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| I have been working on my handstand a lot lately and could use some input. I kick up fine and feel pretty good up against the wall but unfortunately I've notice that my palm starts hurting and forcing me to come down early. There are times when it doesn't bother me but I can't pinpoint what I'm doing differently. Also I am trying to bring my feet away from the wall a bit and I am yet to be able to balance. Any input? I would really like to make some improvement in this pose.
finally, are there any other poses that you think my help my improve my hand stand if I practice them regularly or alonw with my hand stand? |
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: canada | what i do is try to dig into the mat/ground with my fingertips to take the pressure off the palms. you'll get better balance this way. also spread the fingers and try not to look too forward. doing this will "banana" the spine and you won't balance. i actually look about a few inches behind me to help to keep a straight spine.
when i try to get the feet away from the wall i do it one at a time; get the first foot off for a few breaths, focusing on straight body lines then take the second foot off and try to point the toes to the ceiling. i've managed to balance for 5-10 breaths. |
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| wow, that's better than I have done. I think I will give it a try. It would help if I could stay up for more than two minutes. I am trying really hard to build up my strength so I can work up to five (thats my current goal). I do hand stand almost everyday but strangely I don't feel as though I am getting any better. Well, I'll just keep trying. I try it your way today. Thanks for the input. No one seems to have anything to say on handstand on either this or the general board. Does that mean that noone can do it yet?
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 475
Location: canada | there's an ashtanga board with a sticky thread on handstands:
http://p196.ezboard.com/byoga84291 |
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Location: London, England | Hi Annette,
Burning in the palms would tend to suggest that something is not quite right-the nerves that supply the hand come from the brachial plexus in the neck-so strange nerve messages can be the result of excessive tension in the neck, or excessive curvature of the neck-and people often curve the neck too much to look at the floor. The other obvious place is the bend that is on the wrist-and the bend generally gets greater if the neck and shoulders are tight. As an astanga practicioner, I never use the wall, but instead lift up-this means that I strengthen the muscles that pull me into handstand and keep me there by pulling myself up there. I think that to a certain extent, when people use the wall, they kick up, and these muscles are not the ones that are going to keep them up there. Also, by having a wall behind you, you have to overshoot to get the feet to the wall-more bend on the neck and wrists as you go beyond the target position.
I used to teach Iyengar yoga and could kick into a handstand in the middle of the room, which I had been given the impression by my teachers was the most advanced way of doing the posture-so I was a bit peeved when I learnt the astanga way, seeing as I had to unravel and re-learn the posture, which took two-three years. Now you have learnt to kick up, it's going to take ages to undo all the bad habits. In astanga yoga, there are now many teachers who pretend that kicking up is the way to go, this will eventually lead to the form being diluted, in a bad way, not like with vodka and orange 
Take care
Nick
p.s. up to 45 breaths and counting! |
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Veteran
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| Nick, thanks a lot for all those very useful and precise anatomic details that you often post and that help a lot !!
Although I am not at all an expert (I am doing Iyengar yoga the last 4 years only), I need to say that handstand even against the wall and geting in the posture the way the Iyengars do, has tremendous benefits on me. I think that it is this specific posture that has almost totally cured my past severe back neck problem, because a) I feel those hurting back neck muscles getting very nicely stretched by the natural wight of the head, when upside down and b)also because I feel that some other side-muscles, of the uper back, located lower than the neck, have become stronger and are somehow better holding the whole of the upper part of the body in the normal position. (Sorry, I don't know the names and cannot use the terminology of all those muscles).
My problematic wrists were also hurting when I had first tried this posture. Teacher had advised me to use a small prop that would make them curve a little bit less, so I just wrap a towel and place the back of my palms on it, very few cm higher than the fingers. Now my wrists are so strong and also some arthritic kind of pains I used to have every once in a while in the wrists have totally disappeared. But of coarse, each body is different and this is just my own experience. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Kristi,
Well if handstand is getting rid of your bad neck and weak wrists, then you can't ask for much more than that! As my intial training was in Iyengar yoga, which did not use bandha as part of the asana practice, I would not have been able to lift into a handstand any way-it is bandhas that give the reqired control and which act as a link between the upper and lower body-without bandha, strength in any part of the body cannot be utilized-bandha acts like the glue in plywood, making a lattice out of all the separate muscles, resulting in a body posture which is stiffer than the sum of its parts.
