The Hypermobility Syndromes Association, in partnership with Stickman Communications, hosted a Hypermobility Management Workshop on Saturday 25 February, with sections on exercise, pacing, flare-up plans, pain, and communicating about hidden disabilities.
The lecture-format sessions were in Hannah Ensor’s typical style – straightforward, with a dose of humour. The group discussions then provided a valuable opportunity to discuss and apply the information to daily life, sharing and exploring different solutions to the challenges we face.
Of course, being about pacing, what better opportunity to practice what we preach? Each ‘lecture’ was a maximum of 30 minutes, with wiggle breaks in between, and it was great to see the ‘beanbag corner’ being used as well as people standing up, moving and stretching when they needed to.
We asked Hannah Ensor, what was her favourite part of the day?
“Well, first I apologise for forgetting to put out plates with the snacks! But for me, there were two stand-out highlights: First, it was being reminded how incredibly useful discussing solutions with other bendies can be. During a discussion someone shared how their health care professional had recommended that they ‘pace’ their nutrition – so they don’t end up constantly having to rest after full meals, and instead eat little and often, which enabled them to avoid the post-meal crash. I am definitely going to look at whether this will help me too!
The second highlight was that every single person who handed in a completed feedback forms said they felt the workshop had improved their understanding of how to manage a hypermobility syndrome, and would be making changes as a result of the workshop. Which is totally awesome!”
Here are a few comments from the delegates:
- “The formal sessions were excellent, but the opportunity to talk to others was the icing on the cake.”
- “The session was fantastic, so useful and funny too! I learned so much.”
- “[The most useful part was] the pacing info and being able to talk to others with HMS.”
- “Very well presented in manageable chunks, delivered in a way that was very listenable to and easy to understand.”