Yoga, the Original Anticolonial Philosophy, Solves Polycrisis

This blog post was written by Singing Dragon author Shyam Ranganathan, author of Yoga – Anticolonial Philosophy.

For those who have not been watching

Oppression, cruelty, and danger are surprisingly matters that anyone can ignore and be unaware of if they are not directly impacted. And even when it is on our doorstep, we can choose to be ignorant about such matters by creating ad hoc explanations that do not situate tragedy within larger historical trends.

Many of us for years have been concerned about the deterioration of the health of the environment and the remarkable systemic cruelty inflicted on nonhuman animals in ecosystems and factory farms, and we watched all of this in horror as most humans normalize this. This slow destruction of everything not human sets the backdrop for numerous painfully slow genocides and wars that have been occurring in spaces suffering from the legacy of colonization.

As a South Asianist, I was aware of the war against Tamil people in Sri Lanka, and the genocide of Rohingya people at the hands of the Myanmar state, both surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly) supported by local Buddhists! As I complete my second book on colonization, I’ve come to appreciate how normalized genocide has been in various theaters for centuries, including and especially North America.

According to scholarly reckoning, prior to European settlement in the Americas, Indigenous people on Turtle Island number in the 100 millions. Within three generations of European arrival, that population was down to 5% of its original number.

Many people in the Westernized world had become accustomed to a creation of Europe in the Middle East—Israel. October 7, 2023 changed that normalization with what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have concluded is an ongoing genocide against Palestinians—a claim that the International Court of Justice determined in 2024, is plausible.

There is a word for what we are going through: a polycrisis. Accordingly, there isn’t just one problem afoot. There are innumerable all at once, but they are not disconnected.

Selective Outrage

What I observed with every new sense of outrage over awareness of some injustice is how people would often react as though it was (a) a new thing, and (b) the only thing wrong. A remarkable single-issue mentality dominates the way people often react to problems, and what this ignores is the root cause of the various challenges. One result of this selective outrage is that energy is directed to very narrow causes while allowing all the other problems of the world to unfold unabated.  

Root Cause: Egotism

Understanding what the root cause of the problems we face is not easy. In contexts of oppression, we are encouraged to buy our experiences as part of our self-understanding. In Yoga this is called egotism — asmitā in Sanskrit. Egotism is a conflation of my identity with how I experience the world. And if I experience the world by way of a certain racial, sex, gender, orientation, or political perspective, this becomes part of my sense of who I am. And when I try to protect my self-interests, I protect this very narrow identity.

The result is that I end up caring about what seems relevant to this narrow identity based on various extremely contingent experiences. This would explain how people tend to be selective in their outrage and largely unconcerned with various problems. If I identify with being human, then I stop caring so much about the suffering of nonhumans or the Earth, for I’ve conflated the interests I have with this narrow human identity.

If I conflate my sense of who I am with a narrow sex or ethnic identity, say being male or white, I then only put effort into caring for issues that impact this identity. In this ordinary way of existing, we are devoted to our outlook and experiences. If I understand myself in terms of a specific cultural identity, the genocide and erasure of other groups will seem tolerable if it doesn’t impact me. And I may even feel it is necessary if that other group challenges the privilege I grant my cultural identity.

Our polycrisis goes unabated thus because we focus only on narrow ideas of who we are instead of common interests which would lead us to undermine connected crises that effect all of us.

In contrast, Yoga, the original philosophy, recommends that we should be devoted to Īśvara, Sovereignty, which is defined by the essential traits of being unconservative (not stuck in its past) and self-governing (free to move forward). This is a basic interest that all people share, regardless of species, sex, gender, ethnicity, or orientation. On this account, the Earth and nonhuman animals are persons (puruṣa-s) too as they share this basic interest. Thus to be devoted to Īśvara is to be devoted to a shared interest.  

When I put my energy into being devoted to Īśvara, I no longer am defining myself in terms of a narrow set of interests based on contingent experiences. My energy is devoted to what would be safe and healthy for all persons, for I understand that this is in my interest. If people lived life this way, they would put care and attention into making our world safe for all people. They would stop ignoring problems, and also stop being single-issue agents, obsessed with this or that problem, but not with oppression as such.

What Yoga teaches us is that there is no way to be devoted to Sovereignty but also one’s narrow sense of self based on one’s contingent experiences. If I were to be concerned with my sovereignty defined purely in terms of my ethnic, sex, or experiential markers, then I am not actually devoted to Sovereignty but to my experiences and narrow way of engaging the world.

