How can I avoid wrist injury while performing yoga? (Query)

Follow these tips to avoid wrist pain while performing the weight bearing yoga poses.

I am a 28-year old woman. I am new to yoga and when I try to get into poses like the downward facing dog, I experience wrist pain. Some of my fingers also start to go numb. What should I do to prevent the pain?

Although the arm balances like the adho mukho svanasana downward facing dog pose and kumbakhasna or the plank pose may look easy, you may experience some discomfort if you don't do the pose correctly. Here are a few tips by yoga expert Sunaina Rekhi that will help avoid wrist injuries.

• Before performing the arm balances, it is important to warm up and stretch the body. Doing five-eight sun salutations will not only stretch your body but will also help you get into the arm balances with ease.
• When you do the arm balances, distribute your weight equally throughout your body. Also, use your core to lift your body up instead of putting all your weight on your elbows and wrists.
• Also, make sure that you have the correct hand alignment for weight bearing yoga poses. While doing the arm balancing yoga poses press down with your knuckles at the base of the index and middle fingers and grip the yoga mat with your thumb and the tips of your four fingers.
• Progress slowly into the more challenging yoga asanas. Poses like the ardha chakrasana or half wheel pose and sirsasana or headstand can be tough, and they demand a great deal of strength in the undersides of the forearms. So make sure you don t jump into these yoga poses and approach these poses with caution. Here are some yoga tips for beginners.

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