Backwards Arches

Backwards arches open the joints.

As well as stretching the clenching muscles, they increase the fow of blood
to joints, and prevent calcium deposits along the outer joint surfaces.
any backwards arches can be performed against a surface. !ften your thigh
can be used " but any surface will do.
Backward arch : wrist
!pening the hand should normally begin with the wrist.
#he $ngers should not be e%tended at the same time " that&s a di'erent pose.
Backward arch : index fnger : frst knuckle
#he $rst knuckle is the $rst that should be opened up.
(ere force is applied beyond the second knuckle " but stretching that in
incidental " the idea behind applying force far from the joint is to get
leverage.
Backward arch : index fnger : second knuckle
#he second knuckle is more delicate than the $rst. )o not apply so much
force " and e%ercise caution.
Backward arch : index fnger : third knuckle
#he third knuckle is the most delicate. (owever it&s not easy to get enough
leverage to apply e%cess force accidentally.
Backward arch : index fnger : all joints
#his is a compound stretch involving all the knuckle joints and the wrist. *t is
intended to stretch long muscles " rather than individual joints.
+ou have a fair bit of leverage here " and the stretched muscles are relatively
few " e%ercise some caution.
,ompound stretches dealing only with two or three consecutive joints are
worthwhile " but are not illustrated here.
-otes
#he stretches on this page all show the left inde% $nger " for illustrative
purposes. (owever they should be practiced on all the digits of each hand.
.tretching the $ngers one at a time gives ma%imum leverage. (owever,
stretching several $ngers at once saves time " and can be attractive
because of this.
/ew of your hand joints are hinges " you will $nd most of them multiple
degrees of freedom.
#his is of most relevance here because it allows back arches to be forformed
at di'erent angles.
#he most important is straight backwards " but backwards0and0to0the0left and
backwards0and0to0the0right are also possibilities " and they should be
practiced as well.
!ne of the main reasons the di'erent directions are signi$cant is that they
allow di'erent joint surfaces to be pressed together " preventing calcium
deposits arising.
/orward /olds
/orward folds close the joints.
#hey s1ueese blood out of the joint " allowing it to return when the joint is
returned to a neutral position.
As well as stretching the e%tensor muscles, these poses prevent calcium
deposits on the inner joint surfaces.
any of these poses can be done by pressing the relevant digits against a
surface. .ometimes the upper thigh can be used " but any convenient surface
will do.
Forward fold : wrist
#he wrist is the largest joint, deserves preferential treatment " and is usually
dealt with $rst.
#he $ngers should not be fe%ed at the same time " that&s a di'erent pose.
Forward fold : index fnger : frst knuckle
#he $rst knuckle " when healthy " will take a good deal of force.
Forward fold : index fnger : second knuckle
Forward fold : index fnger : third knuckle
!ne method here is to keep the pro%imal and distal phalanges parallel, and
slide them parallel to one another to stretch the third joint.
Forward fold : all joints
#his is a compound stretch involving all the knuckle joints and the wrist. *t is
intended to stretch long muscles " rather than individual joints.
+ou have a fair bit of leverage here " and the stretched muscles are relatively
few " e%ercise some caution.
#his should normally be performed last. *f time is tight you can skip ahead to
it " but then take it more gently.
-otes
.tretching the $ngers one at a time gives ma%imum leverage. (owever,
stretching several $ngers at once saves time " and can be attractive
because of this.
.plits
.plits poses move adjacent digits in opposite directions.
2hile there are muscles a'ecting this action, a substantial proportion of the
e'ect involves stretching the associated connective tissues.
,onnective tissues " such as ligaments " do not stretch easily " and are
di3cult to stretch correctly. 4o very gently. +ou have signi$cant leverage
here, and connective tissue does not take vigorous stretching at all kindly.
)o not be discouraged by apparent lack of progress. *t is better to go too
slowly than too rapidly here.
.plits are often done against a surface " fre1uently the upper surface of the
thigh.
Front splits, trailing fnger forwards
Front splits, leading fnger forwards
Side splits
-otes
#he poses on this page can all be repeated for each pair of consecutive
$ngers.
,ombinations of $nger splits are possible " with $ngers alternating
forwards and backwards. (owever there are too many combinations to
enumerate here.
5ike many other digit poses, $nger splits can usefully be performed at
di'erent angles " as well as forwards and sideways as illustrated here.
6nots
any of the best yoga poses are passive poses.
7oses that can be maintained passively often take the form of knots.
A knot hools parts of the body together in such a way that they can
remain in a $%ud position without additional e'ort being applied to
sustain the pose.
8ela%ation in poses is important " since it facilitates refection and
meditation.
6nots illustrate the technological aspect of yoga.
-ot all the poses on this page are perfectly passive, but they seem to
belong here anyway.
Yin-Yang pose

