… Think about that stiff feeling you sometimes get after a long car ride, a trip in an airplane, or simply as long day sitting at your desk. Immobility in the body for an extended period of time creates this stiffness, and when we have an opportunity we usually stretch our bodies, in hopes of relieving stiff knees, hips, shoulders and back. We are seeking joint freedom. Joint freedom is the ability of each joint to move freely through its full range of motion without muscular stress or discomfort. Your activity level, sex, age weight, genetic postural imbalances, injuries, pain, body conditioning and emotional state will all impact your flexibility. Our optimal age for joint freedom is between 3-5 years old. The activities we engage in will have an impact on our joint freedom as we age. For example, running makes hamstrings tighter and stronger and reduces hip flexibility. People who are knock kneed will have less distance when opening the legs and drawing the hips away from each other. Depressed people often collapse forward, round the upper back and cave in the chest, tightening chest muscles and making it more difficult to pull the shoulders back. … Yoga is proving to have more and more significant effect on healthy joint function as certain poses promote release of fluids while strengthening the muscles supporting the joints. …

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