our-yoga

by Baxter

As with the other essential skills of Yoga for Healthy Aging (strength, balance and agility), we have looked at flexibility in different ways over the course of time here at YFHA. I thought it was high time to have another look at this essential skill and give it its proper due! Now, a lot a folks on the street already consider modern yoga mostly a practice of “stretching,” so flexibility is on their mind as soon as the word “yoga” is uttered. And most of the men I meet on the street and ask if they have tried to do yoga, respond, “No, I’m too stiff and inflexible!” To which I usually reply, “then yoga is just what you need!”

In the grand scheme of things, maintaining flexibility is essential for living a full, active life. From the simplest daily activities, like bending down to put your shoes and socks on or buttoning up a shirt, to the more skillful actions of playing a musical instrument or doing detailed bead work, big and small muscles need to be able to contract and lengthen effectively, and our joints, the pivot points of all movement, need to be able to move through their full range of motion. For the joints, moving through the full range of motion goes beyond their job as movement pivot points, but extends to being able to move the synovial fluid, which lubricates and cushions the joints, all around the joint surfaces. Synovial fluid also delivers nutrition throughout the joint space and removes waste from inside the joint. In other words, movement helps maintain the health and function of the joints!


Most of us know from experience and observation that flexibility can decrease as we age. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons notes the following realities about our aging muscles:

• As muscles age, they begin to shrink and lose mass. This is a natural process, but a sedentary lifestyle can accelerate it. 
• The number and size of muscle fibers also decrease. Thus, it takes muscles longer to respond in our 50s than they did in our 20s. 
• The water content of tendons, the cord-like tissues that attach muscles to bones, decreases as we age. This makes the tissues stiffer and less able to tolerate stress.

And they note that joints are also affected:

• Joint motion becomes more restricted and flexibility decreases with age because of changes in tendons and ligaments.
• As the cushioning cartilage begins to break down from a lifetime of use, joints become inflamed and arthritic.

However, on a positive point, they note that individuals who maintain regular physical activity can slow down this process dramatically, and potentially maintain near normal function of both muscles and joints! In addition to activity and diet, a positive mental attitude can also contribute to maintaining good flexibility as we age, something we have also addressed on these pages as well.

In past posts, we’ve looked at several neurological reflexes that connect the muscles to the spinal cord and brain that are involved in how the muscles lengthen, due to their elastic ability to stretch beyond their resting length, and how they contract or shorten beyond their resting length. Shari did a thorough job of discussing the three main reflexes that affect how our muscles respond to our “stretching” poses in yoga: the stretch reflex, autogenic inhibition, and reciprocal inhibition (to get the details, see Flexibility and Aging).


Some of these reflexes have evolved to help the brain effectively monitor the amount of stretch a muscle is experiencing, so as to determine if it is safe for the muscle to be stretching, and, if not, to try to protect the muscle from potential injury. Still others have evolved to allow one muscle group to contract while its antagonist on the other side of the joint is told to remain uncontracted, so as to permit a desired action to take place. A good yoga example of this is if you are lying on your back and lift your right leg up in the air, the quadraceps muscle contracts and shortens at the front of the hip joint to create the movement, but simultaneously, the brain tells the hamstring muscle to relax, so there is little or no resistance from the back of the hip joint. We take advantage of this in yoga to actually lengthen the hamstrings more.

More in how these reflexes apply to yoga practice in a minute. First, I wanted to also share with you some newer information that gets at the molecular level of how we improve elasticity of the muscles. This is mostly for you science geeks out there, but even if science is not your thing, it is still very cool that scientist are still working on unraveling how we stretch and maintain or lose flexibility in our muscles. An article in Science Daily reports that a team of researchers at Columbia University report the discovery of a new form of mechanical memory that adjusts the elasticity of muscles to their history of stretching. It involves a complex protein molecule called titin that was thought to be inactive for a long time, and a chemical process called oxidation that occurs as the titin molecule lengthens during stretching. As one of the researchers (who is a yoga practitioner) noted:

"As a yoga aficionado, I believe that we are starting to understand the increase in flexibility induced by yoga. A pose like downward-facing dog is a highly effective way to unfold the knots in titin, enabling modifications that make the protein remember that it has to remain unfolded and soft."

So if we practice regularly, we are likely taking advantage of this mechanical memory of our titin molecules. The practical application of the muscle reflexes and new research to improve our flexibility is distilled in the following recommendations:

• Slow, dynamic movements in and out of poses can allow gradual muscle lengthening without triggering the muscles protective reflex. This could be a good way to warm up for static stretches.
• With static, held stretches, entering into the stretch slowly will again allow for elastic lengthening to take place more easily. According to Shari, if we hold a pose for more than 6 -20 seconds, we can stimulate the autogenic inhibitory reflex to trigger a relaxation in the muscle, so the timing of the hold is important.