My actual autonomy (kaivalya), Patanjali, the author of the Yoga Sūtra, teaches us, is made possible by an ethical transformation of abandoning the selfishness of egotism in all contexts (YS IV 29). So I must choose what I am devoted to: Sovereignty or the contingencies of my experience. I cannot do both.

If I focus on my narrow ego-based identity, I foster polycrisis by pretending that my interests are narrow and unaffected by distant problems. If I am devoted to Sovereignty, I cannot allow a polycrisis to unfold as that would be incompatible with my autonomy, which is an interest in acting freely in a free world.  

Yoga: Anticolonial Philosophy 

Why is this insight into the ethical project of Yoga not the starting point of Yoga education? I have found in my research that the very same forces of colonization that we live through structure ordinary discourse around yoga. So instead of going back and learning the original philosophy of yoga, we are encouraged to identify yoga with how we came to the practices of yoga, and in terms of the teachers we identify with.

Academics unconcerned with philosophy but who nevertheless call themselves scholars of Yoga treat these various social identities built around different teachers and lineages as the topic of the study of Yoga.  Instead of studying the original philosophy, Yoga, they study various groups and opinions about the use of the word “yoga.”

Yet, if we are careful about research so that we do not try to impose our beliefs on what we are studying (interpretation) but engage in logic-based philosophical learning. We can uncover that Yoga is a timeless resource we can call upon to deal with the challenge of being a quirky individual in a beautiful world of quirky individuals.

All I did, which was quite unique, was to apply the very introductory logic skills I teach my introduction to philosophy students to the study of Indian Philosophy. This allowed me to discern that Yoga is a unique ethical practice centered around devotion to what persons have in common—an interest in Īśvara, or Sovereignty—that involves taking on the responsibility to explore being sovereign by practicing unconservatism and self-governance. 

What this taught me is that oppression isn’t interested in individuals. In its most extreme form, it wants us all to be the same, and anything out of the ordinary has to be exterminated or bullied out of existence.

In contrast, Yoga, the original ethical practice, is deeply concerned with individuals in their idiosyncratic glory. It shows us that what we have in common is our individuality, which is something to be valued. But that individuality is not the same as the contingent experiences we have. It has to do with our ethical interest in being unconservative and self-governing. Whenever any of us put energy into working on these essential traits of Sovereignty, we no longer participate as agents of the oppression we experience. 

A basic Yoga practice in and of itself disrupts oppression. But it is also the most essential and required form of self-care.   This self-care is not selfish as it is not defined in terms of a self constrained by the narrow experiences of race, species, sex, or biology. It is a self that shares the same interest as all selves that we care for as practitioners of Yoga.

***

To learn how self-care and anti-oppressive activism amount to the same thing, and to learn about the original philosophy of Yoga, and critically distinguish it from what colonization and oppression has redefined as “yoga,” check out Dr. Shyam Ranganathan’s book, Yoga — Anticolonial Philosophy: An Action Focused Guide to Practice (Singing Dragon 2024).

Also, follow Dr. Shyam Ranganathan on Instagram @yogaphilosophy_com, and Substack @drshyamr

Using Humidity Awareness to Create a Healthy Office during Cold, Flu and COVID-19 season

This blog post is written by Marybetts Sinclair, LMT, author of Hydrotherapy for Bodyworkers

The seasonal cycle of respiratory viral diseases has been recognized for thousands of years, as annual epidemics of the common cold and influenza disease hit the human population like clockwork in the winter season. Studies have long shown the effect of temperature and humidity on viruses’ survival and transmission to others.” -Immunologist J. Moriyama

“When someone with COVID-19 coughs inside a room with dry air, virus particles stay in the air and remain on surfaces longer, and go deeper into the body, which increases the risk of contracting a virus and the severity of the infection.” Engineer David Baird

The viruses that cause colds, flu and COVID-19 will thrive this winter partly because cooler temperatures cause us to be indoors more. As we crank up the heat to warm our offices and homes, the indoor air dries out, affecting your entire respiratory system.  The upper part of your respiratory system, including your throat and nose, is lined with moist membranes that capture dirt, dust, viruses and bacteria before they reach your lungs. Proper humidity levels help these membranes do their job. But if your home or office air is very dry, moisture is drawn from these membranes as well as many other parts of the body, and even the fluid that hydrates your bronchial tubes can quickly evaporate, making it easier for harmful particles to get into the sensitive areas of your lungs. Cilia do not work as well in dry conditions either, making it more difficult for them to pass virus and debris out of the lungs.

