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Your wrists need care. Yes, you heard that right. Whether you're a professional athlete or a keyboard warrior clacking away those keys day and night, you need to have grip strength and be able to absorb falls and have strong arms. Keeping your wrists healthy can be useful as you age, helping you prevent chronic pain as well as limiting loss of range of motion.
Some simple yoga poses and exercises can help you relieve the tension in your wrist muscles, and keep them healthy and supple. Let's take a look at some such exercises below.
Best Yoga Exercises for Achy Wrists
If you experience pain in your wrists, this may be your signal to start taking good care of them. Given below are five simple yoga poses you can do to ease those achy wrists:
1) Reclining Seated Mountain
To open a joint the right way, you need to stretch the muscles and joints around it at the same time. This pose can help you do that for your wrists.
To do this yoga pose:
- Start by sitting up straight on the floor. Back up, and put your hands on the floor.
- Change the way the fingers are pointing based on where you feel the best stretch. No matter what you choose, make sure your hands are the same size and shape.
- Lean back on your hands. Your palms should be flat, and fingers should be spread out evenly.
- As you breathe in, stretch your back, and push the floor away. Let out your breath, and open your chest and heart while pulling your shoulder blades together behind you.
- Focus and breathe for one minute while you do this move.
2) Inverted Table
This move is a step up from the reclining seated mountain. You will keep stretching the whole shoulder area as well as the forearms and wrists. As you get stronger, add the arm strength when you lift up. That will make it a well-rounded yoga move.
To do this yoga pose:
- Sit down, and put your hands behind you on the floor with your fingers spread out and palms flat.
- Make sure you point your fingers in the best direction for you to get the best stretch. Keep your feet flat and knees bent. Spread your weight out between your feet and hands evenly.
- Take a deep breath in, and lift your hips off the floor. Try to get them as high as your knees. Exhale, and bring your back down.
- When you're in the lift, push evenly into your hands, pushing the floor away, and gently squeeze your shoulder blades together. Wait a moment before you drop.
- Do that for one to three minutes, depending on how good you are.
3) Adho Mukha Svanasana
The great thing about this pose is that it stretches the wrist joint in a less direct, more angled way while also strengthening all the shoulder and arm muscles.
To do this yoga pose:
- Place your hands shoulder-width apart, palms down and fingers evenly spread.
- Your feet should be about the width of your hips apart. For the sake of your wrists, bend your knees when you do this pose.
- Take a deep breath in, and push the floor away. Let out a gentle breath out, and lower your head toward the mat.
- Take a few deep breaths, and stay in this pose for 30 seconds to a minute.
4) Wrist Turn
This pose is the best stretch for the wrists, and you should do it every day if you have tightness and pain in thr wrist joint. You should do this move slowly and carefully at first, and don't do it too quickly.
To do this yoga pose:
- Get on your hands and knees to start. Make sure the joint in your wrist is right under the joint in your shoulder.
- Stretch each wrist alone. Turn your right wrist to the right, moving it a little more each time, till one day your fingers are pointing toward your body.
- Take a deep breath in, push away from the floor, stretch your neck away from your shoulders. Hold for 30 seconds. Come out of it slowly, and change sides.
- You should do this move twice on each side.
5) Reverse Wrist Opener
All of the moves before this one focus on flexing the wrist joint to stretch it. This move is different, as you will feel a great extension stretch.
It might feel weird at first, as it's not a stretch you do or feel often. Take it slow, and before you know it, the small muscles in the wrist joint will start to relax, giving the wrists more freedom and flexibility.
To do this yoga pose:
- Get on your hands and knees to start. Bring your left palm up wrist under your left shoulder. Spread out your fingers.
- Place your right hand on top of your left wrist, and press down gently on your left hand with your right hand.
- Lean into the stretch till you can't go any further; hold it, and breathe for 30-60 seconds.
- Lean away from the stretch, and slowly let go of your left wrist to get out of it.
- Do the same thing with your right hand.
Takeaway
The aforementioned yoga exercises for the wrists can help you strengthen and stretch them, relieving any tension they may have accumulated.