Here's a thought though, one which occurred to me after I had taken up astanga yoga-why is it that in Iyengar yoga, it is considered vital to lift both feet offf the flor at the same time, but then, it is ok to jump into handstands, the scorpion, and so forth. I know that I am bit like the christian in the lion's den, but hope that you iyengi's will go along with me on this one-remember, i'm not a pure astangi person, and have a love of good alignment which I hope has come through in previous posts
It is considered vital to lift the feet off the floor in both headstand and shoulderstand to avoid damaging the neck by suddenly applying load, at a speed which makes it difficult for the practicioner to keep the neck close to neutral position (the same as maintaing the lumbar lordosis). It could be said, therefore, that jumping into a handstand does not impact the neck-but the possibility is still there-when moving at these speeds, the shoulders are more likely to come forwards over the hands, the head tries to pull backwards to stay away from the wall (or through a reflexive fear mechanism-the 'frightened cat' posture), and with a resultant sharp contraction in the neck muscles. And a sharp stretch and contraction on the forearm muscles, and the wrist joint. People who have hurt their necks and wrists in handstand will be only to aware of these factors.
But how to combat the problem? I'm afraid the only answer is to use bandha to lift, and to do some wrist exercises, and not to let any yoga posture compromize any of your problem joints. This may mean tht you are out of kilter with the rest of class, but it's your body at stake. The thing is, it is good fun going up into a handstand, so my advice is to just keep going away from the wall, when you have some energy, and see how closer you are to lifting-it will improve over time, and then you can do it happily into old age, like a fine wine, improving with age
Nick |
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Veteran
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| Yes, you are so right about the danger for injury !
My husband had fallen on his head one of the first times he was trying to get in the posture. Thanks god he only ended up with very few blood on his scalp... I was schocked ! He is very stubborn and went on trying to get in the posture in the same way...which he managed to after 2, 3 more attempts that almost turned me crazy. I was courageous enough to try the same only the next day and next to our teacher... Now 4 years after, we just go on handstand against the wall any moment of the day we feel we like doing so, very calmly and easily and can stay there for quite a few minutes.
I would very much like to explore this use of bandhas. But don't want to change my style of hatha yoga practrisse yet, maybe I will do it if I stumble on a good teacher some years later.
Please don't feel like being among lions in the Iyengar part of the forum.
I presume, we all agree, that yogies of all schools, should not behave like lions...
And thanks again for your frequent and very useful threads! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| So Nick, are you saying Iyengar says you must lift both feet at once? My understanding is that it is a goal to be reached but I have never heard "essential" from my teachers. I suppose it is fair to say that we don't teach bandhas but I am beginning to think the idea is that we do use them but in a very subtle way. The Iyengar are very clear and firm about not using the abdominals in a "hard" way but what I see is that the practitioners who are most adept do appear to use bandhas.
As for handstand, the wall is my best friend!  I did get a small injury from a handstand wobble a few years ago and when I mentioned it to my doctor, who is younger than I am, I got one of these:  and then he said "I think I'd like to see that!" Now and then our senior teacher will have someone do a handstand in the room then at the wall to show us how the wall improves the pose by giving you a tactile point to lift up from. Even those who are very adept can use some instruction from our good teacher, Guru Wall from time to time  |
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Location: London, England | Hi Glenda,
No, I'm not saying that the usual instruction is to lift both feet at once-quite the oppsite-what I am saying is that the usual instruction in both headstand and shoulderstand is to lift both feet at once, and, as you say is the case in the handstand, you will usually see some kind of bandha forming when people try this. What I am saying is, how come the rules do not apply when anything more difficult is reached i.e. handstand and scorpion? My only conclusion is that as bandhas are not taught then the practicioner has not option but to jump up, whether it be bunny-hopping or swinging up with one leg at a time. I speak from personal experience! Surely jumping goes contrary to all the ruleso f yoga, which are that you move with control, and do not disguise the abiltiy to form a posture through the inability to do a movement wisely to get to that posture. In the case of jumping, you are talking about a second in which to perform a full breath, and align your body parts, which would not be a tall order if the objective was to get from A to Bas quickly as possible, but is completely alien to a yoga environment. By the way, i was completely dismayed by this, having perfected swinging up, so I understand if there is some disbelief and or outrage
Take care
Nick |
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| Well, this is great! I really needed a conversation on hand stand to take place. Nick, it is actually the heal of my palms that get a stabbing pain in them and of course after being up for a minute and a half or two then my hands and arms start to tingle.
