Elbow Hypermobility In Yoga
Ok my hypermobile friends
This blog is part of a series:
click here here for more visuals and info on elbow hyperextension in yoga
click here to read a strap trick for hypermobile elbows in yoga
time to get real. Being hypermobile is all fun and games until it's not. When you are hypermobile or even just very flexible you often have much more stabilizing work to do than the average yogi.
Especially in weight bearing poses like plank, downdog and handstand, avoid hanging out in the elbow joints by diligently bringing your elbow joints back to their strongest place -- the place where they have the most surface area in contact. (i.e. the place where the bones are stacked). This place can be found when the arm is just straight -- not bent and not beyond straight.
When I see a student hanging out in their elbow hypermobility, the cue I often use is "bend the elbow until you reach straight." There is also a very effective way to use a strap which I'll address in my next newsletter
Miss my last blog post on hypermobility and so none of this is making sense?? Click here
Anatomy Recap: Joints are where two bones link together. Ligaments attach bone to bone. Tendons connect the muscle to the bone. If tendons and ligaments become injured, either by being over-stretched or worse by being torn they can take a very long time to heal because they do not have a blood supply.
Hypermobile Elbow - but with less extreme hyperextension than the one below
Hypermobile Elbow - more extreme hyperextension than the one above
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Model: Alex @alexreyesyoga; Sarah Oviatt @thatteacheryogi