Jeannie Di Bon, London (2026)

15/02/2026

Why you lean on walls, counters, and furniture? 🧐

If you find yourself leaning on walls, kitchen counters, door frames, or chairs whenever you stop moving,
you’re not being lazy. You’re load sharing.

For many hypermobile bodies, standing upright isn’t neutral or natural feeling. It requires quiet, continuous muscle work to keep joints organised and supported.

When connective tissue gives less passive stability, the muscles and nervous system have to do more of the job.
That effort builds up even if you’re “just standing.”

So the body looks for external support.

And leaning does a few very useful things:
• reduces muscular demand
• redistributes load
• decreases joint strain
• increases sensory feedback
• gives the nervous system clearer boundaries

In that moment, it feels like relief. Not because something is wrong but because your system is intelligently lowering demand.

This is also why:
• standing conversations can feel tiring
• waiting in queues is harder than walking
• you automatically reach for a surface when pausing

Your body is preventing fatigue and flare before they escalate.

The problem isn’t that you lean. The problem is when leaning becomes the only strategy available because internal support feels unreliable. And that isn’t solved by being told to “stand properly.”

It’s addressed by gradually building:
• joint control
• endurance
• coordination
• safety in upright positions

When internal support improves, leaning becomes a choice not a necessity.

Do you find yourself leaning?

14/02/2026

She had no idea what her body would ask of her.

The appointments.
The pain.
The fatigue.
The confusion.
The seemingly never ending search for answers.

If you live with EDS, you also know that story.

Today, this day of ❤️, instead of judging your body…

Offer kindness to the child (& the adult today) who was & still is simply doing her best.

Self-compassion is a practice. And it’s allowed every day.

Wishing you a gentle, self love Valentine’s Day honouring how resilient, resourceful & wonderful we are 💜.
❤️

13/02/2026

You don’t need long workouts to support your heart but you do need regular circulation.

One of the biggest myths in fitness is that movement only counts if it happens in a dedicated session. But your cardiovascular system responds incredibly well to small bursts of movement spread throughout the day. I call these “movement snacks.”

Movement snacks are short, gentle moments of activity, things like ankle pumps, standing up and marching softly on the spot, rolling your shoulders, or walking across the room with intention. They don’t have to be dramatic or exhausting. The goal is simply to interrupt long periods of stillness and invite blood flow back into the system.

This is especially important for people living with hypermobility, POTS, or fatigue. Long sessions can sometimes feel overwhelming or trigger symptoms, but short, frequent movement can support circulation, help regulate blood pressure, and reduce that heavy, stagnant feeling that comes from sitting too long.

Over time, these small moments add up. They teach your heart and blood vessels to respond to gentle changes in demand, and they build a sustainable relationship with movement that feels safe and repeatable.

If structured exercise feels out of reach right now, start here. Think little and often. Even 20–30 seconds of intentional movement, repeated throughout the day, is a meaningful way to care for your heart.

Here I share my top three Heart ♥️ Health Movement Snacks with you. Let me know how you get on.

12/02/2026

If you live with hypermobility or EDS, you know how unpredictable your body can feel. Your joints shifting, recovery taking longer, or new aches appearing.

This month in my newsletter, I'm exploring how hormonal changes during perimenopause and menopause can amplify these shifts.

When I went through perimenopause, I felt physically and emotionally thrown off and I had no idea how much hormones could affect movement and connective tissue.

I'd love to share what I've learned and some gentle ways to move with confidence during these transitions.

There’s a link in the COMMENTS to sign up for the newsletter list.

Have you noticed changes in your body as you've navigated hormonal transitions? I'd love to hear from you.

11/02/2026

Innovation should expand access to healthcare for EDS & HSD, not complicate it 💜

That’s why we introduced ZeeZee, our multilingual AI agent inside The Zebra Club. By supporting multiple languages, we’re working to remove barriers to movement education and make hypermobility care more accessible worldwide. We are a global community and we’re striving hard to support everyone no matter where you’re based.

Technology can’t replace human connection of course, but it can help us reach more people, more equitably, and support a truly international community. We still have our amazing team of moderators to help members on the app, but sometimes it’s necessary to chat in your own local language.

This is a step toward more inclusive, patient-centred care on a global scale. I’m super excited & proud of .zebra.club and how it is transforming lives.

10/02/2026

Living with pain or an unpredictable body, such as in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) or hypermobility, can be exhausting. Some days you don’t know what your body will tolerate, what might trigger a flare, or how you’ll feel from one moment to the next.

Self-compassion isn’t about positive thinking, ignoring your symptoms, or “fixing” your body. It’s a research-backed skill that can help regulate your nervous system and reduce the extra suffering that often comes from fear, pressure, and uncertainty.

Learn how to reframe tough days in a grounded, practical way, featuring insights from Psychotherapist Kim Clayden.

Find the link below.

09/02/2026

Have you ever compared your progress to other people?

If you’ve ever tried something that helped someone else and felt worse or no different, it’s easy to assume you did it wrong.