Signs you are breathing too much dry air include a scratchy sore throat that lasts for days, cracked lips, fingertips or heels, bloody noses, itching or flaking skin, chapped lips, even a feeling of tightness around joints. If you or one of your clients is contagious with a flu, cold, or COVID, even before that person even knows they are sick, dry air may help transmit it to the other person.

How to keep the room air at a healthy humidity.

Since too-dry air encourages infection and further illness and slows patient recovery, humidity is carefully controlled in hospitals. Humidity is typically monitored in schools as well, since too-dry air has long been identified as one of the leading causes of student and teacher illnesses.  Many hospitals and schools use steam-based systems with central boilers that can boil water like using a giant tea kettle and circulate this water into ventilation systems. Akiko Iwaski, PHD, an immunobiologist who researches how humidity is related to the spread of infections, recommends inhaling very moist air in the winter, using long hot showers or baths, steam baths or local steam inhalations. (Iwasaki, 2019).  Tell your clients about the benefits of healthy levels of humidity as well.

Here are some simple strategies when you are in in your therapy room or office this winter:

STEP ONE: 

Keep track of the moisture in the air with an inexpensive device called a hygrometer. You can buy one at your local hardware store or online. Keep it in your treatment room where you can see it easily. The air in your therapy office, as well as in your home, should sit somewhere between 40 and 50 % humidity. If it’s measuring below 30 percent, you may need to invest in a humidifier. (100% relative humidity means that the air is totally saturated with water vapor, not a good state of affairs)

 STEP TWO: 

Introduce moisture if the air is too dry.

1. Use hydrotherapy treatments in your sessions. Clients love them, especially when it is cold outside! A hot moist pack over a tight lower back to ease tight muscles, warm footbaths to warm the client’s entire body on a cold day, warm towels draped over an aching body part, a body scrub with warm water and an exfoliant, all moisten the air and treat your clients. If you are lucky enough to have hot tubs, warm baths or hot showers, so much the better.

2. Keep houseplants in your waiting room or office and spray them with water from a fine-mist spray bottle. They will like it and release water into the air.

3. Buy a small fountain for your waiting room or treatment room. Many clients find the sound of running water soothing.

4. Buy and use a humidifier. Some buildings have whole-house humidifiers that are mounted on furnaces, while portable ones with water tanks come in various sizes.

5. Tell your clients about the benefits of healthy levels of humidity.

“I feel my tension begin to melt away”: How water treatments increase the effectiveness of bodywork

Written by MaryBetts Sinclair, author of Hydrotherapy for Bodyworkers: Improving Outcomes with Water Therapies.

           In combination with skilled touch, water treatments are perhaps the very oldest and most revered of all healing modalities. Pain from injuries, issues from damaged muscles and joints, circulation problems, chronic tension, chronic pain and emotional stress have long inspired healers to relieve suffering this way.

From ancient Rome’s great baths to Russian saunas, Indian Ayurvedic steams, Native American sweat lodges, Turkish baths and Japanese hot springs, peoples the world over use and love hydrotherapy and massage together. In Germany, the warm waters of Baden-Baden have been used for over eight thousand years, and in Bath, England, for ten thousand. 2800 years ago, Irish sweat houses made of sod and stone were used for rheumatism.

As a bodywork student or practitioner, you may be wondering what is the advantage of adding water treatments to your skill set. Here’s how it can improve your effectiveness:

*** Like massage, hydrotherapy can relieve discomfort and pain, stimulate the flow of blood and lymph, and make connective tissues more pliable and comfortable to the touch.

***Hydrotherapy is soothing and stress-reducing. The ancients realized the effect depression and stress can have upon a person, and over centuries, chronic depression was called everything from gloom or melancholia to neurasthenia or dysthymia. In ancient Greece, while warriors bathed to reduce fatigue and promote wound healing, warm baths were also ordered to relieve “dejection and low spirits.”  The founder of modern psychiatry, Philippe Pinel, (1745-1826) recommended warm baths to calm “overwrought nerves.”

In the 1800’s, many fashionably wealthy Victorians who suffered from depression spent their lives travelling to spas in hope of a cure, especially those diagnosed with mania, hysteria and other “nervous disorders”. For the first half of the twentieth century, hydrotherapy was a mainstream treatment for mental institutions, complete with bathtubs, steam baths and fomentation stations. Treatments were intended to make mentally ill patients more comfortable and compliant, and thus less likely to be violent. Fomentations were soothing, while hours-long baths calmed restless or agitated patients. But in the late 1940’s, even though the American Medical Association still affirmed the value of spa therapy for “nervous conditions,” the introduction of psychotropic medications put an end to the use of hydrotherapy and massage for sufferers.

