Stop pushing it on me

Eventually, at 28, my aches were diagnosed as Ehlers Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that affects the production of collagen.

It turns out I wasn’t achy because of poor posture or anxiety, I was (and am) achy because my joints are so lax they partially dislocate, and my muscles work overtime trying to keep my skeleton together.

When a doctor asks, ‘‘have you tried yoga?’’ it feels like code for, ‘‘I’m out of ideas, I don’t want to deal with you any more, I think your pain isn’t serious’’.

Yoga is wonderful but it’s not enough to bridge the shortfalls of our medical system – a lack of awareness of conditions, and a tendency to dismiss symptoms. It couldn’t tell me what was happening with my joints, or how to reduce my symptoms.

When your friends and family ask if you’ve tried yoga it’s equally as disheartening. I’ve got to the stage where I can honestly say yes, I’ve tried yoga, and pretty much everything that doesn’t require me to go into a shop that has crystal skulls in the display window and offers palm readings.

But what I’ve tried isn’t the point. When people ask that, they might feel that they’re being helpful but, really, they’re closing the conversation. They’ve stopped listening to us describe our experience, they’ve stopped empathising.

They’ve started looking for ways that they can subtly blame us for our problems, for not trying hard enough, and go back to talking about the weather. They probably even know, deep down, that yoga is not the cure.

– The Age

When a doctor asks, ‘‘have you tried yoga?’’ it feels like code for, ‘‘I’m out of ideas’’.