2ork your hands towards each other to the point where you can touch
your thumbs and little $ngers together.
#his pose is asymmetrical " perform it on both sides.
Nanu-nanu pose

#his pose is asymmetrical " perform it on both sides.

Bitches brew

#his pose was made famous by the ati 6larwein illustration to the
iles )avis album Bitches Brew.
*t is asymmetrical " perform it on both sides.

nterlace

#his pose is asymmetrical " perform it on both sides

!e"erse interlace

#his pose is asymmetrical " perform it on both sides.

.ideways .tretches
#hese are less important than backward arches and forwards folds " but
can still be useful.
#rist : sidewa$s stretch : abduct

!ne of the better0known meditative mudras.

#rist : sidewa$s stretch : adduct

%ll joints : sidewa$s stretch : abduct

#rist : sidewa$s stretch : adduct

#humb
Forward fold : thu&b side of wrist
A simple forward fold of the thumb side of the wrist.
Forward fold : thu&b, frst knuckle
A simple forward fold of the $rst knuckle of the thumb.
Backward arch : thu&b
A back arch which goes almost as much sideways as backwards.
#ry to keep your whole hand in the same plane.
Backward arch : wrist and thu&b
A composite back arch " covering the wrist and all the thumb knuckles.
!ne (anded
!ne0handed poses are very convenient to do " and can conse1uently
be practiced more fre1uently..
ndex fnger : forward fold

'iddle fnger : forward fold

!ing fnger : forward fold

(ittle fnger : forward fold

'iddle fnger : sidewa$s stretch : abduct

ndex fnger : sidewa$s stretch : adduct

)hu&b : second knuckle : forward fold

udras
udra is the traditional term for yoga poses involving the hands.
udras have a range of traditional uses " from meditation aids to
symbolic gestures9 from healing poses to dance moves9 from
invocations to prayers.
(owever relatively few of them correspond closely to the asanas of
hatha yoga.
uch of the literature associated with healing and therapy using
mudras deals with e'ects of mudras on distant parts of the body " in a
manner rather reminiscent of refe%ology. *t seems unlikely that much of
this material is very well founded.
2hile the yoga asanas map fairly closely to e'ective stretching and
strengthing e%ercises, mudras covered by the e%isting literature do not
appear to cover this ground very e'ectively.
*nana &udra
!ne of the better0known meditative mudras
Surabhi &udra

+ales"ara &udra

+ales"ara &udra ,in"erted-

ove your middle $ngers downwards " and try to keep their tips
together.
iscellaenous
#he poses on this page didn&t $t neatly into the other categories.
Backwards arch : all fngers

A simple convenient back arch.

+our $rst knuckles are not all in a straight line. #his means you will
probably need to rock backwards and forwards to stretch all $ngers to
their ma%imum.
+ou&re doing something like a thumb0inde% $nger split at the same time.
Forward fold : all fngers

#he position of the thumbs in this pose is not critical. * moved them out
of the way for the sake of more clearly showing the other $ngers.
ndex fnger : backwards and forwards

!ne of the more rewarding combinations of backwards and forwards

stretches. #his is mainly doen as a back bend at the $rst knuckle " with
a slightly unusual stratgey for applying force.
.ragon/s teeth

7ress your palms $rmly together.

ove the third joints of your $ngers away.
#ray to make your middle $nger bones parallel to one another.