- Hi, my name is Ann Swanson and I am a yoga therapist
and yoga for arthritis teacher and teacher trainer,
and I have developed this routine specifically for those
with arthritis of the hand and the wrist.
And this is also a really good routine
if you use your hands a lot and you start to feel soreness.
And so what I want you to start by doing
is increasing the blood flow to the area
by rolling the shoulders a few times.
Just increasing circulation and even more with that,
inhale, the arms open wide,
and exhale, give yourself a hug
as tight as you feel comfortable.
Inhale, open. Exhale, close, other arm on top.
So just do this a few times with the breath,
inhale to open,
exhale to close,
inhale, exhale.
Good, one more.
And then come back to center, and taking the hands,
begin to curl the fingers as if you're trying to make fists,
but slowly, incrementally, coming towards fist.
And if you don't come all the way, that's totally fine.
Just come into your own comfort level of range of motion,
increasing that range of motion over time.
If it's comfortable to come all the way
into a fist and open, feel free to do that.
It's kind of like WD-40
for all of the joints of the hand.
But really we're increasing the synovial fluid in the hands
which helps with bringing in nutrients in order to heal.
All right, bring the fingertips together as well as you can.
Doesn't have to be perfect, just as well as you can.
And this is what we call in yoga,
a mudra or a hand position.
So we'll be slowly pressing the fingers
in toward each other and opening.
And create a little bit of resistance
so that we can help strengthen the hands.
So also we can keep being able to open jars and bottles.
And also what I want you to be careful
of during this is to make sure you don't overwork.
You want to press and have a little resistance,
but you don't wanna overwork and cause pain over time.
So find that healthy balance for you.
People with arthritis know that they need to be moving.
That's what the doctors are saying.
You've got to be moving in order to prevent the progression
and to help with the pain and symptoms,
but you don't wanna overwork it.
If it's comfortable, you can even come to palms flat
if that works for you.
Doing that a few times with some resistance
pressing each hand in toward each other.
Good.
All right.
And the next thing, bringing the palms out
and you're going to slowly take your thumb
toward your first finger.
This is another mudra that is..
In order to help you feel more calm,
and you may wanna touch all the way to the finger
but that's not accessible.
Just imagine reaching toward it.
So whatever is accessible coming here, calm,
and then coming to the second finger
or toward it,
Patient. Cultivating a sense
of openness and receptiveness.
Coming to the third finger.
Confident, strong.
And the fourth finger. Intuitive.
Coming back through them.
Calm, patient, confident, intuitive.
Remembering you don't have to touch just reaching
toward if that's where you're at today.
Maybe repeating this to yourself.
Calm, patient, confident, intuitive.
Releasing the hands down towards your lap,
letting go for a moment.
Perhaps closing the eyes or allow them to be downcast.
As you feel more space in the shoulder joint.
Allowing that feeling of spaciousness to come down
through the elbow joints,
wrists, all the way through all the joints of the fingers.
Spacious, kind of a sense of reaching,
maybe feeling flow from within,
and all the resulting sensations from what we just did.
Maybe vibrations, flows, sensations,
breathing deeply,
Gently opening your eyes.
And I hope you enjoyed that hand yoga for arthritis.
Thank you.