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Yoga Therapy for the Hands, Wrists and Forearms

Beginner I
(69 Reviews)
PREMIUM

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We use our hands for almost everything we do throughout the day, from checking email to chopping vegetables for dinner. On top of this, if your work requires you to use your hands in repetitive motions, then the muscles and joints of the hands, wrists and forearms are particularly at risk for inflammation.

Practicing this therapeutic sequence of exercises increases strength and flexibility in the small muscles of the hands and fingers, where over 25% of our body’s bones are located, helping reduce inflammation, removing built-up stress and increasing range of motion.

Equipment

  • None

Focus

  • Legs and Feet
  • Arms/Hands

Style

  • Hatha Yoga
  • Yoga Therapy
MANOS DILANS
September 10, 2016
Comment:

great session Erica
I find it helpful before my training in handstand pushups
I appreciate it
Manos

Comment Replies

Erica Fritch
September 13, 2016
Comment:

That's great to hear, Manos. It's easy to forget or overlook, or not even know, that you need to do some therapeutic work when you are working so specifically on new strengths. Keep at it for the handstand work, and you will likely be able to progress quicker and be less likely to injure yourself! This is a perfect compliment for balancing on your hands.

improviselife
March 25, 2016
Comment:

The whole sequence left my arms and hands feeling refreshed and invigorated. I'm a massage therapist and have just found my new regular practice to help keep things functioning well! Thanks very much!

Comment Replies

Erica Fritch
March 29, 2016
Comment:

Great to hear that you are taking care of yourself this way. It seems especially easy to neglect your body when you do something as physically demanding as massage therapy, but that's really when you need to be most diligent! I'm glad it's helping. Keep it up!
Erica

jakebuck
March 24, 2016
Comment:

Hi Erica. I'm 21 years old and I think I am well too young to have the amount of tightness in my hands that I do. I worked construction the past two summers when I wasn't in school and that's where I think this tightness has come from. Even though I'm not doing construction right now (just school) my hands are still insanely tight and seem to be getting worse. I can seriously feel a ball of tight muscles in the webbing between my index finger and thumb. I also have a lot of tightness in that muscle on the outside of the hand below the pinky. My forearms and wrist also have really tight muscles. The tightness never goes away; it's constantly there every hour, day and night. I'm concerned for myself and feel like the posture of my hands is getting poorer. I stretch them at a very minimum of 10 minutes each morning, because I would not be able to get through a day without the stretching. But that still seems to only go so far and will only last me for about an hour before I feel the same tightness i felt before I stretched.

Just this week I started doing yoga for my hands and have found an amazing amount of relief of tension in my fingers and arms as I watch your video and others. Do you have any idea what my hand problem might be? Seriously, I'm 21. I don't think I should be having to go to this great of lengths just to have my hands feel normal for an hour out of the day. Any suggestions or thoughts? Would love to hear from you. This video has been great for me so far. Thank you so much.

Comment Replies

Erica Fritch
March 29, 2016
Comment:

Hi jakebuck,
It does sound like you have more going on than most people, and are right to think about the future. I'm glad you are getting some relief from stretching.
I suggest going to your doctor, if you have not already. I know sometimes the tendons can get really short and tight in hands and not allow for full range of motion or for the muscles to ever relax fully, A massage therapist could, hopefully, bring some relief. The balls of tension sound like trigger points. Those need to be completely dissolved and worked out for the muscles to actually relax and lengthen. Using a therapy ball is really useful for that.

Energetically, the hands are part of the heart chakra and have to do with how we give and receive love and the world in general. (I hope that does not sound too hokey!) There can also be energetic holding from all sorts of different life experiences. This often contributes to things that seem more extreme than expected or unexplained. I use BodyTalk for my energetic and councelling issues. You can Google and find someone, hopefully in your area, though they usually do distance sessions.

You might also want to notice, next time you are using your construction tools, how you hold them. Make sure you are using as little muscular force as possible to get the job done. Hopefully you don't have to do construction again this year or in the future, but it can be useful information and biofeed back about how you use your body and can prevent patterns from repeating in the future.

Ihope that helps! I hope you keep up your stretching and strengthening while you find a more permanent answer.
Erica

mardiz
March 2, 2016
Comment:

I have been trying to alleviate DeQuervains syndrome for months now. I have been doing bits and pieces of what you pull together for me in this video. Hopefully it will not aggravate it an make it worse while it builds some strength and more flexibility. I am going to try and do this on a daily basis for awhile and see if it helps

Comment Replies

Erica Fritch
March 7, 2016
Comment:

Mardiz, you are wise to start slow and do only parts of the series with your condition. Keep it up, and i have no doubt that you will build your strength and mobility in equal measure.
Good luck with your healing!

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