Handy Work, Part 2: Protecting the Wrists in Hand Balances

Generate stability and lift with good hand technique

The Short of It
Bearing the weight of your body (either partially as in down dog or fully as in balances like handstand) requires you to use your hands in a particular way.  The best way I have found that brings stability and creates lift is as follows:

• place the hands on the floor, middle finger roughly pointing straight ahead with fingers spread
• hands are flat on the floor but make an action as though you are trying to make a fist with your hands or as though you are trying to pick up the floor.  The fingers might start to claw a bit (good) just make sure the fingertips stay pressing and the mounds of the fingers (beneath the knuckles)--especially at the base of the index finger--keep pressing down
• attempt to squeeze the wrists inwards towards one another while also attempting to press the knuckles away from one another.  The action is like you are trying to screw the right palm clockwise into the floor and the left palm anti-clockwise into the floor

The Long of It
In my last post I discussed some of the basic movements at the wrists and fingers and how combining movements can bring stability and freedom to the wrist joint as well as either pull energy (blood, nutrients etc) towards the hand or push it away.

Based on the work of the yogis at Yoga Synergy I tried to show how you can create a bandha around the wrist joint complex to do this.

A bandha (around the wrist known as mani bandha) is basically co-activation of opposing muscles around a particular joint.  In this case, opposing muscles might mean activating muscles that flex the wrist (bring palm closer to forearm) while at the same time activating muscles that extend the wrist (back of hand moves closer to forearm).

While it might sound tricky to flex and extend the wrist at the same time it is made much more simple because many of the muscles that flex the fingers also flex the wrists, while many muscles that extend the fingers also extend the wrists.  This means that you can create this co-activation by either trying to flex the wrist and straighten (extend) the fingers or extend the wrist and flex (curl/bend) the fingers.

In the last post I focussed mainly on how to create these co-activations (bandhas) when the hand is not supporting the weight of our bodies.  However, creating mani bandha is vital to maintaining the integrity of your wrist joints when you place them on the floor and bear weight through them.

It is really important to learn how to bear weight through your hands as there are many simple yoga poses that have us on our hands.  Most new students will end up with sore wrists (and so will many of the oldies if they don't work mindfully) if you do not use the muscles of the hands and forearms properly.

In this post I will show you some tips for maintaining the integrity of the wrist when you place your hands on the floor.  For more experienced practitioners you might find that a few little tweaks using these tips will help you lift higher into some of your arm balances as well.

Alignment & Force Transmission Through the Wrist
You have two long bones on your forearm--the radius and ulna.  As these two bones get closer to your wrist the radius gets wider and the ulna gets thinner.

The bone on the thumb side of the forearm (radius) is thicker  towards the wrist, while the other bone (ulna) is narrower towards the wrist.  The opposite is true at the elbow.  

These two bones cross over one another when you pronate your forearm (turn the forearm so that the the underside faces down as it would be in typing or doing down dog or handstand).  They uncross when you supinate (turn the forearm so that the underside faces up as though to look at the palm of the hand).

The fact that one bone is thicker at the wrist end has important implications for bearing weight through your hands.  It means that force transmission from the forearm to the wrist happens mainly on the radius side (thumb side) of the wrist.

In fact, 80 percent of force transmission from the forearm to the wrist is through the radiocarpal joint, which means you should place most of the body weight on the thumb side of the palm while you co-activate the muscles of the forearm (Borg-Olivier and Machliss, 2011).

You also need to make sure you have aligned the wrist properly for the best force transmission.  The axis of movement of the hand runs in a line through one of the small bones of the wrist and out through the middle finger.  What this means is that when you place your hand on the ground you want an alignment of the middle finger pointing straight ahead.

Stretching or spreading the fingers will help give you a wider base of support as well as more actively engage the muscles of the hands.

What this all means: When placing your hand on the ground, align your hand with the fingers spread and the middle finger pointing roughly straight ahead.  More weight should be on the thumb side of the wrist than the baby finger side.

Ha-mani bandha
Now, just placing your hands in correct alignment is not going to save your wrists from feeling compressed (although it is a good start).  What you will need to do is simultaneously co-activate muscles around the wrist joint.

When the hand is outstretched on the floor about to bear weight the best type of co-activation is ha-mani bandha.  This is where you extend the wrist and flex the fingers as though you were trying to make a fist.

Think about this one carefully.  It is one of the yoga tricks of the trade.  While the fingers look like they are extended (they are), the action you are trying to create is the opposite--of flexion.  And when I say 'make a fist into the floor' you won't actually be able to do it.  The floor is stopping you.  But the action persists.

Different people have different instructions for creating a ha-mani bandha.  Instead of thinking about making a fist, you could try to imagine your hands are like suction cups, pressing down through the fingers, the outer edges of the palm, and through the base of the knuckles but sucking up at the same time.

Another visualisation I often come back to is to imagine you were trying to pick up the floor or imagine you were picking up a basketball one-handed from the floor.  Basically, whatever helps you to extend the wrist while at the same time activate wrist/finger flexors.

Imagine trying to pick up the floor or a basketball. You'll have to spread the fingers and press down through the fingertips while sucking up at the same time. 

What this means: When placing your hands on the ground for weight-bearing work, you need to try to 'flex' or bend the fingers to give the wrist stability.

Finishing touches
Having aligned your hand correctly and cultivated ha-mani bandha by trying to make a fist/pick up the floor/flex the fingers, you can bring stability to the elbow and shoulder and create a greater sense of lift by using another trick.

When the hands are on the ground try to squeeze or drag the wrists closer to one another.  They will not actually move because they are pressing down on the floor.  However, the attempt will trigger muscles around the elbow joint to become active, bringing more stability to that joint.

You can also imagine that you are trying to screw the right hand clockwise into the floor and the left hand anti-clockwise.  This has a similar effect but a different visualisation might help.

Summary
In summary, whenever you place your hands on the floor, do so mindfully.  Use the following tips to help you bring a greater sense of stability and to help generate lift.

• place the hands on the floor, middle finger roughly pointing straight ahead with fingers spread
• hands are flat on the floor but make an action as though you are trying to make a fist with your hands or as though you are trying to pick up the floor.  The fingers might start to claw a bit (good) just make sure the fingertips stay pressing and the mounds of the fingers (beneath the knuckles)--especially at the base of the index finger--keep pressing down
• attempt to squeeze the wrists inwards towards one another while also attempting to press the knuckles away from one another.  The action is like you are trying to screw the right palm clockwise into the floor and the left palm anti-clockwise into the floor

Take a look at BKS Iyengar's hands in the following iconic images of him in poses like bakasana and it's one legged counterpart, as well as in handstand.

As always, don't just take my word for it (well, it's not really my word but the words passed to me by my teachers).  Try it out. Right now if you can.

Hopefully you found your whole arm became more stable. As always, if you feel compression or discomfort then back off or stop.  If you continue to experience wrist discomfort then talk to your yoga teacher for appropriate modifications.

Otherwise, try using these instructions in a variety of postures where the hands are on the floor.   Of course, the hands are not the whole picture in any posture when the weight is bearing through them.  Yoga is an integrated, whole body practice.  You'll need to be mindful with regard to the rest of your body, in particular the elbow and shoulder joint complexes.  Look out for more posts on these areas.

Happy and safe practicing.