Wrists and shoulders

Wrist Weight Shifts

Gradually builds your wrist tolerance to weight bearing, preparing your hands and forearms for yoga poses that require hand support on the floor.

How to do it

1. 1

   Come onto hands and knees with padded knees

   Hands under the shoulders, fingers spread wide with the middle fingers pointing forward, a folded blanket under the knees.

2. 2

   Spread your weight across the whole hand

   Press the base of the thumb and index finger down as much as the heel of the hand. Keep the elbows soft rather than locked.

3. 3

   Shift your weight slowly around over your hands

   A little forward, a little back, then over to one hand and the other. Small and slow, staying inside what the wrists accept today.

4. 4

   Build the time gradually, 30 to 60 seconds

   Stop while it still feels fine rather than at the point of complaint. Make fists and shift on the flat of the fists, or put a wedge or rolled towel under the heels of the hands, to reduce the angle at the wrist.

What to watch for

Working through a pinching feeling at the back of the wrist. Reduce the angle with fists or a wedge instead of pushing on, and shift less far forward, since forward is where the wrist angle is greatest.

Ways to adjust it

• Fists
• Wedge support

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.