Comments on: Is Your Flexibility a Liability? PNF Stretching Can Help

By: » Kosmic Life — Yoga & Body Web Highlights: Are you Super Flexible?, Bowen Therapy for Self-Healing, Bali Yoga Festival

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:32:28 +0000

[...] Jill Miller traded her Jane Fonda workout videos for a yoga life when she was twelve years old, and that opened her up (literally) to a very flexible body. Yup, she can do those perfect splits that some people are jealous of. But in her latest blog, she talks about the downside of being hyper-mobile. And then like a positive yogi, she offers a remedy. She says that when a muscle is “that” flexible, there’s a lack of tension, and without that, there’s no signal to the body that you’re overdoing it. When your tendons and ligaments are very loose, the joints may not be receiving the protection you would normally give them because the body does not tense up and warn you to pull back. That is where, she says, proprioceptive neuro-muscular facilitation can help. This targeted form of stretching can assist super-flexible people to be more aware of their location within their own bodies. So, if you’re looking like Gumby on the yoga mat, this may be for you. blog.giam.com. [...]

By: Jill Miller

Jill Miller — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:26:55 +0000

Thanks for the info Elise! A helpful resource.

By: elise

elise — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:51:44 +0000

Check out the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation – http://www.ednf.org – for more resources for those who are both hypermobile and in pain. Proprioception is a huge issue in EDS. Many EDSers are drawn to sports and modalities like yoga or dance where flexibility is encouraged.
Be careful not to lose that muscle tone you have from yoga – problems often manifest because it is those toned muscles that are keeping your joints in place right now.
Hypertonicity is common in EDS as well because some muscles want to compensate for loose joints. Tight hamstrings are a good example when knees and hips are involved. A tight SCM for loose neck or jaw. Etc.
Your system to increase proprioception is really cool! Keep up the good work and keep the EDNF in mind when you meet students who are hypermobile and wobbly.