A Different Approach
I believe we can live well.
Your body isn't broken. It's working exactly as it was built to work. The problem is that nobody taught you how to work with it.
When you live with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, hypermobility, or chronic pain, the standard advice falls apart. "Push through it." "Just exercise more." "Have you tried yoga?" None of it accounts for a nervous system on high alert, joints that don't stay where they belong, or the exhaustion of fighting a body that feels like it's working against you.
But here's what I've learned, both as a physical therapist and as someone who lives in a hypermobile body every single day:
We can't change our collagen. We can change almost everything else.
We can teach our nervous systems to find safety instead of scanning for threat. We can build strength that supports our joints instead of destabilizing them. We can create environments, routines, and relationships that hold us up rather than wear us down.
This is what I mean by gentle strength. Not pushing harder. Not ignoring your limits. But building a foundation, in your body, your mind, and your life, that lets you live well even when your building blocks are different.
I believe healing happens when we look at the whole.
That means understanding that pain isn't just physical. It's shaped by your nervous system, your beliefs, your past experiences, your stress levels, your sleep, your relationships, and whether you feel safe in your own life. This is called the biopsychosocial model, and it's the foundation of everything I teach.
It also means trusting that your body has what it needs. Not to "cure" a genetic condition, but to adapt, regulate, and find more ease than you might think possible. Your nervous system can learn. Your muscles can get stronger. Your capacity can grow. It just has to happen on your body's terms, not someone else's timeline.
And it means building a village. Because none of us heal alone. We need providers who listen, friends who understand, systems that accommodate, and spaces where we don't have to explain ourselves. Part of living well with chronic illness is designing a life that actually supports you.
Why I Do This
I'm Dr. Caroline Bazemore, a physical therapist who also lives with EDS, POTS, and the whole constellation of conditions that come with faulty connective tissue.
I was diagnosed during my final clinical rotation in PT school. The timing felt almost cruel. I was learning to help other people's bodies just as mine began to fall apart. Everything I found online was either too clinical to be useful or too chaotic to trust. I needed a bridge between research and real life, and there wasn't one.
So I built it.
I earned my Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Duke, specializing in complex pain. I have a Master's in Education because I want to understand how people actually learn and change, not just what information to hand them. I studied learning experience design because health information shouldn't require a PhD to understand.
And I spent years figuring out what actually works for bodies like ours. Not generic advice. Not "just stretch more." Real strategies for nervous system regulation, sustainable movement, pacing, advocacy, and building a life that fits.
Bending Better exists because I needed help and couldn't find it.
It's for people who are tired of being dismissed. Who want real answers, not toxic positivity. Who are ready to stop fighting their bodies and start working with them.
You don't have to push through. You don't have to prove anything. You just have to be willing to try a different approach.
I'm glad you're here.