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Wrist pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and wrist cysts are some of the most common injuries affecting
yogis and humans in general. The wrists are a complex joint full of bone, ligaments, connective tissue,
muscles and nerves. They werent specifically designed to take the entire weight of our bodies for
extended periods of time. However, if properly trained, they will adapt enough to pull off some pretty
impressive hand balances. But, they have to be trained.
Performing a free-standing handstand looks awesome, but it puts a lot of strain on the wrist. Your
wrist will be at a 90 degree angle to your arm, and if you felt the pain when testing out your wrist
mobility by placing your palm flat on a wall as shown above, holding your full bodyweight on your
wrists will hurt even more!
If you cant extend your wrist to at least 90 degrees on its own, then a handstand will cause you a lot
of injury. Before you start, work on the primary wrist motions, build strength in these areas to build
yourself up to the handstand.
Being able to perform a free-standing handstand takes time, patience, a lot of discipline and of course
strong wrist mobility and stability. This is one of the harder exercises to master but when you have
youll feel like you can do anything! Not to mention it looks super cool.
Lack of wrist flexibility may hinder your progression. You need to train the wrist and the fingers
flexibility.
These exercises should be done before and after any hand balancing or Animal Flow practice, or
regular resistance training. They can also be useful to provide some relief between sets in the middle
of your practice. I even recommend it if youre spending extended periods of time typing on a
computer. Even just dedicating five minutes as part of your warm up and another five minutes as part
of your cool down can make a world of difference. Remember, the goal is to train to last, and youll be
missing out on serious training time if youre taking time off for injuries. If you can, I recommend
getting into the habit of doing them throughout the day!
2. Wrist supination/pronation
Stand or sit with your arm at your side with the elbow bent to 90 degrees, palm
facing down.
Rotate your forearm, so that your palm faces up and then down.
4. Thumb flexion/extension
Begin with your thumb positioned outward.
Move the thumb across the palm and back to the starting position.
6. Wrist Rotations/Rolls
Simply intertwine your fingers and rotate your wrists around in every
direction possible.Repeat as often as you feel comfortable with throughout
the day. This exercise will help to increase your natural wrist movement
range.
09. Prayers
While standing, place your hands in front of you as though you are
praying. While keeping contact between your two hands, lower them
as far down as you can the longer you can keep your hands
together the better youll be stretching your wrists. Once you get
down as far as you can go, reverse your hands so your fingers are
pointing downs, and complete the exercise in reverse.
The easiest way to get into a cambered hand position is to place your hand flat on the floor, then curl
your fingers up into the proper position. Lean your weight into your hands slowly and get a feel for
the hand position, and how it differs from the flat-handed position you were likely using beforehand.