WELCOME TO BENDY BODIES, WHERE YOU’LL FIND MEDICAL INSIGHTS & SCIENCE-BASED INFORMATION FOR EVERY BENDY BODY. LISTEN, LEARN, & SHARE!

Advocacy & Communication Episodes

April 6, 2023

65. Finding Balance with Jenelle Manzi

Thriving as a professional artist with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome can be challenging. Finding a balance between pushing yourself physically and listening to your body when it needs rest is difficult when you are part of a compan...

Episode page
March 9, 2023

63. Shining Your Light with Gigi Robinson

Living with a chronic illness like Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) can be demoralizing. You may not have access to the care you need, loved ones do not get it, and loneliness can be a reality for so many people. Gigi Robinson …

Episode page
Feb. 9, 2023

61. Getting Back Up Again with Keeya Steel

Life with multiple chronic illnesses is physically and mentally challenging. Feelings of exhaustion and emotional fatigue crowd in with physical symptoms and can be overwhelming in your daily life. How do you find balance? Ho...

Episode page
Jan. 12, 2023

59. Preparing for Competitions: A Round Table with Kristin Koskinen R…

For most artistic athletes, competition is a part of life. Whether you’re a dancer, skater, gymnast, or cheerleader chances are you’re competing at some point. Competitions can be grueling, multi-day events consisting of 14-h...

Episode page
Dec. 1, 2022

57. Alleviating Anxiety with Jo-Anne La Flèche

Dance and other performing arts are, by nature, stressful. Stress can easily develop into anxiety, which is exponentially more common in the hypermobile population than the general population. How can you distinguish between ...

Episode page
Nov. 3, 2022

55. Cultivating Resiliency with Jazz Bynum

As a young dancer, Jazz Bynum enjoyed the benefits of being “bendy”. Later, she experienced more than her fair share of injuries but it wasn’t clear how these could be connected. A diagnosis of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syn...

Episode page
Oct. 20, 2022

54. Managing Mast Cell Pain with Linda Bluestein, MD

Mast cell disorders are prevalent in the hypermobile population, but can often go undiagnosed. Persistent pain can be initiated and perpetuated by mast cells, which have also been referred to as “gatekeepers of pain”. How c...

Episode page
Oct. 20, 2022

53. Creating a New Hypermobility Screening Tool with Aiko Callahan, D…

In this Bendy Bodies podcast episode, we discuss a new hypermobility screening tool with guests, Aiko Callahan, DPT, and Stephanie Greenspan, DPT. Hypermobility is far more prevalent in dancers, circus performers and other ae...

Episode page
Sept. 8, 2022

51. Moving Fearlessly with Jeannie DiBon

In this Bendy Bodies podcast episode, we discuss moving with EDS hypermobility & laxity with guest, Jeannie DiBon. Hypermobile athletes and artists are often excellent movers - until they hit “the wall”. Sometimes you hit a p...

Episode page
April 14, 2022

47. Exploring the Link between Joint Hypermobility and Neurodivergenc…

In this Bendy Bodies podcast episode, we discuss the relationship between hypermobility, autism ADHD and EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes) with guest, Jessica Eccles, MRCPsych, PhD. Evidence shows that neurodivergency occurs at a...

Episode page
May 13, 2021

33. Conquering the Wall: A Round Table Discussion

In this Bendy Bodies podcast episode, we discuss dance athletics and EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes) with guests, Marimba Gold-Watts, Mariana J. Plick, Kyle Thompson, and Cailey Brandon. Whether you have a connective tissue dis...

Episode page
April 22, 2021

32. Embracing Neurodivergency with Jessica Eccles, MD

In this Bendy Bodies podcast episode, we discuss the relationship between being neurodivergent hypermobility and EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes) with guest, Jessica Eccles, MRCPsych, PhD. Neurodivergency occurs at a much higher...

Episode page
May 15, 2020

9. Educating the Dance Community with Lisa Howell

Dancing with a hypermobile body brings its own set of challenges, from a general lack of stability to a slower recovery time. As a young pre-professional, a dancer might not understand why she must find conscious strength bef...

Episode page
April 29, 2020

8. Demystifying Genetics with Paldeep Atwal, M.D.

Your DNA holds many secrets. Why do drugs work on some people and not on others? Why are conditions expressed so differently in different family members? How might hypermobility disorders, dysautonomia (like POTS) and Mast...

Episode page
April 12, 2020

6. Minding the Mental Health Gap with Kathleen McGuire Gaines

Traits that can make a dancer so valuable in the dance world - drive, perfectionism, obsessing over details - also put them at higher risk for mental health disorders. And while physical health resources become ever more comm...

Episode page