Wrists, fingers and inner elbows

– a couple of yoga alignment tips

I know I keep going on about this in all our yoga classes. And at the moment I seem to have an obsession about the alignment of our arms and hands… So here is an extension of my obsession. Please read on.

We spend a lot of time on our hands in a yoga class: Downward-Facing-Dog, Plank Pose, Side Plank, various Hands-and-Knees poses and of course arm balances such as Crow Pose, Handstand etc.

For someone new’ish to yoga this can be challenging. In our day to day life we don’t take much pressure on our hands. Certainly not our bodyweight. For the first 400 downward-dogs our arms and wrists will feel all the pressure. Then we learn to take some of our bodyweight into our legs and actually start to “lift out” of our wrists. (And then the legs start to shake!). But it is a continuous learning process of how we use our body.

So let’s start by recognising the possibility of strength in our being. The muscles that supports our joints and create stability. Muscles are continuously moving, stretching, flexing, pulsating and the blood circulation keeps them full of power. So even if our muscles shake a little bit, perhaps there is even a sense of heat (read ‘burn’) and we might feel a bit achy the next day – we are creating strength.

Bones need the muscles to support them. The joints where the bones meet need the muscles. And certainly for those with repetitive strain injury, carpal tunnel syndrome as well as pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers with higher levels of relaxin we need to make sure our muscle strength support our joints, to avoid injury, inflammation and pain. Repetitive strain injury is exactly that: repetitive.

We are all different and our bones are all shaped differently. But for most of us an awareness of the alignment of our wrists, hands, the two bones in the forearm (Ulna and Radius) and elbows could prevent a lot strain and discomfort in the long run (even if you feel the muscles working hard during the practise).

Look at your hands. If your hands are “floppy’ and placed without much awareness you are likely to add most of your weight right onto your wrists (top left and bottom right on the photo). Instead spread out your foundation: stretch the fingers out and press through the pads of the fingertips and the knuckles. This will take weight out of the wrists.

Look at your wrists. The bone running thumb-side of your forearm is radius and little-finger-side is the ulna. We can keep them pretty aligned if our wrist creases are parallel to the front of the mat. This too could ease any strain in the wrists. That’s a general alignment for most of us although we are obviously all shaped differently.

Look at your inner elbows. Some of us enjoy the stretching and hyper extension of the elbows (photo: top right). But any hyperextension could cause long term joint pain and even damage to the joint and ligaments. Especially when your add your full bodyweight. Instead of having the inner elbows facing forward micro-bend them so they face slightly towards each other and get your muscles to support them. This way your ulna and radius will also be supported which in turn offers a bit of relief to the wrists.

Our foundation will affect the rest of our being. Whether the foundation might be our hands, feet or seat. A good foundation and grounding is the platform for growth and when we nurture our roots we will blossom.

If you do have specific wrist/elbow or other joint issues please speak to your yoga teacher for specialist advice!

Enjoy your practise.