CONDITION
- Carpal Tunnel
To help prevent or alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome with yoga, you’ll need to practice poses that
strengthen and stretch the flexor muscles of the forearm, which are the muscles on the palm side of
the forearm. Depending on the severity of your condition, you may want to start with poses that
bear less weight on the wrist joint.
BENEFICIAL POSES
Poses that strengthen the wrist without straining it–Ex. Staff Pose (Dandasana) here. Stretching
and gently strengthening the wrist and muscles of the forearm can help prevent or reduce carpal
tunnel syndrome.
Poses with hands in the reverse prayer position–Ex. Hidden Lotus Pose (Gupta Padmasana) here
and Reverse Prayer Mountain Pose (Viparita Namaskar Tadasana) here. These poses help stretch
out the wrists, forearms, front shoulder heads, chest, and rotator cuffs. Releasing tension from these
areas is helpful because muscles in the upper body are interconnected and carpal tunnel can be
caused or worsened by a chain reaction of tense muscles.
Poses that have hands in prayer (Anjali Mudra)–Ex. Revolved Prayer Standing Rising Wind
Relieving Pose (Parivritta Namaskar Stiti Utthita Vayu Muktyasana) here. Stretching the wrists
and forearm muscles can promote blood flow and lessen tension in the area.
Poses with bound hands, palms facing out–Ex. Mountain Pose—Raised Bound Hands (Tadasana
Urdhva Baddha Hastasana) here These poses help stretch the forearm muscles that are strained
and tight in most people who have carpal tunnel syndrome.
POSES TO APPROACH WITH CAUTION
Arm balances with both feet off the floor–Ex. Crane Pose (Bakasana) here. These poses have the
entire body weight resting on the wrists, which puts a great amount of strain on the carpal tunnel
and may drastically worsen its symptoms.
Backbends with hands and feet on the floor–Ex. Upward Bow Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana) here
and Wild Thing Pose (Chamatkarasana) here. These poses are very hard on the wrists.
Backbends with straight arms–Ex. Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana) here. These
poses put strain on the wrist joints because most of the upper body weight rests on the hands.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: There are some options to avoid pressure on the wrist while practicing
Upward Facing Dog Pose (Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana) here or Downward Facing Dog (Adho
Mukha Shvanasana) here. If you feel that these poses irritate the carpal tunnel, drop the knees to
the floor and rotate the hands 45 degrees to the outside to take the pressure off the nerve. You may
also experiment with placing props (rolled-up yoga mat, thin book, or slant board) under the heels
of the palms to shift the weight to the knuckles and fingers to reduce the compression of the wrist.
CONDITION
