Yoga & Pilates

Most people's problem is that they're too stiff. For a meaningful number of regular yoga and Pilates practitioners, the issue runs the other way.

If your joints move further than average, you need more control to manage that range, not less. Without it, the ends of the range take load they weren't designed to take, and it accumulates quietly over years of practice.

That isn't an argument against yoga. It's an argument for knowing which end of the spectrum you're on, because the right advice is close to opposite depending on the answer.

Lower back pain, particularly in people who habitually push into deep extension. Shoulder complaints from weight-bearing on the hands. Hip and joint pain at the end of range. Neck pain from inversions.

Usually it's gradual rather than a moment. Often it's on one side, because almost everyone has a preferred side and has been favouring it for years without noticing.

Assess how you move and where your range is genuinely coming from. Treat what needs treating. Then talk honestly about your practice: what to modify, what to build, and occasionally what to stop chasing.

Most people don't need to do less. They need to do something alongside it that they've been skipping because it's less interesting than the thing they're good at.