How To Do Yoga With Hypermobile Joints

If you've ever been to a yoga class and have been struck with envy over students who can hyperextend their joints in order to perform flawless poses, don't be. Hypermobile or loose joints can cause injury, sprains and strains. In time it may even lead to secondary osteoarthritis -- a condition sometimes caused by injury. Doing yoga with hypermobile joints means concentrating your efforts on proper alignment, strengthening your large muscle groups and fighting the urge to go deeper in a pose just because you can.

Step 1

Work on building strength in your large muscles like the quads and glutes when performing standing yoga poses. If you look closely at people with hypermobile joints standing in Mountain pose -- standing at attention -- they seem to look posture perfect. But upon closer examination, it's likely that their knees are pressed in, causing the backs of the knees to jut out. Leave your knees in neutral positions and instead draw your quadriceps muscles -- the large muscles in your upper thighs -- up and away from the knees.

Step 2

Lift the backs of your knees off the floor during forward bends. Slip your hands under the backs of each knee. Lift up slightly to create space in poses like Seated Forward Bend. In this pose, you are sitting on the floor with your legs outstretched in front of you, reaching toward your toes with your hands. Keep your feet flexed and avoid laying your torso on top your legs when you bend forward by keeping your back straight and the front of your torso slightly lifted. Follow a forward bend with a back bend in order to strengthen the lower pelvis if your sacroiliac joints are hypermobile.

Step 3

Avoid hyperextending your pelvis and sacrum during back bends by working on your core or abdominal muscles. There is a natural forward tilt of your sacrum called nutation. For people with hypermobile joints who practice back bends in yoga, this tilt can be exaggerated, which can cause compression of the lower spine. Strengthen your transverse abdominal muscles by performing leg lifts or any abdominal exercise for your lower abdomen.

Step 4

Resist the urge to hyperextend your joints in even the simplest of yoga poses. Yoga is a voyage into your body, mind and soul. If you can perform poses perfectly without even trying, there is nothing for you to learn. Concentrate on the correct alignment for all poses that you would typically hyperextend your joints. Ask a certified yoga therapist to give you an assessment. Work with her to correct your alignment and learn how to counteract the effects of hypermobile joints.

Tips and Warnings

Practice aligning your hypermobile joints off the yoga mat too. If you're standing in line at the store, rather than jut your legs back, consciously stack your knees directly above your ankles and directly under your hips.
Don't perform tricks with your loose joints for your friends. Bending your fingers back 90 degrees may be fun for everyone to look at, but you're going to be looking at arthritic joints down the road.