Ep 83: Mobility: How You Define It Matters!

You’ve probably heard people say that yoga improves both flexibility and mobility. While that may be true, what most yoga teachers don’t realize is that mobility has more than one definition.

Each definition matters when you're teaching students with injuries, pain, or physical limitations. 

In this episode, I’m going to break down those definitions & explain why understanding them (and using them for their intended purpose) can make a huge difference in how effective and safe your teaching is.

If you're working with students with injuries and especially if you're helping them recover from them, you'll want to understand the different uses of the term mobility!

Transcript

Monica: 0:00

Today's episode is focused on a concept. I'm sure you've heard about, maybe you use it while you're teaching and you might not even realize that it has different definitions depending on who you're talking with. It's using the term mobility. How do you define mobility, and are your students defining it the same way you are? Let's get rid of the confusion. Welcome to the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers Podcast with me. I'm Monica Bright and I've been teaching yoga and running my yoga business for over a decade. This is the podcast for you. If you are a yoga teacher, you're looking for support. You love to be in conversation, and you're a lifelong student. In this podcast, I'll share with you. My life as a yoga teacher, the lessons I've learned, my process for building my business and helpful ideas, tools, strategies and systems I use and you can use so that your business thrives. We'll cover a diverse range of topics that will help you, whether you're just starting out or you've got years under your belt and you wanna dive deep and set yourself up for success. I am so glad you're here. Listen, I don't take myself too seriously, so expect to hear some laughs along the way. Now let's do this together. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Monica, and I'm so glad you're here. Here we talk about the anatomy, the injuries, the nervous system insights, and all the real life knowledge you wish had been included in your yoga teacher training. Today's episode is focused on something I'm sure you've heard about. Maybe you use it while you're teaching and you might not even realize that it has different definitions depending on who you're talking with. It's the term mobility. I did a poll in my stories a while ago asking movement teachers what their definition was, and I was. Because most of them defined it differently than I do now. I'm not saying their definition is incorrect, but it is imperative that when we use terms to describe something we're teaching, We must use it and define it as well so that everyone is on the same page. You've probably heard people say that yoga improves both flexibility and mobility. That may be true, but what most yoga teachers don't realize is that mobility has more than one definition, And those definitions really matter when you're teaching students with injuries, pain, or physical limitations. In this episode, I'm gonna break down those definitions and explain why understanding them can make a huge difference in how effective and safe your teaching is. Let's start with the most common confusion. Mobility can mean different things depending on who you're talking to The fitness world, yoga world, and clinical rehab world often use the same word, but we're not always referring to the same concept. The first definition of mobility is simply the general ability. To move. This is the everyday understanding of mobility. When someone says I'm working on my shoulder mobility, they often mean they want to increase how far they can move their shoulder, especially in daily life. This definition is about being functional, about being able to walk, bend, reach, and move through space without excessive restriction. The second definition, however, is far more precise and is used in physical therapy, strength training, And neuromuscular rehabilitation. It defines mobility as active control of a joint throughout its full range of motion. This means a person cannot only move a joint through a large range, but they can also stabilize and control it during that movement without assistance from gravity, momentum, or external. Aids like a strap or a block or the floor. This is different from flexibility. Flexibility refers to the ability to stretch or be passively moved into a position. Mobility in the clinical sense is about what you can actively do with your own strength And neuromuscular control. A student might be able to position themselves into a deep lunge or a forward fold because of passive flexibility, but that doesn't mean they have the joint control or mobility to support themselves safely in that range. A passive stretch is them pushing past a physical limitation that they cannot actively control in their bodies. This is why I teach joint movement without the use of props in my classes, because I want students to actively control their joints. This distinction is a critical concept for you to understand if you want to support your students with clarity, safety, and long-term results, and especially if you're working with students. With persistent pain and students with injuries. Let's talk about why. Understanding that mobility in the case of joint control is important and you should consider adding it to your classes. First, flexibility is not always the goal, nor should it be. In many yoga classes, the emphasis is often on getting deeper into a pose or accessing more range of motion. But many students already have more passive flexibility than they can control. Teaching only for stretch can