I was teaching a class the other day and one of the participants asked if there was a way to protect her sore wrists in class. Let me start by saying that this is not a new question, not only do I frequently address this question in class, but you’ll find numerous articles and posts on this topic. Since in yoga, there are a number of postures where we weight bear on our hands/wrists, it’s important to strategize how we should proceed.
There are a few things you can do to support yourself through the process of conditioning the wrists and hands to tolerate the weighted extension posture on them. Notice that I used the word “conditioning”… It has been my experience that the wrists will slowly build in their tolerance for the weight bearing postures with practice, so long as it is done gradually and mindfully over time.
To begin with, if you are one of those people who have tightness in your wrists, doing a few gentle range of motion ROM exercises before the weight bearing postures is a good idea. Warm up the wrists by doing some basic circles a few times in each direction, and then try these light wrist stretches:
Using your opposite hand, lightly pull the fingers back and then press them down as shown (holding briefly for 5 – 10 sec a couple times each hand). Then try bringing your palms together at the front of your chest attempting to bring the heel of the hands together as you move your hands downwards (holding in this stretch for 3 breaths).
Next, you want to think of your hands as being similar to your feet. Our feet have arches which distribute the load of pressure and shock absorb; so too can your hands. When weight bearing on them you want to feel the perimeter of the palm and the heel of the wrist connecting to the ground with a small air space under the center of the palm. Maintaining this little “arch” in your hand activates the muscles of the wrists and hands and gives some integrity of support to the structures. The fingers should also be spread wide with even pressure into each in order to distribute and balance the forces placed on the hand.
Finally, it’s good to remember to listen to your body in class. For me, when I’m doing a class where there is a fair amount of weight bearing on my hands, I do a couple downward dogs and then rest the wrists with some gentle circles in between, or I’ll go into child’s pose turning the palms up to relax the hand/wrist muscles. Also, during the class, when you feel your wrists have had enough, know that it is time to stop the weight bearing – find an alternate way to be, for example drop to your elbows during table top or down dog, or just find an alternate pose off the hands.
Give these tips a try. If you build gradually over time and pace yourself in class then your tolerance should improve with time. If you have a pre-existing wrist/hand condition you may need more specific advice and tips for using props to support your hands, and a consult with a yoga therapist would be advised.