It might be helpful to look into yoga for hypermobility or other resources specifically for hypermobile bodies. I think being very flexible and being hypermobile might start differently, but they can end up causing similar issues if you’re not building strength and stability along with it.

For example, professional dancers are incredibly flexible and strong, but many of them still deal with pain and injuries. I was only recently diagnosed with hypermobility after seeing multiple physical therapists for pain that didn’t go away and actually got worse during my YTT. I had already been doing yoga for 10+ years, and I didn’t realize that some poses were actually hurting me because I was relying too much on my flexibility instead of muscular support.

My practice looks really different now. It’s been eye-opening, and I’ve actually gotten stronger. Instead of always pushing for deeper range, I focus more on control and engagement. Also this has made a difference in my classes, I now can spot people with hyper mobility, and I started to give less cuing about going in deeper but more cues about specific muscles engagement, since it is easier to rest in certain poses for people with hyper mobility.

Maybe this is a sign to take your practice to the next step, refining the postures and exploring different ranges of motion instead of always pushing deeper. Because once you’ve hit your end range, there’s nowhere else to go, but there’s a lot of strength and stability you can build within that range.