Taking Care of Your Wrists in Yoga Rev. Dr. Nancy A. Nester, CYT-320, RYT-200 YOGA FOR WRIST PAIN A common complaint for practitioners is wrist pain. It is important to strengthen, stretch and prepare the wrist for future yoga poses, otherwise injury can be a very real and painful presence. Turn your hand palm face up. Look at the base of your wrist. In the middle, where your palm meets your wrist is a small indentation. Underneath that indentation is the median nerve. Putting consistent pressure on this area can cause the nerve to become strained which leads to wrist pain. It could then lead to tingling and/or numbness in your wrists. With alignment awareness of the wrists, we can prevent strain/pain from moving further into the forearm. When practicing any postures on the wrists with the fingers facing forward, make sure the crease of the wrist is parallel with the front of the mat. Ensure that the crease in your wrist isn t too tight. Simply tent or invert your palm slightly. Then push the tips of your index and middle fingers down into the mat. As you press down, pull your fingertips towards your palm. Once you understand this movement, the intensity will be taken away from your wrist and your entire forearm will then be engaged in the pose. 1
Try these tips so you can stay happy and free of wrist pain for as long as possible. 1. Check your alignment and be real with yourself. Posture alignment for balance and strength poses is: shoulders are aligned over the wrists to minimize hyperextension. The goal is to be firm yet light on your hands. This means that while you are working on becoming stable in the pose, you are also not being too heavy on your hands on the floor. Remember each pose is aimed at getting your muscles stronger not your wrist joints. 2. Practice ahimsa for yourself. Modify each pose as needed. Ahimsa (non-harming) applies to everything in a Yogini s life, including yourself! Be realistic. If your wrists feel compromised in any pose modify that pose to better suit you. That may mean you put your knees down in Plank, bend your knees in Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), get on your knees in extension push-up (chaturanga), or even come down to your forearms or elbows for Downward Facing Dog or Side Plank (Vasisthasana). Do what you need to do to shift your weight off your wrists. And if you are taking one of my Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga Yoga Classes, please ask me for assistance in making further modifications. 2
3. Take your time. Remember: moving in to and moving out of any pose is just as important as the pose itself. So be sure that you don t move too quickly that you forget to ensure your wrists and arms are in the correct alignment before you put weight on them. Though some of our quicker Vinyasa flow classes might not spend as much time on alignment, you can still pay attention to how you are in each pose. 4. Wrist Therapy after Yoga. After yoga exercise, take some time for counter-stretches and flexing of your wrists. Rotating your wrists and massaging the area around your median nerve will benefit your future wrist health. You can also massage the muscles from your elbow down to your wrist. Tension in the wrist can move up the arm if you don t take the time to notice any pain or discomfort during your practice. 5. Rest if and when there is pain. Along the lines of practicing ahimsa, if your wrists feel achy and strained, sometimes the best medicine is simply rest and don t move into the poses that might compromise the safety or comfort of your wrists. Yoga Poses to Build Wrist Strength We love yoga for what it does for our mind, our spirit, and our body. Many of these postures, however, can put pressure on our wrists. Add that to the many repetitive motions we do on a daily basis in real life, and it s a recipe for wrist pain. Let s start with some basic wrist stretches. Stand with your feet hip width apart and extend your arms parallel to the floor. 3
Flex the wrist of one hand so your fingertips point up. With the opposite hand, grasp your fingers from the side and pull your upward-pointing fingertips toward your body to stretch the wrist. Hold this for 10 to 30 seconds and switch sides. You can also stretch the wrists in the opposite direction by bending one wrist to point the fingertips down and press against the back of the hand. Again, hold for 10 to 30 seconds and switch sides. These are poses that can assist in building strength in your wrists. Please remember that proper alignment is essential in every pose to avoid injury. Use the suggestion at the beginning and pull your finger-tips towards your knuckles to tent the palm of your hand and see if you notice the difference. These postures are great ways to stretch the wrists and get some relief from pain. If your wrist pain is chronic, make adjustments in your regular practice to also limit the pressure on your wrists. You may also want to focus on postures that don t involve putting weight on the hands until you get relief. 1) Hand-Under-Foot Pose (Padahastasana) 2) Prayer Pose (Anjali Mudra) 3) Intense Side Stretch Pose (Parsvottanasana) 4) Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana) 5) Plank Pose 6) Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) 7) Side Plank (Vasisthasana) 4
Ways to Avoid Wrist Pain in Yoga Plenty of postures can be modified to reduce weight-bearing, or replaced with similar poses to give you the same benefits without the pain. Here are five helpful things to avoid wrist pain during yoga. 1. Shift your weight. You may be able to change the way you support yourself in a pose. Instead of having your hands flat on the mat, you may be able to form a fist and steady yourself on your knuckles or even lower yourself down to your forearms. This would work in postures such as Plank, Side Angle, or even Downward Dog. By forming a fist, the weight is removed from your wrists. This straight wrist form can also strengthen your wrists. If you have resulting pressure in your shoulders, then move down to your forearms. 2. Change your angle. A foam wedge can help reduce or eliminate pain in your wrists by increasing the angle of your wrists. If you don t have a foam wedge, a folded towel interlaced through the palm and around the wrist can serve the same purpose. Please ask we have yoga props ready for you in every class! The goal is to adjust your position so that your wrists and the heels of your hands are higher than you fingers. This puts the angle of your forearm and the top of your hand at more than 90 degrees optimal for reducing wrist pain. 3. Adjust your surface. A thick yoga mat will feel great for your knees, hips and back. It may not be the best type of mat for your wrists. Switching to a thinner mat on a hard floor does not allow the 5
heels of your hands to sink down - which actually puts more pressure on your wrists 4. Grab a prop. Yoga blocks can help to raise the floor for you. Try putting a foam block underneath each hand. That can help to reduce the pressure on your wrists. 5. Bend your knees. In some cases, just bending your knees may be enough to shift the overall weight so there is less pressure on your hands. In other cases, you may choose to place your knees on the floor. See the hints at the beginning on certain poses that you can modify by bending your knees. Stretching and strengthening your wrists is the best way to eliminate wrist pain. Getting your core and your arms stronger will keep you from collapsing onto your hands and wrists with the weight of your body. Remember you are in control of your body. Listen to yourself listen to what your body wants in every pose. If any pose causes you pain, do what you need to do to keep yourself from pain or injury. And don t be afraid to ask me anytime - about anything. Rev. Nancy A. Nester MScD, DD, RMT, CHt, HSH-PT (CYT-320, RYT-200), Clear Light Arts, ADL PO Box 1500 Cleveland, GA 30528 706-865-0322 yoga@clearlightarts.org www.clearlightarts.org 6