But EDS / HSD bodies are not identical problems waiting for identical solutions. Even when two people share the same diagnosis, their systems can be influenced by very different factors:

• joint patterns and injury history
• nervous-system sensitivity
• autonomic regulation
• pain thresholds
• fatigue levels
• sleep and recovery
• stress load
• hormones
• previous movement experiences
• pacing habits
• environment and support

All of that shapes how a body responds to any intervention.

So when something works beautifully for one person and poorly for another, it doesn’t mean the method is universally good or bad.

It means context matters.

The body responds not just to what you do,
but to when, how, and in what state you do it.

This is why comparison can become so discouraging.

You might see someone improve quickly and think:
“Why isn’t that happening for me?”
“Am I missing something?”
“Is my body worse?”

But your system isn’t failing. It’s responding to its own starting point and demands. Good care isn’t about finding the one perfect exercise or protocol. It’s about finding a solution that meets you where you are today.

It’s about learning how your body responds, adjusting thoughtfully, and building a path that fits your physiology.

And needing a different approach doesn’t mean you’re behind. It means your body needs to be understood on its own terms. We are uniquely unique 💛

07/02/2026

Many people with hypermobility or EDS don’t hear this often:

👉 Strength doesn’t have to come first.

First we build safety, then stability, then strength.
This order helps you move with intention, not force, so movement feels supportive instead of scary.

I teach this approach inside .zebra.club where we explore exercise and movement for people with EDS and hypermobility in ways that meet you where you are.

👉 Which step feels hardest for you right now — Safety, Stability, or Strength?

06/02/2026

February is Heart ♥️ Month. I am going to be sharing my top tips for hypermobility safe ways for heart health over the next four weeks.

Heart health is not defined by intensity. Research consistently shows that regular, moderate movement improves cardiovascular function, circulation, and nervous system regulation.

In fact the American Heart Association and public health guidelines recommend moderate activities like walking or cycling because they reliably lower heart disease risk, and they explicitly encourage people to start at whatever level they can and build up. And that’s key - start where you are today.

For hypermobile and chronically ill bodies, gentle and controlled movement is often the most sustainable path to heart health. The thought of heart health can be scary if you live with EDS, POTS or chronic fatigue where raising heart rates just aren’t safe for many people.

Small sessions done consistently are more effective than occasional extremes. Your heart benefits from movement that feels safe enough to repeat.

I’ll be sharing some practical examples of this next time 💜

05/02/2026

Do you judge yourself on low capacity days? I know I did 😔.

If your capacity changes day to day, and you feel frustrated by how inconsistent your body can be,
you’re not alone in that.

Many people living with hypermobility or chronic symptoms grow up believing that consistency equals effort and inconsistency equals failure.

But bodies like ours don’t operate on a fixed schedule. The nature of the condition makes it unpredictable.

Capacity shifts with:
• sleep
• pain
• stress
• hormones
• nervous-system load
• energy availability
• sensory input
• recovery from previous days

And when you expect a fluctuating system to behave like a predictable one, self-blame creeps in.

You might think:
“I should be able to do this.”
“I did it last week, why not today?”
“Everyone else manages.”

Inconsistency doesn’t mean you’re unreliable, weak, or not trying hard enough. It means your system is adapting moment by moment.

And adaptation requires flexibility not just in the body, but in how you treat yourself. Being gentle with yourself isn’t lowering standards. It’s recognising that sustainable progress comes from working with variability, not fighting it.

Some days will hold more. Some days will ask for less.

What matters is the relationship you build with your body over time: listening without panic, adjusting without shame, and allowing change without punishment. And resting when you need it.

That’s not giving up on improvement. It’s creating the conditions where improvement can actually last.

We re doing great! And we’re coping with things most people never see 💛.

Does this resonate with you too?

04/02/2026

Different Movement. Sometimes we have to adapt but that’s OK 😍.

Giving something up can really hurt. Not just the activity itself, but everything it held like freedom, identity, joy, memories.

I can’t ski anymore because of EDS-related injuries and fear. A torn right hip labrum one year, a torn left knee meniscus another and now a whole load of fear about falling.

I decided to quit. That wasn’t an easy decision, and it wasn’t just physical. There was grief in admitting that my body no longer felt safe doing something I once enjoyed. It wasn’t just about the exercise but also the joy & peace this environment gave me, the fresh air, the family time.

So I had to adapt and change my approach. I tried snowshoe walking this week. Snowshoes feel safer for me now. Slower. More supportive.

I still get to move, breathe the cold air, feel part of the landscape without pushing past fear or risking injury. And I still get time with my family ❤️.

Adapting doesn’t mean pretending it doesn’t hurt.
Sometimes it means letting the grief be there and finding a way to stay connected anyway.

Adapting exercise is pretty much what led me to the IMM development. Traditional exercise approaches weren’t working for me. I had to find a new way that suited my Hypermobile needs.

If you’re navigating similar changes, you’re not weak for missing what you’ve lost. And you’re allowed to take your time finding what comes next 🤍.

I’d love to hear how you’ve modified any activity or job you love.

Jeannie Di Bon

15/02/2026

14/02/2026

13/02/2026

12/02/2026

11/02/2026

10/02/2026

09/02/2026

07/02/2026

06/02/2026

05/02/2026

04/02/2026

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