It’s quite often to hear yoga practitioners complaining of wrist sprains. Many times soon after the yoga poses based on arm balancing yogis can encounter discomforts in their wrists. Poses like Plank pose, Chaturanga Dandasana, Tittibhasana, if not done with care, can flare up your wrists. Yoga is not only about twists and turns rather it is about healing your inner self with extreme peace. In the race of landing on a perfect pose, one should not forget the real aim of this ancient art. The right way to do yoga is to fetch the best benefit out of it in a righteous way.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR WRISTS:
Our wrists can do many big tasks but actually they are one of the most tender body parts that demand extreme care. Wrist, being the complex joint system has several ligaments present in it. Wrist connects the forearm with the hand. Having enough of carpal bones, muscles and tendons wrist is versatile when it comes to activities. Our wrists are like a hinge articulating the forearms. Excess pressure or over-enthusiasm can easily make our wrists prone to injuries. Continued wrist sprains, sprain or other ligament tears can cause severe disabilities.
Thus, while performing any activity whether it is daily work, professional stuff or even yoga, do not forget to listen to your wrists!
HOW CAN YOGA AFFECT YOUR WRISTS?
Wrists are the most sensitive parts of your body. Unfortunately, wrist sprains can be more often than you had thought. Vigorous yoga poses if not done carefully, cause unwanted pain in your wrists. Yoga styles like Ashtanga or Vinyasa put extra efforts into our fragile wrists thereby we must not force our wrists to line up the pose. This is especially the case of high-frequency planks and push-ups where the wrist of a practitioner is over-burdened by yoga eventually resulting in injuries.
The only key to avoid this is to treat your wrists wisely and patiently. Any haste or excessive workload can exhaust these tender friends. Not only yoga but also the daily work if not performed correctly can become a cause of oppressed wrist muscles causing severe pain and discomfort.
Many Yoga poses like plank position, crow pose, headstand extends our wrist which puts an extra effort on them. Proper alignment of the wrist along with good flexibility to cope up with the complex yoga poses will obviously need some time. It is advisable to give some space to your wrists to ensure their better alignment while doing yoga.
In simpler words, if you are treating your wrists as your legs where you put all the body weight on them while in yoga, you must give your wrist enough time to adjust to this new challenge.
THERE ARE SOME TIPS YOU CAN EASILY AVOID WRIST INJURY:
WARMING UP:
It’s easy enough to warm yourself before going to any sort of exercise. The same applies to the wrists. Warming up lubricates the joints and also makes the adjoining muscles flexible.
People often miss this valuable advice though it’s quite logical. Warming up stimulates a good blood flow among the soft tissues preparing them for physical stress.
Moreover, a good warm-up before starting the yoga routine opens up your body to take the poses easily. So do not forget to give your wrists a little warm-up before putting them on work!
DO NOT PILE UP:
It is advisable not to pile up the weight unevenly to avoid stressing the soft tissues making our wrists.
Before landing to any yoga posed based on your wrists, keep in mind to take a deep breath and distribute your weight wisely. The uneven weight distribution can imbalance your wrists causing injuries. Do not pressure the heel of your palms too much.
Distribute the weight on palms’ fingers equally. Keep your palms open while placing them on the mat. Make sure that your fingers are touching the floor.
Give time to your wrist and learn weight distribution before following up on a complex pose.
STRENGTHEN YOUR WRIST MUSCLES:
When your wrists are strong they can be intensely flexible. There are many yoga poses that can be considered to strengthen and lengthen your wrists.
Crow Pose, Side plank, simple plank pose are some of the useful poses that can do great in strengthening your wrists.
Balanced wrist joints muscles not only make you flexible but also avoid injuries.
So from now when planning to assemble a wrist-dependent yoga routine, first make sure to boost your wrists with enough strength.
DO NOT HASTE:
I had been repeating, my friends do not haste. If you are a beginner and want to add yoga in your daily life you have to be patient.
Once you have decided to learn yoga, make sure to cultivate the patience to learn this healthy art. Yoga is not a one day game, it is a whole science comprised of several styles, forms, and asanas.
To cope up with the extremity of virtuous asanas, prepare yourself.
First, learn to balance your weight, practice with easy wrist asanas under the proper guidance of some yoga teacher.
Once you are done with enough practice and your wrists are open enough, you can happily weigh your body on your wrists!
BUILD YOUR CORE:
Weak core can cause unknowing leaning of body weight over wrists. Poor core strength causes an imbalance in the body posture thereby extending the wrists unnecessarily.
The core is the base of balancing our bodies on our palms. Good core strength ensures coordinated muscle groups to achieve the complex wrist-based yoga asanas.
If you want to meet your yogic goal starts with strengthening your core!
STRENGTHEN YOUR CHEST:
A weak chest can cause unhealthy pressure onto the wrists. Poor Chest strength makes your joints lean while performing yoga poses.
Before jumping on to a complex yoga pose, remember to fill your chest with enough strength.
Try variations with some chest strengthening exercises to avoid unhealthy pressure on the body. Poses as dynamic Dolphin can work well!
BUILD YOUR SHOULDER STRENGTH:
Like your wrist-based poses depend on chest strength similarly the shoulder strength also matters!
To curb the unwanted pressure on your wrists starts from strengthening your shoulders too.
Strong shoulders aid the formation of several yoga asanas. Poses like Matsyasana and Gomukhasana can enhance your shoulder strength shortly.
Further, a few sets of the outer and inner spiral can also help you in building your shoulder strength.
PROPER GUIDANCE:
Especially if you are a beginner, always practice yoga under proper guidance.
It is always advisable not to experiment with your body, this can give you extreme pains and injuries. Listen to your body, mid the instructions and then try the pose.
You can simply join yoga teacher training in India to learn the variations and correct techniques to form up a pose.
FOR THE NEW YOGA STUDENTS:
The pain might also be soreness that goes with developed practice. But make sure that you do not transform this pain into a chronic sprain.
Simply follow the above basic tips to say goodbye to the wrist syndromes.
About the Guest Author:
Dhruv Sharma is an efficient yoga teacher well known when it comes to 200 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh. He has earned the certificate of 500, 300 and 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Course in India. He is a compassionate yoga teacher imparting his learning with great patience to the beginners. He is determined enough and has explored Yoga until its roots. He is always ready for the best advice on Yoga.