When I was born the doctor yanked me out with forceps. And I mean yanked! Ever since I can remember I have this condition in my neck where at random moments I turn my head and i will hear this popping sound and half of my head will go numb including my tounge and my vision will tunnel or blink out completely for a moment. It is quite painful and I think I might look pretty silly too. I believe that the forceps have done some sort of nerve damage or that tight muscles somehow trigger this injury. I have noticed since I have intensified my yoga practice my neck feels as though it's on the brink of this more often. I wonder if in fact it is making my inverted poses more difficult? Any thoughts on this? I only ask because I hadn't even thought of it until I read your post. I would hope that hand stand would losen my neck up a bit but nothing seems too. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Annette,
Do not want to state the obvious, but first of all seek medical help! The eyes and tongue are supplied by two cranial nerves (cranial nerves emanate from the brainstem). I'm wondering also if the ears are involved as the symptoms happen when you turn your head (vestibular apparatus in the ear which gives us info about direction and angular velocity of head-very important for balance.). Actually some of your symptoms sound like some of the people I have met with vestibular dysfunction-this is not a diagnosis, just an observation. I dont know how things operate where you live, but I would have thought a neurologist or similiar would give expert testing for this.Make a list of all the symptoms, when they happen, and how often-you would be surprised how much valuable information people leave out, and then the doctor might forget to ask.
I would personally stop doing inversions for a bit, even downward dog pose-ideally I would come and see you to check out your postures, then you could perhaps start doing them again. Can you start e-mailing me some pictures, especially of poses that increase the neck symptoms?
When you say that you thought handstand would help-well, if you were to practice handstand with perfect posture then that would help, perhaps, assuming the problem is just neuromuscular. But getting back to the vestibular system, for people who have vestibular dysfunction, doing a handstand could well produce a blackout/nausea. in fact, what is done with these people to start off with, is to get them to sit down and simply turn the head from side to side (exactly what you do to create symptoms!!)-this will be enough to create symptoms, so if your problem is vestibular related, you can imagine a handstand is simply to much to start with. But we dont know if its that, so let's look at handstand again.
You said that you were hoping that handstand would help to loosen the neck up-in the earlier posts, I was trying to show how jumping into a handstand would have the opposite effect-a likely scenario is for the splenius and sternomastoid muscles to contract sharply. The only way around this is to use the lower trapezius and the latissimus dorsi to pull the shoulderblades inwards and downwards (retraction). This lengthens the neck, and with good head posture, should save the neck from injury (tongue pressed to roof of mouth). The trouble is, this also shortens the arms, so that ineveitably people will quickly round the shoulders as they try to jump up. This is one reason why it is essential to use bandha to lift up-using bandha locks the rib cage to the pelvis, so that the pelvis is brought forwards, which then means that the arms are no longer too short. When people jump up, this signifies that the pelvis is not locked to the rib cage, which also means that the shoulderblades lift, rather than drop down the rib cage.
The result of jumping, therefore, is that the body parts are pushed into shape by the force of the movement or the resulting handstand. Using bandha, the body parts are coaxed towards the posture. It is a bit like the difference between making a jigsaw puzzle by putting all the pieces out carefully, or just throwing them up in the air and hoping they all land in the right place!
Downward dog would have exactly the same effect-without bandha, the rib cage is not locked to the pelvis-people who claim that this is a posture where all the muscles are relaxed are not aware of the great tension that is building up in the neck and upper trapezius. but by using bandha, we are pulled towards are legs, not pushed by the trapezius-then down do becomes, headstand, becomes handstand, becomes just about every good yoga posture you can imagine.
Hope this helps! When we next speak, i would like you to have gone to see a neuro!! (or whoever your doctor feels is appropiate).Ii it is vestibular, it may be very easily treatable, and i will be able to give you advice in rehab, so that yoga helps, not hinders, your progress-very important!
Take care
Nick
Nick |
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Location: London, England | Hi Annette,
Just looking at your post again, the heel of the hand is actually the wrist-there are eight bones in here-the scaphoid, lunate, triquetral, pisiform (medical acronym-"suzy likes to pee"), and the second row of the hamate, capitate, trapezoid and trapezium (medical acronym-too digusting to repeat ).
Let's find out if you have any underling stuff going on before we look at the wrist, because i do not want to mask anything 'serious' by giving you something that helps to diguise anything more complex. Having said that, look at how many people come out a handstand and start rubbing their wrists-it is a very common problem.
