WILDCARD TCA: Hypermobility and me
Adapted Jnana Yoga: I am not the body, I am not the mind [but I can strengthen both!]
Co-Contraction (engaging muscles on both sides of a joint) as a way to get my brain to communicate more effectively with my muscles.

Goal: To reinforce Jnana Yoga w/JAPA based tools to help with hypermobility.

PLAN: For the next four weeks (~20-30 minutes/day) I'll establish a daily JAPA informed routine [based on discussed practice MENU] emphasizing STRENGTH balanced w/REST.

ASSESSMENT: Pre, Post and on day 14, I will take the same 1 hour Hypermobility friendly yoga class and journal about how I feel while doing it, directly after, and 1-2 days afte

Client is 46 and mid-HBED, became aware that there could be a simple answer behind her otherwise "series of unfortunate (health) events" resulting in chronic pain, migraine, stiffness, and muscle tension. She is elated to discover that a mindful movement program emphasizing strength and rest could be the secret to preventing pain which has not yet come. The program is designed to address Hypermobility Syndrome/Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Type.

Baseline: Take a 1 HR Hypermobility friendly yoga class & journal about how I feel during, directly after, & 1-2 days after (which is often when I feel my worst after "exercise" thanks to DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) & not knowing where my “authentic edge” is thanks to laxity around most of my joints (Hinsley, 2022) and communication challenges between my somatosensory cortex of my parietal lobe and my musculoskeletal system (HBED TT Manual, 2022). Hypermobility was self-diagnosed per Beighton assessment which classifies Generalized Joint Hypermobility as hypermobility in 5 or more joints, (McGonigle, 2021).
4 Week plan:
Use attached movement MENU to establish a daily sadhana emphasizing STRENGTH balanced w/ REST. Each day starts w/an Appetizer & ends w/Dessert. The Feast includes 1 entrée from each category.

Day 28: Repeat Baseline activities.

1) Adapted Hatha: JAPA Technically a teaching & a self-discovery TOOL] JAPA (Joint Activating Practice for All) helps you to check-in with your body on any given day. JAPA = Directed awareness + simple, gentle movements paired with breath at each joint. (HBED YTT)

2) Adapted Hatha: Co-Contraction (engaging muscles on both sides of a joint) helps the brain to communicate more effectively with the muscles. For a person w/hypermobility, there are many reasons why this is not a given; strengthening this communication is key for improving stability, control, & possibly reducing pain.

3) Jnana Yoga: I am not the body, I am not the mind [but I can strengthen both!]
Adding the mantra from Jnana Yoga to the JAPA practice, can help you cope with whatever you discover as you check-in (e.g., painful sensations, scary sounds, tightness, tension and manage the thoughts that may follow.

After Baseline & Week #1, I was feeling good. With co-contraction, muscles were working but not straining. Overall energy level seemed steady, not depleted. I competed the practice choosing a slightly different adventure each day and found the Menu offered a helpful structure to keep me balanced. I caught myself on more than one day attracted to some entrees and averse to others. Knowing I needed to “pick 1 from each category” kept the practice balanced. I stuck with it because the initial exercises were provided from my PT (as homework after I was released) and I was able to balance the exercises with countermoves based on my time in HBED. For example, Forearm Plank was followed by Cat/Cow with breath OR Flowing Thread the Needle. With added counterposes, the practice took closer to 35 min. to complete each day, longer if I wanted solid Yoga Nidra. All was well until it wasn’t.

Follow up/some lessons learned:
1) This approach (Menu) is useful/adaptable. I took it with me on vacation & it worked well through Day 10.
2) THE CLIENT is the best judge of what is needed on any given day. Let the MENU be an invitational guideline, not a stone tablet.
3) Along w/the Menu, provide a tracker/chart so the client can see what they chose on any given day. By the 3rd day, it’s hard to remember what you chose the day before. Knowing what you did & when is useful information RE: assessing why I feel the way I do.
4) The Mantra (I am not the body…) is useful in some but not all instances. Proprioception (Clayton et al, 2015) & cognitive impairment (Baeza-Valasco et al, 2017) are hallmarks of Hypermobility. The key is figuring out how I can learn where a part is without getting overly attached to what that part is doing/not doing (relative to my past self or others).

No and Yes. Baseline through Day #10 went as planned. From Day 11 forward, I had a series of personal health issues that required a fundamental shift. At first, it wasn’t clear how much of a shift was needed and for how long BUT by using breath awareness and listening to my body, I could adapt. The practice goal shifted from strength to maintenance. Two unrelated health issues led me to realize that I would need to table the strength goals and change the tools to honor the new goals of Peace Maintenance including: stress management, pain management, and grounding/present moment awareness.
The Main Courses on Menu were now Restorative Yoga and Pranayama.
Goal was achieved in that I was able to hold a daily practice that incorporated and honored the mantra “I am not the body, I am not the mind” by reminding myself that my true nature is peace and thus, my practice needs to support THAT.

I adapted nearly everything. I used Raja Yoga to reframe my expectations and remind myself that the aim of this exercise was more than building strength or training my brain. The aim was yoga and yoga = peace. Sw. Vivekananda’s unpacking of Sutra 1.30, states “unhealthy persons cannot be yogis.” I first found this translation offensive, but now I see that if my peace is disturbed, I’m no longer in a state of yoga, thus, “not a Yogi.” Here, my personal health needed attention & I had a choice: REST or plow ahead pursuing strength out of fear of “losing ground gained.” Had I plowed ahead, I’d have ended up in a worse state. I stand firm in my choice to use the tools of Restorative Yoga (supported savasana, legs up the chair) and Pranayama (supported breathing, extended exhales) Restorative Yoga TT pt. II Manual) to stimulate my parasympathetic division of the nervous system (HBED YTT).

Per recommendations of Hinsley (2022) & McGonigle & Huy (2023), to help a client w/Hypermobility I would emphasize:

1) Maintaining a slight bend in the joints, (esp. weight bearing ones), AND offer options to try co-contraction,
2) Prioritize stability over flexibility,
3) Aim for 80% of full range,
4) Seek ideal individual alignment (rather than universal) &
5) Practice humility: “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

Jnana Yoga exploration would include:
What does is mean to be a Yogi & what is the role of flexibility? How might we re-direct the abundant physical flexibility toward other layers of our being (mind, emotions) ; viewing it as a superpower rather than a deficit (reframing via Raja Yoga). Can we be flexible enough in mind & heart to show compassion to ourselves as we practice, allowing our practices to meet us where we are rather than were we think we should be.

• Clayton-et-al.-2015-Proprioceptive-precision-is-impaired-in-Ehlers–Dan.pdf
• Baeza-Valasco-et-al_2017.pdf
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