Yoga Wrists

Wrists Today, Down Dog Tomorrow – Some yoga poses invite us to bear weight on our hands and that means work for the wrists. It’s common for new yogis to experience some discomfort in their wrists in the beginning of their practice. Stick with it! Your wrists will be strong and flexible before you know it!

Benefits: Bearing weight on the hands helps to stretch and strengthen the wrists. This practice helps to relieve carpal tunnel and arthritis in the wrists and hands. Strong wrists allow greater ease in yoga poses as your practice progresses.

How to: First stretch the wrists by rotating and moving the hands, creating space in the joints. Come to your hands and knees for table pose and look down at your hands. Notice them here, and spread your fingers really wide. I encourage my students to take up as much room as possible on your mat with your hands. Rotate the hands so that your index fingers are pointing forward. Press your entire hand  – palms and all 10 fingers – equally into your mat.

Now, practice changing how you bear weight on your hands. Where do you feel pressure? Can you change the pressure to bring more weight into the knuckles where your fingers connect to the palm? Can you also press firmly into the thumbs and index fingers, then equally into the entire hand? Play with this until you get a good feel for hand/wrist placement. Rest and breathe here for a few minutes.

Mantra: “I get stronger every time I practice yoga.”