Living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) or hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD) comes with a range of challenges that can make everyday activities difficult. These conditions lead to us having looser connective tissue than the average person, which can cause dislocations, subluxations, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, gastrointestinal issues and a host of other surprising complications. The severity of symptoms ranges from person to person and the areas affected also vary (it’s best to think of EDS & HSD as a pie chart of symptoms, rather than a linear classification system).
Not every hypermobile person is immediately recognisable as such. While some are showing off their party tricks of bending their thumbs to touch their wrist or dislocating their shoulders to skip their arms, others may be extremely inflexible. This makes sense when you realise that the muscles are compensating for the laxity within the joints by overworking. I personally grew up with a mix of both. Able to do some of the party tricks with my hands, knees that were subluxating, but also never able to touch my toes because so many of the muscles in my lower back had tightened to protect the laxity present in my hips.
Generally, those of us with hypermobility are also lacking in proprioception (awareness of the position and movement of your body), which increases our chance of injury. When we can’t sense that we’ve gone beyond the normal range of movement, it’s very easy to go to our end range which is where there’s an increased risk of injury. Alexander Technique builds and enhances our proprioception which is vital to being able to recognise our safe range of motion.
Finding a comfortable sitting position with hypermobility can be a real struggle, and many of us were probably told off in school for not sitting up straight, which might have then led to over straightening and stiffening to avoid trouble. The Alexander Technique provides a process for finding the goldilocks zone where we can sit with good posture and ease. I can still remember being on a bar stool earlier this year and seeing myself in the mirror sitting up straighter than I ever thought I would be able to after two hours, and being so surprised because I was comfortable.