Stability Spectrum Pt.1
INTRO & DISCLAIMER:
This is a written resource intended to be supplemental to my workshops on The Stability Spectrum. Most of what is written below will be useful as a stand alone source of information. If something needs clarification, it is likely because this is support for a real-time course, not included. Chances are, an online search will help you to gain further understanding. Or, if you have specific questions or concerns please drop them below in the comments. Remember, I’m a yogi and do not hold a doctoral degree in any medical or sport-related field. Use this information appropriately and with guidance from your doctor if there is any question at all about its safety or efficacy for you, personally.
WHY AM I TEACHING THIS WORKSHOP SERIES?
I’ve been teaching yoga since 2014. I’ve been coaching other movement since 2012 and I’ve been an athlete my whole life. I’m a trained researcher and have spent years accumulating knowledge outside of the academic context to apply to my own body or to give me a different lens by which to view the bodies that come to me for training. In the process of teaching and observing others, I noticed people tend to cluster toward one or the other starting place in their movement endeavors. They are either in Group A - “Flexible” or they are in Group B - “Strong.” I’ve made a diagram to illustrate my thinking. These are loaded terms but I’ve chosen them for a reason - because they both highlight what are considered to be desirable traits AND you don’t need to know special terms to get the idea I’m trying to convey. They do not, however, do a good job of describing what’s going on beneath the surface for either group. We will get into that momentarily. For further illustration of the point, see the graphics below. CAVEAT: we are working off of stereotypes so don’t get too invested…
Injury happens, discomfort happens, pulled muscles happen, compressed vertebrae happen…right? Yes. They do. But they don’t have to, at least in theory. The two groups above, in addition to having distinct characteristics of what they look like standing and in motion, also have a tendency to accrue injuries, aches and pains and maladaptive motor patterns in divergent ways; with some areas of overlap as well.
WHY CONTINUED…
In my personal experience I started in the “strong” category. I have experienced stiffness, discomfort, an inability to find good alignment in hand balance leading to chronic shoulder pain, sciatic nerve pain from a hamstring pull, etc. Over the years I have healed all of the above and am continuing to evolve my practice.
It so happens that, of my private clientele, more than half are working with me because of injuries related to hypermobility. These include patellar luxation, bunions, bursitis, hip capsule injuries, etc. We are continually working to re-train motor patterns that keep my clients’ bodies safe.
But in my everyday teaching experience, of which I have accumulated about 4,000 hours, I see people like me and people like my private clients mixed together in a class. As I gained experience, I started to notice these different populations. Listening to students, I started seeing patterns and how a standard yoga class assumes a body that possesses both strength and flexibility as a starting point, when in fact, many people are lacking in one or the other and sometimes both in drastic ways.
This online resource and the accompanying workshop are my first attempt to codify some of what I have observed over the years both in terms of problem areas and in terms of tools to resolve the problem areas. The good news is, the methodology is more or less the same for both groups of people! So below we will get into more technical definitions of “strong” and “flexible,” how to identify those patterns in yourself and from there we will take a look at some resources I’ve found to be of great efficacy over the years.
Definitions
As previously mentioned, the terms “strong” and “flexible” are good to get started but otherwise inadequate for the following conversations. So, let’s keep the general concepts but replace those two words for more meaningful terms.
In this conversation we will now convert “strong” to “stable.”
Stability is the ability to maintain or control joint movement or position. Stability is achieved by the coordinating actions of surrounding tissues and the neuromuscular system.
Instead of “flexible” we will now use “mobile.”
Mobility is the degree to which an articulation (where two bones meet) can move before being restricted by surrounding tissues (ligaments/tendons/muscles etc.) - otherwise known as the range of uninhibited movement around a joint.
In an ideal world these two abilities work together in tandem for a perfectly balanced system where no one get hurt except through external forces. But the real world looks like these two abilities being out of balance in most bodies to the degree that a person ends up in one or the other camp. To visualize this let’s bring back one of my favorite teaching tools from Psych 101 - the bell curve!
The Bell Curve
NOTE: The graphical depictions below are my approximation of things, not based on personal research or study. Real studies do exist if you want more precision.
Let’s apply the concepts of the Stability Spectrum to the Bell Curve and see what we get….