Nick |
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| I actually have been to the doctor for it. When I was little the doctors thought that one of my arms wasn't going to grow properly because of whatever nerve damage the forceps did. As I said this probem has been going on for a long time. Some times I go forever without having it happen. I am possitive it has nothing to do with my ears. In college I saw a doctor for a second time. I was really into working out at the time. I was running and lifting weights and it started to happen more often. Of course my muscles in my neck and shoulders were much tighter. The doctor seemed to think it was no big deal and that it was just from muscles pushing on a nerve. It is really strange because I can move my head or neck into possition and feel the pressure at the base of the back of my skull and i know if I push it farther the popping sensation will happen again. I will bring it up to my doctor the next time I see her but I think she will have the same reaction. Like I said it's been going on forever. My mom said she officially knew of it when I was two because I could start telling her but she was sure it went on before that because I would cry out of the blue and hold my head. Maybe I should get an MRI for it... our medical bills are pretty hight right now with three kids though. I do think it is some sort of nerve damamge that is set of by muscle tightness. Do you think I should be worried?
Oh and Yoga it self doesn't make it worse. It's more that working out makes it worse. The asanas don't make it worse I actually use them to try and losen my neck. Oh hey! Wkhen I am in trikonasana and I turn to look at my extended arm my neck begins to feel that pain and I can't keep my neck turned for very long. I have noticed that the more I do that pose the longer i can hold my head. Does that make any sense? Am I making any sense. Uhg! It's frustrating because no one really gets it. not even the docs. |
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| I actually have been to the doctor for it. When I was little the doctors thought that one of my arms wasn't going to grow properly because of whatever nerve damage the forceps did. As I said this probem has been going on for a long time. Some times I go forever without having it happen. I am possitive it has nothing to do with my ears. In college I saw a doctor for a second time. I was really into working out at the time. I was running and lifting weights and it started to happen more often. Of course my muscles in my neck and shoulders were much tighter. The doctor seemed to think it was no big deal and that it was just from muscles pushing on a nerve. It is really strange because I can move my head or neck into possition and feel the pressure at the base of the back of my skull and i know if I push it farther the popping sensation will happen again. I will bring it up to my doctor the next time I see her but I think she will have the same reaction. Like I said it's been going on forever. My mom said she officially knew of it when I was two because I could start telling her but she was sure it went on before that because I would cry out of the blue and hold my head. Maybe I should get an MRI for it... our medical bills are pretty hight right now with three kids though. I do think it is some sort of nerve damamge that is set of by muscle tightness. Do you think I should be worried?
Oh and Yoga it self doesn't make it worse. It's more that working out makes it worse. The asanas don't make it worse I actually use them to try and losen my neck. Oh hey! Wkhen I am in trikonasana and I turn to look at my extended arm my neck begins to feel that pain and I can't keep my neck turned for very long. I have noticed that the more I do that pose the longer i can hold my head. Does that make any sense? Am I making any sense. Uhg! It's frustrating because no one really gets it. not even the docs. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Annette,
A post so good, you had to post it twice!
I'm glad it's not vestibular-it's just that some of the symptoms you were describing rang a bell.
Now you have given me a fuller history, I'm much less inclined to go down the vestibular route-which unfortunately puts us back to square one! (couldnt you just develop a vestibular dysfunction? )
Would you give the following exercise a little test? I would like you to hang off a bar with your feet on a chair, so that your thighs are at right angles to your body, and your calves are at right angles to your thighs. Don't just hang off the bar, but pull your head up towards the ceiling, using the muscles that pull the shoulder blades down the rib cage. Keeping the spine aligned, look straight ahead. Now try turning your head from side to side. Does this still hurt?
Nick |
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Location: London, England | Hi Annette,
When doing the above exercise, keep the tongue pressed to the roof of the mouth. Start with plenty of help from your legs, and then transfer more to your arms. Rather than just being still, you can let the shoulders lift, just a little, not a full-blown shrug (dont want to tighten those neck muscles), and then pull the shoulderblades down your back. Hopefully, what this will do will strengthen those muscles which pull the shoulders down, helping to inhibit the muscles which pull the shoulders up. i know that this does not solve your problem directly, but I'm thinking that having tight shoulders will minimize the space between your first cervical vertebra and your skull, perhaps leading to nerve impingement.
When pressing your tongue up, try to use this to create space between the first vertebra and the skull (the sub-occipetal area).
Do maybe three sets, 45 seconds between sets, maybe 10-15 reps per set, or to your limit.
