Wrist Pain

[Guest guest]

www.yogaprops.net<br>yogaprops sell (foam) wedges (app $13per pair) to

distribute weight differently in the hand to relieve wrist pain. I've also seen

wooden wedges at studios.<br>(888)856-yoga

[Guest guest]

I'm not sure if YOGA MALA features a pic of CD,

but the "doll" seen at the homepage of this club

appears to be a perfect illustration of correct position

in updog -- that is, the weight of the upper body is

distributed directly downward to the entire surface of the

palms.<br><br>While it would be nice to achieve the full backbend

portrayed by the illustration, this isn't at all necessary.

Correct hand and shoulder placement is what's important

here, not how radical a backbend you can force yourself

into (took me a long time to figure that out). Also,

hyperextensions in updog can be brutal to the elbows, as we try

to "get back" to the max by torquing the elbow

joints instead of merely doing a mild counterpose. A

mild updog is all that's needed IMO.<br><br>As far as

lowering into CD, I try to take this in stages by first

establishing the "plank" pushup position correctly, then

lowing down to CD with my hands about midway between my

shoulders and waist. The chest never collapses, which means

that you don't lower yourself all the way down at the

sacrifice of your chest expansion. <br><br>Again, it's much

harder to push upward from the correct positiong with

the hands than up by the shoulders, so don't be

surprised if you struggle a bit with all this! I have

pretty good upper body strength and it's not easy for

me.<br><br>Ideally, you'll know your hands are in the correct

position because you'll be able to go from updog to

downdog, rolling over the toes, without shifting your feet

at all and still be in correct form for both asanas.

[Guest guest]

You may need to consult with a teacher to see if

there may be some adjustments you should make in your

technique. It could also be that Ashtanga is not the most

appropriate type of yoga for you to be practicing at this

time.<br><br>Someone just told me about an interesting asana variation

which was prescribed to a guy recovering from a broken

wrist. This is a variation on "cat/cow" but just paying

attention to the wrists rather than the hips. Basically

just get down on your hands and knees and move slowly

back and forth so that the angle of the wrist changes.

You can control the amount of weight on the hands and

do some careful, gentle exploration.<br><br>I favor

just focusing on the first movement in the sun

salutation - just raising the arms over the head. You can

literally spend hours exploring the stretches involved in

raising and lowering the arms.<br><br>It could be good to

look into some bodywork.<br><br>Some more

info/clues/suggestions may be found in posts #7833 and #7851.