By Robin on Friday, October 20, 2000 - 05:55 pm:

Would it be harmful to practice yoga, having joint laxity? There's no pain, but perhaps I'm only exacerbating the laxity by doing extreme stretching. Any ideas?
thanks

By Andrea on Tuesday, November 07, 2000 - 01:39 pm:

This is the one activity my rheumatologist recommended I did NOT do. But bearing in mind all the other things he recommended I am sceptical even of this piece of advice... I suppose for our lax joints anything extreme is bound to exacerbate the situation. But you DO NEED to stretch in order to keep mobile - yes, mobile, because if you do nothing even hypermobiles can get immobile! (I was a living example of it at the beginning of the year.) We also need to stretch in order to feed our joints with all the nutrients they need. And it also feels sooooo good to stretch, so keep stretching! By the way: exercise releases useful chemicals in our brain and other parts of our body which boost our immune system and relieve stress and pain and make us happy.

By Jane on Friday, November 10, 2000 - 11:31 am:

My Dr. said that yoga might be helpful for me, but that I'm going to know a lot more about my body than any teacher, so it might be helpful for me to just get a yoga book and teach myself a thing or two. It did sound a little risky, but he was right -- no yoga teacher could know as well as I do when to stop, what feels good, what feels dangerous. Good luck!

By Noreen on Thursday, November 16, 2000 - 03:19 pm:

I have found Tai chi to be a great exercise enabling full stretches without overdoing it. A good teacher is a must with tai chi, though.

Noreen

By Geri on Tuesday, November 21, 2000 - 11:01 am:

Hi there, I was just writing to say that I took up yoga about a month ago and find that it is more demanding in terms of muscle strength rather than flexibility (i.e. the headstands). I think it also depends on how adavanced a level you choose to do, but I must agree with Andrea that the stretching part feels really great.

By jane on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 12:46 pm:

I've been doing yoga on and off for over 3 years
(kundelini and hatha). I find it helps due to the
strengthening of my abs and back. The stretching
does feel great- and you'll be star of the class
in terms of flexibility! I also find it helps me
to control by body mentally (as in control pain by
focusing).

By Maree on Monday, July 23, 2001 - 10:16 pm:

I'm curious about stretching. I find it very hard to get a stretch in my muscles. I know I'm doing the stretches correctly.

Does anyone know if the lack of stretch is because of hypermobile joints?

By Lin on Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - 04:04 am:

oh i have the same problem! for example, when i hurt my knees realy bad i didnt run for a few months, and then i started running a few miles a day and got shin splints because i wasnt in shape anymore (the tendons that connect the muscles to the bones in your shin get sore and very painful) and there is a good stretch that feels wonderfull for shin splints, you sit on the floor leg straight and someone steps down on your foot slowly and eventualy you feel the stretch, my friend had to push my foot all the way to the floor before i felt it, she was afraid she was going to break my foot! then, remembering how good it felt, when i didnt have the shin splints i got a friend to help me with the stretches before i went running, and she pushed my foot flat to the floor and i felt nothing at all!! this happens all the time, where i go as far as i can go, and we all know that we can go pretty far! and i dont feel any stretch. its strange, sometimes our muslces are lax too maybe, similar to our ligaments. they are all made of collagen....
Lin

By Maree on Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - 05:17 pm:

oh, so maybe it is a hypermobile thing then. When I'm doing stretches people may say "how can you do that?" But it's no big deal for me, I can stretch that far. When I'm attending massage w/shops (I'm a massage therapist)and we're practicing, my partners generally can't do a stretch on me. I sometimes feel like apologising :-)

It makes me wonder what the state of the muscles are though.

By Kati on Friday, January 11, 2002 - 03:47 pm:

i had practiced yoga for a year or two before i started having pain in all of my joints (i just had specific pain in my back and knee). i am waiting for a genetist appt to conferm EDS, but i have all of the signs. i was wondering if anyone had practiced a specific form of yoga that is not quite as painful. i stopped yoga becasue i kept on getting injured, even when i modified the poses. is there any type that has poses that build more strength than flexibility? so far physical therapy (3x week) isn't helping. stay warm and healthy!