Last time we talked about awakening the Flexor Digitorum Superficialis for all kinds of love inducing activities. By now your fingers must be itching for some Yoga Tune Up® relief!
With that in mind, let me do the honor of offering you some ideas as to how to keep this seductive muscle up to par. In Yoga Tune Up® we use poses to strengthen, awaken, stretch and understand muscles in a way that cultivates healthy movement. Check out Piano Fingers to help to stretch, articulate and lengthen the muscle.
Simple can be better – after some intense yoga classes my hands and fingers cramp – thank you for such a easy to do solution
I broke my wrist almost 20 years ago , however all prone poses that require wrist extension and holding body weight still cause me severe pain. I tried piano fingers and was surprised how fast it relieved the pain. I will definitely continue practicing, hopefully to be able to do pain free plank.
Great way to combine a mind/body exercise. Simple movement requiring concentration with flexibility being the by-product.
A simple exercise that had me smiling as when I tried to move my fingers individually, some of the others wanted to come along (and I used to play piano)!
The only hand self care I was doing was massaging my hands which is good and I will still continue to do but I like piano fingers – I broke my wrist years ago and this will help.
Great way to care for our digits. My hands often feel stiff after yoga (or a day typing away on a keyboard for work). After doing this exercise, my fingers are rosy and energized.
OMG, what a wake up call trying piano fingers! After several years of working in road construction in Alaska, my hands, wrists and elbows are in a bad way. Making this technique a part of my regular YTU personal practice is a top priority. I also plan to introduce this technique to my yoga students, many of whom are “desk warriors” in the Silicon valley and I hope it helps/prevents hand and writs issues for them. 🙂
This is great for seeing muscles and tendons in action, not only in supination but pronation as well. I can’t wait to show this to my kids’ piano teacher. I love that this articulation creates a better understanding of the arms line as taught by Thomas Myers.
This is great for office works, students, and even instrument players. We often neglect our digits targeting the wrists directly for pain relief, but finger work will target pain relief as its all interconnected.
Great video! I love the life metaphor that constant gripping offers. This seemingly simple exercise is a reminder that in order to stay flexible in life, we have to be willing to open.
I found that doing these exercises softly and gently was key for me. In the beginning I was thinking that stretching my fingers and palm to the farthest point of their range would be better, but it was just the opposite. I had immediate soreness and actual heat in my wrists that took a few days to subside. While nursing my wrists, I realized that you don’t use the most force you can muster when actually using these movements in real life. Your computer keyboard, piano keys, and buttons on a phone don’t require brute force.
Today in my Yoga Tune Up Primary Training class, we rolled out the forearm with the Therapy Balls in their tots on the wall. What a wonderful feeling to roll out muscles that have been completed over worked due to years of data entry in the medical field.
I found this video and articulation of the fingers quite delightful. I enjoyed the sensations of the fingers closing then opening, one at a time, then reversing the motions. I also was intrigued how brain oriented the movement was .. I really had to think, close thumb, pointer, middle, etc.
The feeling in my hand, forearm and almost up into the elbow joint was amazing.
Wish I knew about YTU therapy balls when I was deep into my data entry work.
This is such a simple but effective exercise. I injured my wrist around 2 years ago, and really needed to modify my practice to support myself during the healing process. Non-weight bearing, therapeutic exercises such as piano fingers can be done anywhere and really makes a difference. Also such a good counter-movement to daily activities such as typing, texting (and for me – cycling). I teach a variety of wrist & hand exercises in my classes and will certainly add this to the list.
This video was very helpful. I did the exercise and then I did the dancing with myself exercise and found that my fingers, wrists, and shoulders felt completely energized. This will be a suggestion to my friends and yoga students and even part of some of the classes I teach. Thank you.
This was very helpful. I lift a lot of weights and use the computer a lot so i often find my pinky finger and my wrist hurting on both hands. I never knew what to do with them except it massage them when they hurt. The technique you showed is so simple but so helpful, thank you i struggle with this pain a lot.
Such a simple exercise! So important as we increase our use of mobile devices. Hands clenched playing games for hours. Yogi hand strength is integral to many postures e.g ‘downward facing dog’ and anytime the hands are on the floor especially. Golfers and anyone suffering from rotator cuff injuries. Can be done anytime any place anywhere.
I found this exercise super helpful! I do a lot of design work on a wacom all day. This constant action puts a lot of stress on my hands and wrist, which often leads to cramping. After a few rounds of this exercise, my hands felt very relieved. Thank you!
Piano fingers is a great reminder of how important it is to articulate our fingers. I love how Jill points out the increase of blood flow at the end of the video, too – “ta-da!” I have used this technique for the last several months since I crushed my wrist in a cycling accident. It is a super easy exercise to do anywhere and everywhere and my hands are much happier because of it 🙂
Great video!
I’ve always noticed that if I stop practicing yoga (even for just a week), my wrists always hurt when I get back into it! These stretches have really helped me stay tuned, even if I can’t practice for a while.
It’s funny how the body parts we use the most are the ones we don’t take care of enough. We use our fingers from the minute we wake up to brush our teeth, eat our food, write, type on our computers, etc. This is a great exercise for our fingers and wrists to stay in shape!
I love this!! In our culture we are always gripping and never seriously open our hands let alone individualize them!! I am dealing with a rotator cuff issue and will definitely implement this!!
I work on computer a lot so this will be good to help relieve some of the tension in my forearms and wrists. I really love getting the balls in there as well. Helps dig out any tightness.
This looks like a fabulously simple exercise but does take concentration to manipulate the fingers! My hands got just as rosy as Jill”s. We do something similar in Pilates whereby we stand on an elevated surface and hold a pole with two 3 – 5 lb sand bags tied to a rope at either end of the pole. Each rope is wrapped around the pole ends and your job is to unroll the sand bags down to the floor then roll back up – arms must stay extended in flexion and the fingers must open fully then close completely with a downward twist of the wrist at each turn. I really feel it in my extensor digitorum!