Mid-Range is Sexy & Other Bendy Body Principles

Yoga for Bendy People: Post #6

This is the sixth post for our book club featuring Yoga for Bendy People by Libby Hinsley.

Be sure to register for our conversation with Libby on June 29th. The topic is: How to Design an Asana Practice for Bendy People. Reg link is at the bottom of this post. If you’re not a paid member, consider upgrading your membership to join us.

(To read previous posts, click on Yogaland Book Club in the navbar above.)

In the next few chapters, Libby shares how bendy folks can get the most out of an asana practice.

Chapter 7: Smaller & Slower Movements

Since bendy people “have a hard time setting boundaries around movement,” these principles can act as guard rails.

Instead of flopping all the way to our end range of motion (often without feeling it or knowing it), smaller movements can keep bendy bodies in the mid-range of motion, which can both prevent joint dislocation and improve motor control. From page 118:

Due to impaired proprioception (sense of joint position and body awareness), motor control is a common challenge for bendy people. I rarely see a person with hypermobility who is able to control movement well in midranges, much less at end range. But once good motor control can be established in midranges, then over time, we can learn to maintain control through progressively larger ranges of motion.

Slower and smaller movements can also be used to improve proprioceptive awareness and Libby walks through how she does this in Cat Cow by starting out going only 25% of her max in each direction and slowly, purposefully increasing her movement.

Chapter 8: Stretching

This chapter answers the many burning questions people have about stretching and hypermobility, namely, “Should they stretch? Should they not? What type of stretching is best?”

Libby and I talked about this a little bit about this in our podcast interview, which you can listen to here. And if you’d like a review of the different types of stretching, Jason and I did a podcast, Is stretching really good for you? that covers the basics.

Anecdotally, I found it unsurprising that Libby cautions against passive end range stretching. My own experience of this type of stretching is that it led to sacral inflammation and hamstring attachment pain. Libby refers to this as “yoga butt” because it’s such a common complaint she hears from bendy practitioners.

What’s interesting to me, is that the reason passive end range stretching tends to be irritating isn’t well understood. As she points out — the frequency and duration of the load, the type of load, and the lack of other forms of loading could all contribute.

She suggests that strength training or even simple active muscle contraction while stretching can help:

It’s possible that for many bendy people, the problem isn’t as much “overstretching” as it is chronic underloading of the tissue. Active muscle contraction like isometric stretching…is one way to increase tensile loading during stretching and may yield more favorable outcomes. (p. 138)

Chapter 9: Strength and Stability

There was another fist-pumping moment for me right at the top of this chapter where Libby says that strength and stability are universally important because bendy people have been shown to have decreased muscle strength and endurance.

Aha! I have always suspected that it is exceedingly difficult to build or even maintain strength in my body. Curious if any other bendy folks feel the same?

Libby walks us through the different ways muscles contract: concentric, eccentric, and isometric and how you can apply them in your practice.

Using these techniques over the years has radically changed the way my body responds to yoga. Years ago, I would lay my body over my front leg in a Pigeon Pose forward bend. You will never see me do that now. Instead, I do a much more active Pigeon like the one Libby describes on page 149. This means I won’t stretch my front outer hip as much, but you know what? I don’t really need those “extra” inches of stretch for any functional purpose in my life.

What I do need, though, is more strength and stability everywhere. I also need to be able to feel my body more clearly. When I isometrically contract both legs and keep my torso upright, I accomplish my goal — and I feel much better after practice, too.

You can listen to another Yogaland podcast about strength here: How much strength does yoga really build?

I’m so curious to hear what you think of these chapters about approaching asana with hypermobility in mind? Are these principles that you already use with your students or yourself? Was there anything new that leapt out you that you could incorporate?