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There are many reasons for wrists to hurt, but a few of the fastest fixes are relatively easy! Yoga is about alignment and a big cause of wrist pain is not having the hand position in alignment! Having the proper thickness of a mat is the first area to address. If your mat is too thick, it will cause your wrists to wobble thereby causing injury. Too thin and there is not enough padding to protect. The professional thickness to work with is ¼ inch. There is a big difference between 1/8,1/4 and ½. No point in wasting time on a mat that isn’t going to work for you.! Next-To get into alignment in any pose, you first have to identify what the base (foundation) of the pose is and start from there. In downward facing dog, the base of the pose would be the hands and the feet, because those are the body parts that are grounded to the floor. The pose (asana) is then built from there.

In these before and after pictures, Cathie and Liane are demonstrating hand placement that is out of alignment and then in alignment. Let me point out the key focus areas to keep the pressure off the wrists. First, the hands should be shoulder width apart-not wider than and not narrower than the shoulders. In the first photo, Cathie’s hands are too close and Liane’s hands are too far apart. This puts a tremendous pressure on the shoulders and wrists, both ways. Also, notice the alignment of the hand. The fingers are turned in toward each other and if you look closely, this causes the fold of skin, which everyone has, between the forearm and hand to be deeper toward the inside edge of the wrist. This means al the pressure is to the inside, which in turn, causes the pain.

In the second photo, both women have first placed the hands directly in line with the shoulders. Now, for one of the most important things to know about this---The first finger is aligned straight forward , the thumbs extending toward each other, and the rest of the fingers spread out toward the direction of the pinkies. The weight of the body is balanced over the entire hand, and notice the fold of skin is now evenly dispersed—meaning –no points of pain!! Note- do not mistake “first finger” for your second , longer finger as many do!

This is the first and foremost action to check while in any pose involving your hands on your ¼ “ mat . Alignment first, then comes the pose. There are other hand placements, depending on the pose, but this one covers many, including handstand, neutral, crow, down dog etc. Down dog also requires the weight of the body not to hover over the hands, but to be directed toward the back (of the room) as the chest is drawn toward the thighs. This is an entirely separate blog subject along with other specific injuries.

One more tip- even if you do not feel pain now, you want to check your alignment so you do not go through years of practice with undue pressure on your wrists. Eventually it will catch up with you!

Now that you have this handy info—check your hand placement next time! Adjust it as necessary and feel the freedom from pain, allowing you to enjoy your pose instead of gritting your teeth through it!

Namaste! Laurie

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The answer is -YES! The first and foremost goal is to find ways to practice yoga without pain. You may feel discomfort with yoga, but you should never feel pain. The old saying, ”no pain, no gain” went out the window at the beginning of yoga 5000 years ago. There would be no reason to think now would be the time to change such history!

Let’s say you have bad knees-There are many ways to accommodate a knee situation. Criss crossing 2 mats is a good way to start. Lay the first mat down side to side. Take the second mat front to back over the top of the first mat, forming a cross. You want the working mat to be on top so your toes don’t trip over the edge when stepping through poses.(See photos with Heidi and Tina demonstrating) Now you can stand at the front of the mat for sequencing, step to the back of the mat for say, down dog with hands at the front. Or have one foot at the back, one at the front for standing poses. Now that your feet and hands are stable at the front and back, you can kneel on the double part of the mat—cushioning for the knees while keeping grounded with the feet and hands!! Easy to do and a relief for those who have a hard time kneeling.

Use of props, modifying and adjusting poses are also ways to help out those knees. Depending on your knee issues, some poses may not be for you. If you encounter pain in a pose, back off of the pose, assess your alignment and use of props, modify as necessary (this is where your trained yoga professional can help pinpoint) then gently approach the pose again. Never push – go only as far as your body or knees want you to…and then breathe into the pose. Again, if a pose is painful, adjustments need to be made, which can include doing a different pose. Yoga is not a competition, so don’t worry if you think you are not going as far into a pose as someone next to you. Honor your own body and you will then receive the benefits of the pose. There are no benefits with pain!!

Just because one body part is not 100%, does not mean you should chuck the whole idea out-Yoga is for the entire body, with special attention to accommodate parts that may be in less than perfect condition.

Until the next time…Namaste!--Laurie

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Ow! My Wrists Hurt in Down Dog!--Why?

I Have Bad Knees...Can I Still Do Yoga?