So what is it about hydrotherapy that helps release stress and tension?

According to cognitive psychologist John Bargh, physical feelings of warmth are linked early in life to feelings of safety, and we subconsciously associate physical warmth with emotional warmth.  “Especially with animals that breastfeed their infants, the experience of being fed and held and protected goes hand in glove with feelings of warmth and closeness…the positive response to heat is hardwired into our brains.”  This helps to explain the deep enjoyment and relaxation our clients experience when we use any warm treatment before or during a session.

Whole-body heating has antidepressant effects because it activates specific brain areas that are important for the regulation of mood and body temperature and so a steam bath, sauna, or even a warm shower before a session will help the client calm and settle before the bodywork begins.  A simple warming body wrap can be made with blankets and the client’s head, neck and feet massaged while the wrap is in place. Partial-body treatments have that soothing effect as well. For example, a warm moist pack over the spine, a paraffin dip for arthritic hands, warm compresses over the face for TMD, a heat lamp or heating pad over a painful knee, and many other local heat treatments can help clients feel safe and relaxed and get the most out of their sessions. When clients arrive for sessions chilled, tense or uptight, a warm treatment is a great help and also a treat for them.

Because hydrotherapy is so beloved, new treatments are being invented all the time, such as flotation therapy for chronic pain, Watsu for relaxation, water exercise baths for tiny hospitalized premies, and special hyperthermia treatments for depression. With such a popular modality, likely more new water treatments will be brought forward as time goes on.

For a deeper dive into hydrotherapy and water therapies, click here to learn more about Hydrotherapy for Bodyworkers by MaryBetts Sinclair.

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What is Water Yoga by Christa Fairbrother, MA, ERYT 200/500

Water yoga, at its essence, is doing the yoga you already know, in the water. 

When you think about it a little harder, you realize there’s more to it than that. You can’t sit or go upside down without getting wet.  Your yoga mat and most of the other gear you’re used to using isn’t going to work. And maybe you don’t know how to swim, so you have concerns about being in the water. My book, Water Yoga:  A Teacher’s Guide to Improving Movement, Health and Wellbeing, breaks down these misconceptions and gets you practicing and teaching water yoga like a pro.

On land, a yoga practice is made up of eight limbs of yoga. In the water, I call the limbs of yoga waves. The concept of the different aspects of yoga being waves fits into the aquatic environment better. It also reinforces the idea that you don’t have to do the parts of yoga in sequential order. Water yoga is very accessible for beginners, and emphasizing the aspects relevant for each person, instead of a rigid hierarchy, is student-friendly.

The first wave of water yoga, the Yamas. Ahimsa is the first Yama and is traditionally translated as non-harming. I translate it as being kind.  Being kind to yourself is even easier in the water because of the water’s buoyancy. Buoyancy offloads your weight and relieves sore joints making a water yoga practice easier for many people than a land-based practice.

The Niyamas are philosophical practices we want to do more of. For example, Tapas is about right-effort. All your yoga practices should be done at the right level for you. In the water, if you want to work harder in a posture, you can use the water’s viscosity (water’s thicker than air and harder to move through) and make your movements big and fast. If that vigorous movement hurts, the pain stops immediately when you stop because the water’s viscosity slows you down immediately. On land, managing your momentum and gravity require continued muscular effort, so you continue to ache as you return the heavy weight to the floor. It’s easier to customize your yoga experience in the water.

The wave of water yoga that most people are used to splashing around with is the poses. One of the most common questions, is how do you do Down Dog pose or other inversions without drowning people? Easy, we modify water yoga poses to make the best use of the aquatic environment. The focus is on using the same physical and energetic properties as the poses on land, and less on making them have the exact same shape. 

Pranayama, or breath practices, are even more powerful in the water.  Hydrostatic pressure is the force that the increased density of the water applies to a submerged body. It also makes your inspiratory muscles work harder, increasing your breath capacity with water yoga.

The hydrostatic pressure also contributes to a Pratyahara practice. The universally applied increase in pressure calms your nervous system, similar to how a weighted blanket is used for neurodivergent kids. Pratyahara is withdrawing your senses to prepare you for meditation. It’s the natural response to getting in the water. When you say, ‘Ah’ and close your eyes because you’re feeling relaxed in the water, that’s exactly what the fifth wave of water yoga is.

