Ways to Prevent Wrist Pain with Common Yoga Poses

Wrist joints are weak and conditions like soreness and swelling are common after working with our hands all day long. Taking minor symptoms lightly all the time may result in severe wrist disorders though. But thankfully, there are common yoga poses that help prevent wrist pain, mild and severe, when recurrently practiced. 

Most of us have similar daily routines wherein we need to repeat one or two body movements back and back again every day. For instance, those who have sitting jobs develop a habit of holding their body in the same position throughout the day. But maintaining your sitting posture at work for long and on daily basis often causes Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI). 

Since the hands are the most frequently used body part at home and in the office, they are prone to various RSI injuries. Occurring after repetitive and prolonged use of the hands, these disorders can be anything from soreness, swelling and general weakness to loss of dexterity. There are a number of variations of these repetitive strain syndromes, and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) of the wrists is the most common of them. One acquires CTS because of repetitive strain of the hands and keeping the wrists in a position for a long time.

Here are ways to prevent wrist pain with common yoga poses:

1. Prayer Pose

Place your palms together gently in front of the chest, and bring your hands together as if praying. Keep elbows below your wrists and let the thumbs rest against the chest. Your fingers will be pointing upward. Now, soften your elbows down and lift the sternum toward you thumbs. 

Apply some more pressure to the palms so you feel the weight and warmth. You’ll notice that you can clearly feel muscles, tissues and bones every time you increase the pressure. Press a little harder as you position your elbows at 90 degrees to the wrist joints. Practice this ritual daily for wrist flexibility and relieving discomfort. 

2. Tadasana Pose

Stand with your body in natural alignment, thumbs and biceps facing forward and palms toward the thighs. Let the top of your shoulders press back while the shoulder blades travel down your back. 

Now, soften the front ribs as you lift your sternum and heart area. The exact posture is in which you stand with an arched back and slouched shoulders. 

3. Flexion and Extension

Sit down and interweave your fingers with palms facing down as if resting on a counter. Bring your elbows in line with each other by moving them to the side. Then pull them apart from each other to create space in the joint. Make ‘L’ shape by gently raising your right arm and lowering the left one, as you maintain the pull. Your right arm should be gripping the left hand’s fingers when you pull the left wrist into the backbend. Repeat it on the other side also.

What If Wrists Hurt and You Can’t Practice Yoga?

Yoga is effective in keeping your body toned because you need to hold your body weight up. But, you can’t perform a number of asanas when your wrists hurt, especially in which you need to hold body weight on your wrists only. 

Consider practicing the following poses to lessen your wrist pain while you do yoga:

‘Down Dog’ Pose

Don’t place your palms flat on the surface, but make fists with the hands as you begin to come into that down dog position. Placing your forearms on the floor in the beginning is also helpful since it takes pressure off your wrists and joints. 

Wheel Pose

Keep your head’s top resting on the surface and since you have wrist pain, you can do your backend by holding your partner’s ankles. Now place your palms on the front of your partner’s ankles, your fingers pointing down. You press away and not down as you lift up into the backend. This way, you exert negligible pressure on your aching wrists. 

 ‘Crow’ Pose

The best to treat your aching wrists is to strengthen your muscles of forearms and hands. When you try crow pose, you can spread your fingers wide as if gripping the surface. This way you alleviate any direct pressure on your wrists. You should try to rest your knees on the triceps and not off your arms. You’ll feel lighter if you can squeeze your knees together.