Referencing the version of the Bell Curve (above), we start at the zero-point or the middle. Here, a person has full use of their joints in a way that is supported by their muscles and other tissue. The given range of motion (ROM) for a joint is determined by examining a wide variety of factors including the shape of the joint itself. We will take a look at the other factors involved a little later as most of the variables factor into where a person falls on the Stability Spectrum. You will also notice above, two points equidistant from the center. If we were talking pure numbers these points would be labeled .5. That is to say they are about half of a point away from the mean, taken here to mean the statistical average. On the Bell Curve, whatever is being measured is less “average” the further away from the middle it gets. At .5 away from the middle, you’re still looking at things most people would consider normative. In our example, someone who has one or two stiff joints or someone who maybe has open shoulders even though their hips are tight would not be considered extreme cases (we will discuss exceptions in the workshop). Since in reality most people don’t have full range of motion with support from surrounding tissue, the above is an idealization. In most circumstances, if you were to actually measure people and create a statistical average ROM, the mean would probably skew toward the tight side of things. The Yoga Dojo is an example of a community or cohort where, perhaps, the mean would skew toward the mobile side.
The Bell Curve - Tails
Here’s where the conversation gets a little interesting. The further you move away from center the higher the number. So this Bell Curve (above) shows +1 and -1 and beyond. This is where, the people in our discussion would start to have congenital joint issues like club foot, or on the other end have Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome. The size of the Bell Curve drops off steeply here. That is because there is a rapidly diminishing number of people at each point. The two differently colored ends of our spectrum or Bell Curve are called the “tails.”
It is through examining the "why” behind the conditions at the tails that we get a really good understanding of what is at play for the rest of us back toward the middle.
Factors
Where you fall on the Stability Spectrum is going to be a combination of many factors. Your joint ROM is the quickest and dirtiest assessment of where you fall. As mentioned previously, there are multiple factors influencing ROM…
Bone Morphology - The shape and angles of the bones in the joint and leading into the joint. For this purpose you can think of all joints as simple machines. The length of the limb leading into the joint will create different leverage and torque in addition to the shape and angle of the joint itself. Ex: Press Handstands
Movement Practices - the regular degree through which a joint is asked to move. Ex: Sedentary lifestyle vs. Professional Athlete
Tissue Properties - Muscles, ligaments, tendons, even skin surrounding a joint have a predisposition to different properties. The assumption is that these tissues are all functioning normally. Changes in tissue function effect the stability or mobility of a joint.
Genetics/Diet/Age - The genes you inherit influence your morphology, tissue composition, how your body processes the raw material you consume as food and how these variables evolve over the course of your lifetime.
Injury - Accute and chronic use injuries can impact one or more joint’s ROM in a sudden and drastic way.
When you’re measuring a “normal” body it is sometimes difficult to see how the above factors relate to one another. It can be hard, for example, to look at my own body and say “Well what came first? Tight muscles? Tight ligaments? Is the tightness genetic? Is it emotional?” We have the people living in the tails to thank for some of the greatest insights about our body as a system. It is through studying communities like the EDS community, that we are able to understand the role genes play on collagen formation and thus joint health. It is through observation of patients undergoing physical therapy after surgery and injury that we are able to examine how large changes in ROM effect the body as a whole. The body is indeed a system. It is very difficult and maybe impossible to isolate any ONE of the above factors as being the definitive reason for where you fall on the Stability Spectrum.
Assessment Tools
Baseline measurements can be found below as well as some definitions of extension, flexion etc:
A quick test for Hypermobility can be found below. Notice, we have not defined Hypermobility in writing. There is a wide range of what Hypermobility can mean and secondly there is no direct antonym or opposite. You can take it to mean greater than baseline ROM in one or more joints OR you can find a more detailed explanation here. The quick test for Hypermobility is called the Beighton Score. There are two links below both showing the criteria for the test with some novel and redundant information:
So what about the tighter people reading this and participating in the workshop? For you we have some standard flexibility tests ala gym class in primary school. If you want to get fancy - grab a friend, a protractor, ruler and tape measure. The tests after the link below more or less run you through the ROM for your major joints. Get your friend to measure the angle with the ruler and protractor and some of the sit and reach scores with your tape measure. That is what we will be doing in the workshop!
Final Thoughts for Pt 1
Ok, how’d you do? If you came away with a couple of hyper mobile joints, congratulations! You are in the approximately 25% of the population who has one or two hypermobile joints. If you your self assessments or the definitions on the Hypermobility page started sounding alarms, this would be a good indication to follow up with your doctor. Severe connective tissue disorders are rare BUT maybe some of the aches and pains you experience are related. Part 2 of this series will address some immediate tools you can use and modifications you can make to your movement to keep you safe in the mean time.
