 | We had tons of fun last weekend at The Yoga Shop breaking down assessing our own individual handstands! Thank you for the big group that came out! Here's another tip from the workshop in case you missed it. Let's talk about the wrists. |
Assess Your Wrists for Handstands
The joints right above your foundation (your hands) in a handstand are your wrists. If you take a look at handstand (above), you'll see that the wrist need to extend 90° to get the rest of the body in good alignment. This picture is not the best alignment ever (I was under a lot of pressure!), but you'll see that the wrist are at about a 90° bend. So take a look in the mirror or get a pic snapped of your wrist extension while not in a handstand to see your normal wrist range of motion.
Also, go into tabletop and rock forward while trying to keep the heels of your hands on the mat. If you feel that darn pinch on the top of your wrist creases before getting to a 90° bend, you may need to work on your wrist mobility. Lacking this mobility can put a lot of pressure on your carpals (wrist bones) and cause an overuse injury - that darn pinch at your wrist crease!
Prepare Your Wrists for Handstands
If you find that you need to work on your wrist mobility, here are a couple of go-to preps that I like. 1) The seated wrist extension. Reach out palm up and keep that elbow straight. Take your opposite hand and pull your fingers back toward yourself with a slight turn of the fingers toward the midline. Hold for 5 breaths.
2) A little pose I created and called the Reverse Gorilla Lunge. It's kinda like Padahastasana (Gorilla Pose), but the hand is flipped over, and it's a lunge... Start from tabletop and spin the fingers of one hand to face yourself. Step the same side foot onto the hand with the toes all the way to your wrist crease. Then rock back using your foot to keep the heel of your hand on the mat while you pull your forearm back. Intensify it by bending your elbow toward your shin. You'll feel this one!
Stay tuned for more as we explore the rest of the body in handstand. Happy handstanding!
Namasté
Namasté
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