incredible for available 25 years ago as it would have prevented learning how to incorporate movement and countless years of mindfulness as a way to manage chronic pain. suffering “strange” and “unusual” symptoms for which […] The most important point to remember is to do what MAST CELL you feel is best for your body. You are the best RESEARCH advocate for your health. Never begin an exercise CONTEST AND WELLAPALOOZA program or start a new activity without speaking to 2016 SPONSOR your healthcare provider ﬁrst. RAFFLE PRIZE WINNERS! Additional yoga and EDS links are listed below.

One of my favorite poses/stretches for leg pain

Yoga and EDS links and resources: Recently, Mast Cell Research held a contest – The Gluten Free Yogi’s collection of yoga for to see who could guess beginners videos and links how many total copies of Dr. Lawrence Afrin’s book ‘Never Bet Against – Dr. 911 Well on Twitter Occam: Mast Cell Activation Disease and – 14 types of yoga explained the Modern Epidemics of Chronic Illness and Medical Complexity’ – Jenni Rawlings article on hypermobility vs. ﬂexibility have been sold, to celebrate the six month anniversary since it was – JENNI RAWLINGS YOGA & MOVEMENT website published. Prize winners were […] – Jess Glenny’s Moving Prayer Practice Blog

– Katy Bowman’s post on Hypermobility INTEGRATI VE WELLNESS – Tips for managing Hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos RETREATS: WELLAPALO WELLAPALO Syndrome OZA

– The relationship between chronic pain and inactivity EDS WELLNESS INTEGRATIVE WELLNESS – Moving Naturally with Hypermobility seminar CONFERENCES AND summary and presentations RETREATS

– Answers to questions about exercise and EDS (3 post series)

– PT and exercise resources and links for those with EDS

– Pilates with Hypermobility

– Living with Hypermobility Syndrome

– Bryan Kest’s Power Yoga Video – Sweat

– Rodney Yee’s Yoga for meditation

– Do Yoga Now

– Do Yoga with me

– Yoga for treating exhaustion and adrenal dysfunction

– Yoga Gypsey Blogspot

– EDS Wellness – Wellness counseling, seminars, resources and more

– Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation

– Hypermobility Syndromes Association – EDS Awareness – 2 free webinars per month

– Our Stories of Strength – Living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – anthology of over 50 stories from those living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and how have found ways to persevere

– Living Life to the Fullest with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – Book

– Move your DNA – Book

Disclaimer: Yoga may work for some and not for others. This post is for your information only and should not be substituted for proper medical care, or viewed as a directive for those who have hypermobility syndromes, such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. To read the full disclaimer, go here.