Concentrating on a single point, a Drishti, is a Dharana practice. With all the visual movement of the water’s surface, and the hustle and bustle at a pool, there’s a lot to distract you. Dharana is learning to sharpen your focus so all those other things clamoring for your attention don’t affect you. For example, when you’re in a balance posture and focus on a single point far outside the pool, the distractions right next to you won’t impact you as much.

Floating meditation is a Dhyana practice. You’ve withdrawn your focus from what’s happening around you and are focused on just what’s going on inside your head. Just like it’s easier to be reflective and spend time with yourself at the beach, the pool is a natural environment to get to know yourself better and focus on what really matters.

Just like with land yoga, Samadhi or bliss, is your intent with your practice. It’s integrating all eight waves of water yoga as best you can to be comfortable and secure with the most essential aspects of yourself. However, just like with land yoga, in water yoga, you have no guarantee you’ll get there as an outcome. That’s why it’s more important to pay attention to your time in the pool and appreciate the process more than worry about the results.

As a concept, you can’t beat water Yoga. It allows you to enjoy the comfort of the water. Outdoor pools allow you to get outside and enjoy the sun, all while getting the benefits of yoga. Water Yoga: A Teacher’s Guide to Improving Movement, Health and Wellbeing teaches you how to practice all waves of water yoga for yourself as a first step. Then moves beyond that with the tips to guide others through the practice. Once you know how to apply these concepts for yourself, the book helps you with the communication strategies and teaching tips to help your students succeed.

I live with multiple forms of arthritis. Yoga provides me with excellent self-management tools to stay healthy. Water yoga is even better for people who live with arthritis because of the properties of water. My success in managing my arthritis inspired me to become a water yoga teacher and share the practice with you through the book. Use the book for yourself, share it with family and friends, and learn to teach water yoga, because the bottom line is yoga is awesome, but it’s even better when wet.

Christa Fairbrother, MA, ERYT 200/500, is an internationally recognized water yoga coach and trainer. In addition to being a yoga professional, she is certified both as an Aquatic Therapist through the Aquatic Therapy and Rehab Institute and as an Aquatic Fitness Professional through the Aquatic Exercise Association. She combines her background in education, yoga, and aquatics to provide high-quality training for other pros so more people worldwide can get the benefits of water yoga. She lives in Florida with her husband and two sons. When she’s not in the pool, there’s nothing she loves better than a good book and a huge cup of tea.

What is Pelvic Yoga Therapy?

by Cheri Dostal Ryba, C-IAYT 

I suspect by now many of us have heard that kegels may exacerbate symptoms for some people, and can have limited benefit for others. Pelvic health, like any health or fitness pursuit, requires a dynamic, whole body and whole person approach to creating a lifestyle that both minimizes symptoms and supports healing and thriving. No ‘correct posture’, ‘best’ exercise, or one cookie cutter approach can possibly meet the varied demands of daily life, our psychoemotional fluctuations, and the ever-evolving needs at different seasons in a woman’s cycle and lifespan. Yoga therapy represents a customized, integrative, and collaborative approach to healthcare and wellbeing that respects the complexity of the individual.

Pelvic yoga therapy, put simply, utilizes this comprehensive, therapeutic approach to yoga to improve someone’s pelvic embodiment and function.

Continue reading

Allie Middleton, JD LCSW E-RYT C-IAYT on Moving From Me to We

In an old and favorite verse from thousands of years ago, the author of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5, considers this:

You are what your deep, driving desire is.
As your desire is, so is your will.
As your will is, so is your deed.
As your deed is, so is your destiny.

And yet, as we all wonder about the future now, shall we ask each other this next question, “What is OUR collective desire and what shall OUR collective deeds create now?

In my experience over decades as a systems change catalyst and leadership coach, I’ve had the privilege of helping many individuals and teams develop new strategies for high level impact. Whether in business, healthcare or communities, one of my initial questions is, “Who are we really, and what is our work?

Continue reading

Andrew McGonigle: 5 Reasons Why Lotus Might Not be for Your Hip

Andrew McGonigle has been studying anatomy for over twenty years, originally training to become a doctor and then moving away from Western medicine to become a yoga teacher, massage therapist and anatomy teacher. He combines all of his skills and experience to teach anatomy and physiology on Yoga Teacher Training courses internationally and runs his own online Anatomy and Physiology Applied to Yoga courses. His new book, Supporting Yoga Students with Common Injuries and Conditions, is out now. In this article, using our hip joints as an example, Andrew explains why yoga practice and what feels comfortable varies for each of us.