reinforce movement patterns that the student's body. Cannot actually stabilize, which may lead to compensatory patterns, strain, or repetitive stress injuries. second, students with injuries often do not need more stretching. They need more control. If someone is dealing with low back pain, shoulder. Stability or hip joint discomfort. What they typically need is a return to joint coordination, not passive opening or stretching. When we start to emphasize active joint control, teaching students to move in smaller ranges, they can fully control. We help reduce the risk of re-injury and encourage more functional movement that helps to build more confidence. And third mobility focused teaching builds resilience and trust When students learn to move with control rather than momentum, they begin to feel more stable in their bodies. They're more connected to their own boundaries and capabilities, which can be incredibly empowering, especially for those managing chronic pain. Age related changes or injury recovery. If we, as yoga teachers claim to be teaching awareness of self, then it's our job to teach students to learn their limitations, be okay with them, and practice within those ranges. So the big question you may have now is how do you begin to bring more mobility based thinking into your sequencing and queuing? You don't have to stop teaching yoga or turn your classes into physical therapy. That's not the answer. You just need to layer in intention and a better understanding of how joints actually work in motion. One technique you can start with is called controlled articular rotations or cars. These are slow, intentional circular joint movements where their focus is on moving the joint through. Its. Full range without compensating with other body parts. For example, a shoulder car involves slowly rotating the arm in a big circle while keeping the torso still. These movements are simple but powerful ways to assess and improve joint control. You can include them in your warmup or as part of a mindfulness centered movement portion of your sequence. Another approach is to cue. Active engagement at end ranges. Instead of asking students to relax fully into a pose, you can invite them to press down, pull in, or gently lift while holding the shape. For example, in a supine hamstring stretch, you might ask the student to. Actively press their lifted leg into their strap and hold for five seconds. This helps to activate the nervous system and strengthen tissues in positions that are often only stretched passively. A third strategy is to focus more on stability than depth. Encourage students to work within a range they can control. That might mean backing out of a pose slightly, or adjusting alignment to prioritize functional control over aesthetic appearance. This not only helps in injury prevention, but it also encourages long-term sustainability in their practice. Ultimately, the most powerful thing you can do as a yoga teacher is to help your students shift their mindset from chasing flexibility to building control. I started teaching joint control about eight years ago, but I sprinkled it in in small doses and I explained why I was teaching it to help students get on board. It was a time when my teaching style was shifting. I started working with more injured students. I wanted to create my own style for my classes, and most importantly, I wanted to educate my students on the wise behind what we were doing in class. Yoga is not about pushing deeper into shapes just because we can. It is about learning how to move with awareness, intention and respect for our bodies' boundaries. Somewhere along the way, yoga became an aesthetic practice where students were pushed past their limits in order to look the same and look like pictures in a. This is why there's such a rise in injuries in the yoga world and why I'm committed to teaching teachers about them when we understand mobility in the clinical sense and teach students to actively control their movement. We help them build trust in their own bodies. We help them to reduce fear, build confidence, improve joint integrity, and create a practice that truly serves students long-term, especially those with injuries or sensitivities. You don't need to become a physical therapist to teach this way. You just need to be willing to shift your attention from how things look, to how things function. Remember this mobility is not just about range. It's about. Ownership. Ownership of your movements. It's not about how far you can go, it's about how well you can control and support yourself along the way. By integrating joint controlled movements into your classes, you're not only potentially preventing injury, but you're also teaching your students something even more valuable. Self-trust through movement. Understanding anatomy, biomechanics, and the effects. Yoga also gonna have on the body helps you help your students. If you've been enjoying this episodes, I know that you're a yoga teacher who's ready to teach with more intention and less fear around injuries. Let's continue to raise the bar for how yoga supports real bodies in real life. It's so important for us to have these conversations. So you remember that students of all shapes. Sizes, alignment and abilities come to your classes and you can serve all of them. You know that my goal is for you to love the yoga teaching life, and it's important to understand movement and the issues students come to your classes with. Subscribe to the podcast so you're always in their know when a new episode drops and share with another yoga teacher who you think would love to be in on these conversations. And finally, thank you for helping to spread the word about this podcast. Alright, that's it for now. Bye.