bending without breaking

no more party tricks for these knees

I’ve been a dancer my whole life, so from a young age, my seemingly natural flexibility was encouraged. People told me I was “double jointed.” My elbows and knees bend backwards, and I easily sank into splits.

No one knew about hypermobile EDS (hEDS) when I was growing up so I developed some bad habits, including showing off my flexibility which put unnecessary stress on my tendons and ligaments. I am really feeling it now as I grow older and wish I knew sooner of the ways I could have prevented injury and protected my joints. Now I know I need to literally tell my muscles to work (which is what I am doing in the photo above to achieve my “oversplit”), and hope that over time my body remembers to work and protect me for the longevity of my sport and for my regular life in motion.

These days there’s a bit more information about hypermobile EDS (hEDS) bodies and how they work differently, so if you feel you are like me and have been dealing with chronic muscle and joint pain, limbs that dislocate randomly, and even stomach, breathing, and anxiety issues, do a google search and find out more about this spectrum disorder.

People that have chronic pain may be smiling on the outside, but they are def battling their bodies on the inside. Shout out to everyone who has to put on a happy face  Sending love to you!

Take Beighton Score test to see if you might be hypermobile EDS (hEDS): https://www.physio-pedia.com/Beighton_score

And if you are interested in learning more about how we can safely move our hypermobile bodies in aerial work, think about attending our upcoming Pole In The Wall workshop with Dr. Cody Ibarra on October 9, 2021 from 3pm – 4:30pm EST “A Hypermobile Polers Guide to Bending Without Breaking.“

Attend for $30.00 in studio or online.

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Photo above by Knitshibari
@ericwallisphotography
Eyeofthetiger Photography