The object will be to try to copy this downward movement of the scapulae when you try to hoist yourself into a handstand. If it works, you may then notice that as you lift into a handstand, your shoulders lift and the neck shortens, or one or the other.
Nick |
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| I will definately try that as soon as I can find a bar to hang off of . i am sure I can figure out something. It's funny you mention this because I was watching a video I was in from a while back and I notice that I shrug my shoulders up to my ears quite a bit. Actuallly my shoulders are tensed up like that a lot on a daily basis. And I definately think that whatever causes that popping sensation is at the base of my skull and top of the spine. I will let you know how it works out. Thanks so much for your input. |
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| Hello Phoenix.
Urdhva Mukha Vrksasana.
I'm always torn on these sorts of posts. As a teacher it is not in the best interest of you as student to coach you without seeing your body as no one instruction is right for all practitioners. That having been said, someone is going to give you information and it might as well be founded in some training.
There are a couple of things that stand out for me within your post.
The first is "forcing me down early". There is no early. When it's time to come down we are to honor where our bodies are at that particular moment. Just because Iyengar had students in Sirsasana for an hour does not mean you are relegated to a certain performance in this asana. Some days our poses are longer and some days we do not practice at all (eeeek, no I did not just say that). Gut it's true. This IS our yoga. The discipline of coming to the mat everyday and how we deal with ourselves with Ahimsa when we do not.
If you do not have the proper actions in the pose it would be rushing to move the feet away from the wall. Now perhaps you've been doing the pose at the wall for eight months and you want to experiment in coming away. That's fine but not while you're in pain. Are you at a point in your practice where you can discern between pain, injury, and discomfort? Please no pushing (figuratively speaking) when experiencing pain.
Also you mention "improvement". Again I'll ask you to consider if you are merely performing the pose. What do you feel in the current pose? What is your experience of Urdhva Mukha Vrksasana from the cells, bone marrow, heart center. Do you have action moving the shoulder blades away from each other? Are you pressing the bnes of the hand down into the earth and drawing (or sucking) the center of the palm up from the floor? Are you placing th ehands on hardwood floors instead of a mat (please try that).
I'm not too concerned about how you're coming up into the pose unless you're doign harm.
As for prep poses ther are a few that come to mind.
Actions are best found in Adho Mukha Svanasana (hand bones down, flesh up, shoulders apart, humerus IN socket.
You can also do Ardha Uttanasana with your hands at the walland the feet stepping back until the head of the femur lives of the ankle bone and the spine is paralell with the floor. Same actions. Pressing into hands, moving shoulders apart etc.
The third prep is done on the belly with the palms flat on the wall, arm bones on the floor, fingers pointing to the ceiling - it's the same basic actions as the full pose but in the prone position,
Hope this helps you.
Namaste.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Nick - 2006-07-16 5:42 AM Hi Kristi, Well if handstand is getting rid of your bad neck and weak wrists, then you can't ask for much more than that! As my intial training was in Iyengar yoga, which did not use bandha as part of the asana practice, I would not have been able to lift into a handstand any way-it is bandhas that give the reqired control and which act as a link between the upper and lower body-without bandha, strength in any part of the body cannot be utilized-bandha acts like the glue in plywood, making a lattice out of all the separate muscles, resulting in a body posture which is stiffer than the sum of its parts. Here's a thought though, one which occurred to me after I had taken up astanga yoga-why is it that in Iyengar yoga, it is considered vital to lift both feet offf the flor at the same time, but then, it is ok to jump into handstands, the scorpion, and so forth. I know that I am bit like the christian in the lion's den, but hope that you iyengi's will go along with me on this one-remember, i'm not a pure astangi person, and have a love of good alignment which I hope has come through in previous posts It is considered vital to lift the feet off the floor in both headstand and shoulderstand to avoid damaging the neck by suddenly applying load, at a speed which makes it difficult for the practicioner to keep the neck close to neutral position (the same as maintaing the lumbar lordosis ). It could be said, therefore, that jumping into a handstand does not impact the neck-but the possibility is still there-when moving at these speeds, the shoulders are more likely to come forwards over the hands, the head tries to pull backwards to stay away from the wall (or through a reflexive fear mechanism-the 'frightened cat' posture ), and with a resultant sharp contraction in the neck muscles. And a sharp stretch and contraction on the forearm muscles, and the wrist joint. People who have hurt their necks and wrists in handstand will be only to aware of these factors. But how to combat the problem? I'm afraid the only answer is to use bandha to lift, and to do some wrist exercises, and not to let any yoga posture compromize any of your problem joints. This may mean tht you are out of kilter with