Have you ever wondered why certain yoga postures can feel so easeful in your body while others can feel like such a challenge?

Or why one person can sit cross-legged for hours having never practiced yoga and you still need to sit on four cushions after practicing yoga for years?

The short answer to this is that every body is entirely unique and will express a certain yoga pose in a completely unique way. There are also emotional, psychological and nervous system components that affect how much movement our joints make and the quality of that movement.

Let’s explore some of these factors using our hip joints as an example. Continue reading

Yoga Teaching Guides Introduced by Sian O’Neill

Yoga Teaching Guides

Singing Dragon’s Yoga Teaching Guides is a new series of books, launching in March 2021. Edited by Sian O’Neill and written by renowned experts in the field, the books in the series cover essential skills as well as providing inspiration for creative yoga teaching, both for the new and the experienced yoga teacher. In this short piece, hear from series editor Sian as she introduces some of the upcoming books and talks about her inspiration behind the series. Join our mailing list to be kept up to date with new releases!

As a yoga teacher, I’m always on the lookout for inspiration and ideas to help improve my classes for students and I have a feeling I am not alone. It can be challenging to come up with varied, interesting (and safe) classes week after week – so practical tips from highly experienced and inspiring teachers are always appreciated.

Sian O’Neill

Following the successful launch of the Yoga Teaching Handbook, it became clear that there is an interest among yoga teachers and trainees in practical tips to enrich their teaching. So, I was thrilled when Singing Dragon asked me to be editor for a new series aimed at yoga teachers, Yoga Teaching Guides, and we are delighted to be launching a series of volumes on topics ranging from supporting injured students; yoga and qigong; developing a home practice; the art of theming, and yoga and Ayurveda – with more to follow. Continue reading

Announcing our new Yoga Teaching Guides

We are pleased to introduce you to our brand new series of books: Singing Dragon’s Yoga Teaching Guides. This series – written by experts in the field – covers essential skills as well as providing inspiration for creative yoga teaching, both for the new and the experienced yoga teacher. In this short piece, hear from Sarah Hamlin, Senior Commissioning Editor at Singing Dragon, as she introduces the series and shares a few hints on what is yet to come. Join our mailing list to be kept up to date with new releases!

Back in 2017, Singing Dragon published the Yoga Teaching Handbook, an edited collection which brought together experts sharing their experiences of the day-to-day practicalities of teaching yoga and managing yoga businesses. The handbook was one of the very first yoga books I commissioned, and it was truly wonderful to work with a group of people so passionate about yoga and so committed to sharing knowledge and advice with the wider yoga community.

Sarah Hamlin, Senior Commissioning Editor at Singing Dragon

Four years later we are launching our brand-new series, Yoga Teaching Guides, inspired by the 2017 handbook. Building on the key topics and themes included in the handbook, our series authors are able to share their expertise in greater depth so that yoga teachers everywhere can refine their skillset, be inspired to think creatively about teaching, and ultimately feel confident in sharing a meaningful yoga practice with students. Continue reading

Hypermobile People and Yoga – An Extract from Jess Glenny

Jess Glenny is a Yoga Register Teacher (Elder) and a C-IAYT yoga therapist. She has been practising yoga with hEDS since 1981, and for many years has specialised in working with hypermobile people. She is the author of The Yoga Teacher Mentor: A Reflective Guide to Holding Spaces, Maintaining Boundaries, and Creating Inclusive Classes (published in 2020) and her new book, Hypermobility on the Yoga Mat: A Guide to Hypermobility-Aware Yoga Teaching and Practice is available for pre-order now, publishing in February 2021.

In this article, adapted from her new book, Jess discusses why hypermobile people might be drawn towards the practice of yoga.

Yoga teacher Amber Wilds writes:

During my teacher training I was told, you probably won’t see hypermobility in your yoga classes very often, but it became apparent over the duration of our training that many of my fellow students were hypermobile (to varying degrees). While some had been diagnosed, others hadn’t been aware of their hypermobility prior to our training. I therefore began to question whether, rather than being a rarity in a yoga class, hypermobility was actually far more common than initially thought.[i]

Indeed, as we have seen, hypermobile people are one population you are pretty much guaranteed to encounter in significant numbers in any yoga class you teach. Why is this? Why do people whose range of joint motion is so excessive as to be considered pathological flock to an activity with the potential to increase it further? There are a number of reasons. Continue reading