Tight? Chances are you already knew it! But likewise, if you are experiencing limitations in a generalized way, or severely in more than one joint, that’s what part 2 is for.
Perfectly balanced specimen? More power to you my friend. Chances are you already do some of the exercises and drills I’m going to show everyone in part 2. Join us anyways and be my movement model!
Knowledge is the key to moving forward. We aren’t conducting peer reviewed double blind experiments here, but if you can’t use yourself as your life’s greatest experiment and keep notes accordingly what are you even doing? These are the sorts of activities people used to do when screens didn’t exist. Its through just this sort of curiosity and experiment that yoga was born.
We are at a temporal nexus of ancient and modern knowledge coalescing. Disparate practices with esoteric focal points are pooling resources to evolve new Gold Standards. Its an amazing time to be a mover. Today, we know more about moving and the human body than every before. I’m looking forward to part 2 where I will share some of the best tools around for creating happy joints and healthy tissue that I’ve found in the past ten years.
Questions and comments below 👇.
Thanks! 😊🙏
My Imaginary Studio: You MUST Belong To Yourself
How well do you trust yourself? Like, really know that in a whirlwind of adversity you will stay true to yourself? If we are to use Dr. Brené Brown's Anatomy of Trust to frame that question a little more thoroughly that means:
- You set appropriate boundaries for yourself.
- You are reliable in the face of conflicting priorities.
- You are accountable to yourself.
- You keep confidence when other people share with you.
- You "choose courage over comfort, what's right over what's fun, fast or easy, and you practice your value," to borrow directly from Dr. Brown. In other words, you have integrity.
- You ask for what you need without judging yourself.
- You are generous with yourself.
Last night, as I lay in bed next to my adorable, co-sleeping, almost 2-year-old son. I realized I'm at a pivotable moment in my life. In my 20's I endeavored, for the first time, to belong fully to myself. At this moment, it is essential for me to re-establish that priority, so that I may create a safe place for my son to learn true belonging, as well. What I learned when I was younger is that it can be done, even if you didn't grow up in a way that made you feel safe or truly seen. But I know how hard it was and how many times I went astray. I want to give Vorian the gift of belonging from the beginning.
I can remember the exact moment and the precise decision I made that took me away from myself most recently. In all other things, I feel as though I've been able to trust myself. Yet I aligned myself in relationship with a person that I couldn't fully trust. I remember the moment of him standing in the doorway and me laying on the bed when I realized that trust didn't exist between us. I chose to stay anyway.
Except I can't stay anymore. I have a son. He needs to learn to belong to himself and he needs an example of how to accomplish that feat. He needs an example of a human who has planted the roots of her values, stood firmly and said "I shall not be moved." He needs to watch as I belong to myself and the world assails me as it will surely to do. He needs to see that the world is savage to anyone who has the courage to belong first and foremost to his or herself instead of trying to fit in. He needs to see me, drawing energy from the ground up, through my core, opening through a soft heart to call for the people who would stand beside me in belonging.
As so many mothers before, I'm faced with the inevitability that "fear will lead us astray and arrogance is even more dangerous," another astute observation from Dr. Brown. So in this season of turning away and turning in, I find I must be brave. It takes courage to turn yourself out into "the wilderness."
There are three categories of people: those too young to belong to anyone but their caretakers, people who don't trust themselves and don't belong to themselves, and people who do. For me the choice to be a part of the latter category is a way of life. It is life. It was the difference between my destruction and survival. I think, if we are being honest with one another, that choice is the same zero sum outcome for all of us.
The path forward into true belonging is as clear as the work you put in to understand yourself and your core values. That work will almost never be easy once you choose to embark upon your path. Money and power will challenge your integrity. People will tell you lies about yourself. You WILL make mistakes. To be alive is to grow. The only way to grow is to be rooted. The only firm ground upon which to sow the seeds of true belonging and a life-time of growth is to trust yourself. Know yourself, have the courage to lean in, trust.
...
I shall not be moved.
In Virginia tobacco fields,
leaning into the curve
of Steinway
pianos, along Arkansas roads,
in the red hills of Georgia,
into the palms of her chained hands, she
cried against calamity,
You have tried to destroy me
and though I perish daily,
I shall not be moved.
...
No angel stretched protecting wings
above the heads of her children,
fluttering and urging the winds of reason
into the confusions of their lives.
