For a long time, I tried to get everything my body needs from a yoga class – strength, cardio, flexibility, and mind-body-heart connection – until I got hurt. I began to realize that yoga – at least the colonized, posture-focused version that we do – isn’t a one-stop wellness shop. Sure, it covers a lot of mental and physical ground, but there were some missing pieces for me like joint specific strength and mobility.

I stopped my physical practice of yoga because it didn’t feel good anymore. I went through a grieving process for the movements that aligned me and defined me. I went in search of another system that would get me into my body and found mobility training. Things started to feel better and I was able to practice the movements of yoga again.

I thought, “I feel great! Do other people know about this?”

Why aren’t there as many mobility classes as there are yoga classes?

Mobility focused movements live in a gray space between strength and flexibility training. You know how it’ll feel to lift and lower heavy stuff until your muscles burn in a strength training session. You can count on a body and mind internal sigh of relief after a yoga class. But, you might not know what to expect from a mobility class. Is it slow or fast? Is it strength or stretch?

You know you’re going to walk out of your yoga class feeling a little better than you did when you went in. Plus, it probably took a bunch of effort for you to get into your yoga routine. You made the decision to try yoga, researched the best day, time, and style of class to try, and arranged then rearranged your schedule to fit in the class.

That’s all before you step on your mat! You then do all of the physical, mental, and emotional effort of the practice. Besides, you may be thinking, “I must be getting mobility and flexibility out of yoga. They’re the same thing right?”

Sort of…

They’ll both help you move better in your body, but…

Flexibility is the ability of a muscle or muscle group to lengthen passively through a range of motion.

Mobility is the ability of a joint to move actively through a range of motion.

Here’s the difference: flexibility will help your legs splay out if you slip on ice, while mobility will help you pull them back together.

Flexibility gains last short term and mobility gains last long term. In other words, to maintain the length of stretching hamstrings in a forward fold, you’d have to stay there all day. Like rubber bands, muscles will go back to a resting length after they are elongated. Muscles only change when you address the nearest joints structures and fascia.

I know you feel more mobile after a yoga class. I felt the same way, but I found that I would feel stiff again a few hours later. I know that your poses have improved over time too. Your ability to lower your heels to the floor in a downward facing dog is likely due to increased ankle mobility with practice instead of calf and hamstring flexibility – although the muscles have to be willing to lengthen. 

Think of mobility training as the ground work to do all of the other activities you want to do, like yoga. It’ll give you the prerequisite joint movement you need in your wrists, elbows, shoulders, and shoulder blades to lower from plank down to the floor. Your joints need to be able to move themselves without weight on them before adding load. It’ll also help to preserve that “loose” feeling long after practice.

(Side note: I’m talking about how it will add to your physical yoga practice, but mobility training will sweeten swinging kettlebells, resistance band training, jujitsu, running, HIIT training, and however else you move your body.)

Now, if you can raise your arm overhead to grab a box of pasta off a high pantry shelf, you may be wondering, “why do I even need movements to increase mobility?”

There are perpetual constraints on your body that limit joint range of motion: shoes, tight clothings, muscle tension from stress, sitting in a fixed position, walking on flat surfaces instead of varied surfaces; you get the picture. Joints love to move, but when they’re fixed they get the signal that movement must not be important. Mobility training helps you keep and increase your joint ranges of motion so you don’t have to start storing your pasta on a lower shelf. 

If you only want to do stretchy-goodness class a week, great! You can practice mobility movements in yoga by deliberately activating the muscles that surround a joint in a particular range. Wanna try? Pop into one of my 60 minute Slow Flow for Mobility or 30 minute Mobility to Move Freely classes or watch the recorded versions on demand.

You’ll know it’s making a difference when it’s easier for your to:

• Move smoothly on your mat
• Lift your knee to your chest to put on a sock
• Twist from the front seat of your car to hand your kiddo a snack
• Squat to slide a casserole dish into the oven

You just might find that mobility training is the cherry on top of your movement sundae!