In static poses, intentionally contracting the muscles on the opposite side of the joint will actually allow our desired muscle group to lengthen more effectively. As an example, if I am trying to lengthen my quads in Bridge pose, if I actively contact my hamstrings and gluts, I’ll take advantage of the reciprocal inhibition reflex and get more stretch and length in my quads.


If you stretch a particular muscle or muscle group regularly, probably at least every other day (we don’t want to overdo it and cause overuse injuries!), we can take advantage of the molecular changes that can lead to more sustained flexibility over time. With big gaps in practice, however, our muscles are likely to return to our pre-practice length more quickly.

So if you needed yet another reason, the importance of regular home practice has a direct impact on gaining and maintaining flexibility in your entire body. Have you had your flexibility practice today?

by Baxter

I got this intriguing question recently from one of our readers and thought it a good one to address this week:

Baxter, I've been curious lately about the idea of differentiating between tightness due to activity and muscle engagement/contraction, tightness that results from tension or stress, tightness from inactivity and lack of varied movement, and tightness due to overstretching. I'm finding that there are many subtle differences and also different ways to approach these in my practice. Thoughts?

What follows are simply my personal observations of my self and my students as it relates to the “experience” or “perception” of tightness from different causes. My suggestions in no way represent a scientific explanation for the way I or you may experience tightness, but could influence your approach to changing that tightness, which could be by stretching the tight area so you have a greater range of movement at the joint that is restricted by the tightness, or by a regular yoga practice diminishing the intensity of sensation you experience at the point you previously would “feel” the tightness. The purpose of releasing physical tightness could include, but is not limited to, improving range of motion, diminishing physical discomfort brought on by the experience of tightness, or simply feeling generally more comfortable in your body in each moment.

Now I’ll go through each type of tightness our reader mentioned, one by one. I hope that the recommendations I provide for each type of tightness are helpful to you! 

Tightness Due to Activity and Muscle Engagement/Contraction

I’ve recently been doing a bit more aerobic activity than previously, as I am going on a trip soon to Peru where I expect to do some hiking at altitude. To get ready, I’ve been hiking up a pretty steep hill in a local park that takes about 25 minutes to crest. As an expected consequence, I am noticing that my hip and leg muscles are feeling tighter when I do my asana practice, and I have lost a bit of range of motion in certain joints, especially when I do forward bends and backbends. When new students attend class and tell me that their other physical exercises are activities like running, biking and such, I notice, in general, more limited range of motion in these students than in others, and they seem to “experience” the tightness sooner in their journey into certain poses. These students have plenty of drive and stamina, but need to be encouraged to go slow and let things release gradually. 

Tightness from Tension and Stress

This is a useful concept, as you can start to ask yourself: where to I hold physical tension or muscular tightness that I feel is a result of my perceived level of life stress? Many of my students, especially those who have sedentary jobs involving computers or driving, note that their tightness is in the upper back, shoulders and arms.  However, because they are sitting a lot, the lower back can also be a vulnerable area. They often complain about the tightness at the start of class, and will comment on the improvement (that they note as less tightness) by the end of class. I generally suggest that these students work with their tightness by doing short mini-practices at work, as well as taking frequent breaks to stand and walk a bit at work. 

Tightness from Inactivity and Lack of Varied Movement

This situation could apply to the group I just discussed, since sedentary work has a lack of activity for most of the body, as well as limited movement. But this could also apply to a variety of other situations. A common one is with people who are recovering from a significant injury, like a fractured limb, or a bout with serious illness, like cancer or a long-standing chronic illness. So, in addition to possible tight muscles from lack of putting the body’s joints through their full range of motion regularly, you will have underlying weakness of the muscles. Not only will these people experience tightness as they reach their stretching limits, but they may also tire quickly, experiencing shakiness in the limbs affected, and a need to rest frequently. The appropriate kind of practice for these people might include gentle classes and restorative poses mixed in with general all-level classes to give them time to physically recover and very gradually re-build their stamina as they work on diminishing tightness in the muscles and connective tissue. 

Tightness from Over-Stretching

I’d call this kind of experience “rebound” tightness that can occur after a particularly deep or focused asana practice. Sometime my teacher will be doing a class that focuses on backbends almost exclusively. I may not have been doing a lot of backbends in my home practice that week, but will decide to try to do everything offered in class. It is not uncommon for me to notice the next day that the areas that just the day before felt very open and more flexible at the end of class are now super tight and more inflexible. The muscle has a “stretch reflex” that works in a way that if you stretch with too much force or too quickly, the muscle contracts to fight or neutralize the stretch, so as to protect the muscle from tearing or injury. 

It almost feels like my body does a giant delayed “stretch reflex” by the way I feel after one of the classes. For me, the take-home message is to be more mindful while doing the practice for subtle or obvious signs, like pain, and not let my desires to “keep up with the Joneses’” lead to that unwanted side effect. And of course, over-stretching could lead to unwanted ligament damage, which can put joints at risk of injury—not the goal of a smart asana practice!