The sprouted like young weeds,
but she could not shield their growth
from the grinding blades of ignorance, nor
shape them into symbolic topiaries.
She sent them away,
underground, overland, in coaches and
shoeless.
When you learn, teach.
When you get, give.
As for me,
I shall not be moved.
- Our Grandmothers, Maya Angelou
Diary of a Depressed and Anxious Yogi
Ahimsa - A {Sacred} Thread Writing Prompt
Briefly, its been really fun to get to know the yoga community here in Atlanta. I'm lucky to teach at some truly wonderful studios that help me to connect with their students. Every studio does it a little different. At {Sacred} Thread one of the ways we get to interact is through a common teaching theme each month. I love it. We teach on it during class and submit our thoughts on it in writing as well. When it comes down to it I love to write but am undisciplined and work best from prompts.
Thoughts ON ahimsa:
Have you ever failed at being the bigger person? Have you ever lost your temper, slammed a door, raised your voice or wished ill upon someone? If not, please take me under your wing and teach me your ways. If so, what if anything are you intentionally doing to lessen or eliminate such behaviors? How often have you been on the receiving end of such lapses in kindness?
When you step inside of a yoga studio designated as a quiet space for meditation, set aside for a moment the need to speak words and externalize your experience to the people around you, and start breathing and focusing on the internal state of your mind and emotions what do you notice?
Do you hear a calm, confident encouragement about the yoga that's about to happen, a loud clamoring about the things on your to do list that are not being done while you're in class, a rehashing of the missed opportunity to connect with someone, a barrage of how you have to do better on your next job interview? There are limitless possibilities as individual as the emotions and situations we experience from moment to moment each day. The consistent factor each time you or anyone else practices is that in those 60-90 minutes of silence and moving you have the opportunity to observe your relationship with yourself. Reviewing those times that you have had the opportunity to observe your inner dialog, are you communicating compassionately or with animosity?
Yoga is multifaceted with the physical practice (Asana) being but one of many angles by which one might undertake to "do yoga." In fact, it is a more traditional approach that the student spends time and tutelage under a guru to demonstrate a mature self-understanding and an ability to externalize moral behavior in interactions with the rest of the living world. Those particular two facets of yoga are the Yamas and Niyamas - ten things to not do or do along your path of practicing yoga. At the top of the list of Yamas, the actions to refrain from doing, is to commit violence. In the West we talk about having compassion, being peaceful and non-violent and in the East this same concept is termed Ahimsa. Whatever you want to call it - ahimsa or compassion - this ethical construct is viewed as a foundational aspect of moral behavior cross-culturally.
So often it is demonstrated that in order to get anyone to make a change we much lead by example. So often we find ourselves multi-tasking and underperforming. As far as kindness and compassion go the trend follows - its natural to want other people to demonstrate kindness to us yet we in turn fail miserably all of the time at being examples of said kindness. Yoga anticipates, predicts and provides a solution for all of this. When you step inside of the yoga studio and are allowed a consistent quiet space to go in and observe your relationship with yourself do you find that it is perhaps not unlike your other relationships? Do you perfectly execute kindness and compassion on your self or do you allow there to be some level of harsh critique...violence?
Yoga is there to give you that time and space to practice compassion on yourself. Sometimes the teacher is there to push you to your very physical limits so you can see how your relationship with yourself is under stress (while getting a nice workout), sometimes the teacher is there to give you practice that will allow you to relax into a pose with as little work as possible so you can almost entirely focus on accepting exactly where you are. Each day is different, you are different each day but the yoga is there consistently in whatever iteration you need to begin to grow your practice of Ahmisa, your capacity for compassion on yourself.
Being kind and compassionate to others is a much a skill as any sport or artistic talent. To become a master at painting one must attain the necessary dexterity of hand by holding different bushes and practicing different strokes. Chances are you learned to ride a bike by practicing with training wheels or on a tricycle. Doing anything that requires skill takes practice, consistently, emphasizing foundations but also increasing the difficulty again and again and again. Yoga, undertaken with intention is the perfect method for practicing compassion on yourself. The differences it might have initially in your relationships might be subtle but as you stand a little taller, compose your face through hardship, and remember to balance your breathing, external stressors seem more like tough poses - challenging, yes, but ultimately just one more step along the path of yoga.
"Ahimsa calls for the strength and courage to suffer without retaliation, to receive blows without returning any." M. K. Gandhi