Hello fellow flyers!
You may have noticed some days after an intense aerial practice, your fingers may be a little crankly. Your finger joints may feel tight or bloated. Some of this is due to all those pull ups, some due to that "death grip" you were using while hugging the fabric so tightly. And some may even be attributed to diet. Be sure to drink plenty of water to keep those muscles supple and avoiding fluid retention. You can even wrap your fingers around that ice cold glass of water to help ward off inflammation. Just as you stretch out your body in the morning with Sun Salutations, you also want to do the same for your hands. Embrace some hand mudras and get synovial fluid to those joints. There are several hand stretching exercises you can do that are much like hand exercises guitarists use.
1. First off, wiggle your fingers about for 8 seconds.
2. Big Jazz hands for 8 seconds to loosen the wrists and elbows.
3. Splay your fingers wide and back together 8 times.
4. Make fists gently while keeping your thumbs on the outside of hands. Hold for 2 seconds, splay the fingers wide and repeat 8 times
5. Puppet fingers: bring the tips of your fingers to the tip of your thumb then open back up. repeat 8 times.
6. Bear claws: curling every joint of the fingers and thumb inward towards the base of that finger and opening back up. repeat 8 times.
7. The wave: swimming your hands about and feel free to bring your full arms into the fun. ;) Repeat 8 times.
8. Roll your wrist in one direction 8 times, then in the other direction. Do the same with the elbows and shoulders.
9. One finger at a time, bend each finger down toward your palm like moving up and down piano keys. Don't forget to bend at each finger joint along the way. Repeat 4 times on each hand.
10. Reach the tip of your thumb out toward the base of your pinky finger, hold for 2 seconds, repeat 8 times on each hand.
11. Bring your hands to prayer, gently let your hands press downward. Let your wrists begin to separate, allow your palms to stop cupping. Move slowly downward until you are touching at just the tips of fingers. Take your hands back up back to prayer and repeat 8 times.
12. Splay each finger and thumb back gently one at at time using the opposite hand, hold each finger for 2 seconds, walking up and down both hands 4 times.
13. Floppy hands: allow your wrists to relax, flopping your hands at the wrist up and down for 8 seconds.
14. Wrist and forearm rotation: rotate your hands around, palm facing up then down and back up 8 times.
15. Karate chop: moving at the wrists 8 times then at the wrists and elbows.
16. Make two fists. Place pinky side of hand face down, lift up thumbs towards sky and give yourself two thumbs up. ;)
Try to make this part of your routine first thing in the morning and feel free to repeat throughout the day. Keep your joints flexible as you keep building that strength. Don't forget to continue your Aerial Yoga
classes for the full body stretch and joint mobility to keep your body protected, safe and limber.
Air hugs!
Kimberely Simonetti
Up Flying Yoga™
instagram : Yogiintheair
