Yoga with pressure or wrists and elbows

[pianoman53]

Hi all,

I've started doing yoga once per week, plus some stuff at home.
It's all fine, except for two exercises.

One is that we kind of stand on all four, and putting our knees on our elbows. Then, we lean forward until we, eventually, stand on our hands. This obviously gives massive pressure to the wrist.


The second one is that we lie face down. We're then supposed to put our hands under our elbows as close to the body as possible, and then put our hands under the belly. That would be all fine, except that we have to put the hand palms to the floor. It hurts like freaking crap, and it feels like the arms are going to break in two.
...
I've only done it twice, so there is a huge possibility that I'm just terribly our of shape, but I still want to ask:
Does anyone know if this can actually hurt the arms and wrists?

[hardy_practice]

One is that we kind of stand on all four, and putting our knees on our elbows. Then, we lean forward until we, eventually, stand on our hands. This obviously gives massive pressure to the wrist.

I do the above one most days.  Be careful as you learn it - you can damage yourself if you lose balance.

[indianajo]

Yoga is a physical discipline based on a religion.
Ergonomics is based on science.  What movements can people do day after day repetitively without hurting themselves?  The science is peer reviews in scholarly journals.  
I suggest you pick up an ergonomics test and study the limits of motion it documents.  Don't do any repetitive motion outside those ranges.  
Yoga movements may be competitive, and possibly attractive to the opposite sex.  So is brain destroying American football.  May I point out all the blown knees and torn tendons that 18 year olds exhibited at the draft board physical exam the day I, the musician/bookworm, was declared 1A condition.  I served our country's military needs, the popular guys stayed home and married well.
Just because something is popular, IMHO doesn't mean it stupid.  I work out, I do stretches, I'm in fairly good shape for a 63 year old US citizen.  but I do the military daily dozen stretches, not the yoga ones.  

[hviolette]

Hallo, I am a collaborative pianist and a yogini, and I would like to commend you for starting your yoga journey.  It is not necessarily a religious practice, but one of integrative spirituality based on Ayurvedic medicine, which is far older than Western understandings of medicine and physiology.  The key to yoga is to remember it is NOT a competition; listen to your body and respect what it is telling you.  If something hurts, stop.  A qualified teacher will be more than happy to give you modifications suitable for you.  Also, the benefits of yoga are cumulative...you may not be that pretzel-shaped hot shot next to you, but over time, a regular yoga practice will increase flexibility, strength, focus, stamina...all things that we need as we play. 

For those who "pooh pooh" yoga, in favor of more Western exercise, let me say this: I have been injured far more frequently as a result of traditional exercise, and more frequently injured from playing with incorrect technique.

Namaste.
Hannah