Poses for Your Wrists

Weight-bearing poses can wreak havoc on your wrists. Try these alternatives for the same benefits without the strain.

Because there's more to life than hip openers.

Fire up your abs for this difficult asymmetrical arm balance, Eight-Angle Pose.

The key to Parsva Bakasana is twisting enough to place the outer edge of one upper arm far around the outside of the opposite thigh.

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, a well-known backbend, will challenge you to lift and open your chest.

A compact arm balance, Crow Pose and Crane Pose tone the abs and the arms, strengthen in the core, and focus the mind.

Parsvottanasana encourages balance, body awareness, and inspires confidence.

Adho Mukha Vrksasana boosts energy and confidence, and can literally give you a new perspective on life.

A powerful arm and wrist strengthener, Side Plank takes its two-armed sibling to the next level, as an arm balance.

Chaturanga Dandasana is not merely a push-up. This pivotal yoga pose is instrumental—so it's important to practice it properly.

No more awkwardly waiting in Child's Pose while everyone else in class makes their way through warmups.

Purvottanasana counteracts the effects of Chaturanga by stretching the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and anterior deltoids.

Are certain poses a pain in your… wrist? Try these alternative asanas.

Want to fly? Fire up your core. Firefly pose is an arm balance pose that requires more core strength than arm strength.

Nurture your love-hate relationship with Plank Pose. A beginner's best friend, it's the perfect precursor to more challenging arm balances.

Try these alternatives to get all the same benefits without bearing weight on your hands and wrists.

In this excerpt from his new book Yoga Therapy: Foundations, Methods, and Practices for Common Ailments, Mark Stephens offers methods for warming up and massaging the wrists to reduce pain in yoga practice.

Your wrists bear weight in so many yoga poses—not to mention every time you do a vinyasa. These 8 poses can help you keep your wrists pain-free.

By nature, our wrists are particularly prone to injury. Learn how to protect them in your practice.

Try this simple warm-up to promote safe practice and healthy joints.