the rest of class, but it's your body at stake. The thing is, it is good fun going up into a handstand, so my advice is to just keep going away from the wall, when you have some energy, and see how closer you are to lifting-it will improve over time, and then you can do it happily into old age, like a fine wine, improving with age Nick Hi Nick, I guess that different Iyengar teachers are probably teaching these poses differently -- not supposed to happen if the syllabus is actually being learnt and followed, but well... My own Iyengar teacher *always* teaches toward the goal of lifting both legs at the same time, without bending the knees, when entering handstand. A fair amount of wall work is devoted to building the strength and coordination required to do this in the middle of the room. For example, keep the legs straight when coming down from handstand, and do it slowly. Come to think of it, I also saw Gita teaching handstand exactly this way in Pune. Jumping or kicking into handstand in the middle of the room is never taught in the classes I've been in, although those learning handstand often kick up one leg at a time, or jump with both legs, when practicing at the wall. It may be that the Iyengar teacher you worked with was less knowledgable than the Ashtanga teacher you've known since? In any event, within the context of my own experience in Iyengar yoga, the preferred entry into handstand is to lift both legs at once, without bending them, in the middle of the room. .... bg |
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Location: London, England | Hi Bay Guy,
In that case, I stand corrected! Apologies to Iyengar teachers everywhere! I think, though, that we may be talking at cross purposes-I have never seen an iyengar book which does not use bunny hopping or swinging one leg up at a time-i have only met one other person in twenty years who can lift up into a handstand with straight legs, and she was extremely gifted and extremely small and light. I can only do it on a good day and it is a struggle, I have to admit. So there must be something in the air where you live, or you have a different definition of lifting. As it is so difficult to lift with straight legs all the way up, I always teach bending the knees once the feet have left the floor, so that the centre of gravity never goes to far away from being above the hands. I would be shocked to see a bunch of people lifting with straight legs, or coming down with straight legs, which is actually harder than going up with straight legs.
I'll have a look around this afternoon, can you direct me to any website that uses this technique?Otherwise it means i'm falling behind with the times It is not that i do not believe you as such, but one of the reasons i do not let people use the wall for handstands is that it actually prevents them from ever being able to lift properly-it took me two years to break the habit of jumping-and that is basically what a wall is for, so that when you overshoot, the wall stops you-to lift off the floor with straight legs or bending the knees means that it is difficult enough to hit the target of handstand, let alone overshoot-usually the bullet just fall out of the end of the barrel, in the majority of cases!
As my astanga teacher is considered by many to be an adept, I have to say that he probably was more advanced than my Iyengar teacher, but my Iyengar teachers have included Shyam mehta and Kofi Busia, both senior Iyengar teachers, and they definitely both taught in this way. Light on yoga teaches by jumping as well. So i'll reserve judgement, and do some research-you keep on lifting!
Nick |
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| Different instructions for different students. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| No kick up, no wall, no handstand for this tourist. And I love handstand  |
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| Both of the Iyengar teachers I have had and have taught handstand that you first kick up with the ultimate goal being that you can get both legs at one time.
Same with head stand. I now go into head stand two legs at a time but I worked up to it this way.
By the way thanks for all of the input I have tons to work with now. I am also going to ask my teacher for instruction on the matter. |
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| Hi All,
This is my first post. I was on the verge of making an appt with an orthopedic surgeon (horror of horrors) when someone suggested I google - triquetrum yoga injury. that's how I found this site. My injury occurred after several astanga classes where the teacher was focused on getting some of us to 'get' the vinyasa down, and successfully jump through and back through. I have done this in my younger days, in Iyengar class. I began with Iyengar studies in NYC in 1990 - never any injury to speak of, especially nothing in hand or wrist. Handstand was fine. Apparently I was slamming the palm-heel (wrist) down when I landed, thus causiing the injury. That was 4 months ago.
I have not been practicing downdog or updog, chaturanga or plank. Or handstand. Pressure on the wrist area, obviously makes things worse, and I want it to heal. (no pun intended) But abstinence is not improving the situation at all.
I will SOON be attending anusara workshop - for yoga therapy - upper body injuries, etc., and HOPE this will be addressed. Meanwhile, any feedback would be appreciated. One other suggestion (I have not followed up -- due to a one hour drive to get there, each way) is to go to bikram yoga, where they do not practice any of THOSE poses. Plus the heat is supposed to help.
any feedback greatly appreciated!
kate
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Handstand
