Reader Question - Wrist Pain

I recently received the following email:
"Robin, what a lovely website you have!
Here is my question. When I practice regularlly, I tend to get soreness in my wrists. It's as if I need to find a class which is spent entirely in the sitting position! I did trip in the dark the other day and gently fell on my hand/wrist so that is contributing.
Thanks from Rhode Island."
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And my response:

Hi *****

Thanks for your email.

Wrists are a tough one. We use them alot in our daily life, and we just weren't built to walk on your hands.

Firstly, if you've had an injury to your wrist (your fall) you need to allow it to rest before you go back to your full practice. Be sure to rule out anything serious by a visit to a health practitioner if it doesn't seem to be getting better. Don't forget that you can still do all the standing poses, but just eliminate the vinyasa portion.

Here are some things I have found to be helpful if we are experiencing wrist pain. What do you do during your day? Are you using a computer alot, or using your hands for your work? It is important to stretch out the wrist flexor and extensor muscles. Simply extend your arm with palm up and use your opposite hand to gently pull your fingers down towards the floor (flexor stretch). Then flip your palm to facing down and bring your fingers down towards the floor (extensor stretch). Hold for at least 30 seconds, and stretch a few times a day.

If you feel discomfort in downward facing dog, make sure you are rooting to the floor through the mounds of all of your fingers (where your finger meets your palm) and your thumb. From there, press into the palms, allowing the arms to 'float' up towards the sky, lengthening into the side body so that you can distribute weight into your feet, allowing your hips to move up and back. You can also try modifying your downdog by making it shorter (feet and hands closer together). It is possible your wrists are bearing the burden of tight shoulders.

If you feel discomfort in chaturanga (lowering from plank), make sure you are using the strong and powerful muscles of the shoulders. Come into plank, setting up your wrists shoulder width apart under the shoulders. Again root into the mounds of your fingers. Look at your elbows - are they hyperextending/bending the opposite way? Keep a slight microbend in the elbows. Allow your heart to move towards the floor without changing your arms. Feel how this brings your shoulder blades onto your back body. Next look at the front of your shoulders. We want the tops of the shoulders to be in line with our neck (not tipping down or forward). Tip the shoulders up/back. Feel how this increases the feeling of the shoulderblade on the back body. Keep this feeling of shoulder blade engagement and lower to elbows bent at 90 degrees - not lower! If you lower further, you are asking your wrists to deeply extend.

If you feel discomfort in upward facing dog, be sure that your wrists are stacked underneath or slightly in front of your shoulders, again avoiding that excessive extension at the wrist. If you seem to be coming into upward dog with that misalignment, make your plank longer before lowering into chaturanga, or before coming into upward dog send your heels back in chaturanga so that you are not as far forward over your hands.

Hope this helps!