• Great for wrist strength (golf, shovel, garden, gaming), computer user carpal, upper body worker strain and also for stretching and strengthening!
• Stretch out the carpal bones area and the major nerve that runs through the carpal bones
• Stretches and strengthens fingers, hands and forearms
• Stretches shoulders
• Stretches and can help relieve stress in upper back through the trapezius muscles
• Good for counteracting the position that hands are generally in when using computer. Stretches hands and wrists to balance movements in the wrist/hand area

Cautions

• Consult physician or health care provider if you are already suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. If this exercise causes aggravation to wrists or forearms then discontinue 

Key Points

• Breathe through nose
• Keep face soft and gaze relaxed
• Don’t slouch forward when doing this exercise. Remember to keep ears over shoulders and shoulders over hips
• Inhale elbows away from each other and exhale them towards each other
• Press hands together for the entire exercise (try to keep the heels of the hands connected). This will deepen the stretch and strength building aspects

Instructions

• Start in sitting position at your desk. Move the keyboard away and give yourself room to move arms on the desk.
• The body is relaxed and in neutral position. Shoulders are over hips
• Bring palms together and elbows together on your desk
• Draw palms up toward face keeping elbows together – press palms into each other to create resistance and strengthening
• Posture Check – keep head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, shoulders back and down (as opposed to forward slouched)
• On an inhale slide elbows along desk away from each other until the forearms are on the desk in front of you
• Keep palms together; heels of hands are also pressed together
• Press into the palms and feel the stretch through the arms and right up into the back
• On an exhale, draw the elbows toward each other while hands move up off the table (keeping firmly pressed together)
• Feel the opening occuring in the back, between the shoulder blades.  Allow the forearms and elbows to move towards touching each other
• Do this 2 or 3 times
• When finished, roll out the shoulders, releasing any tension and  allowing the body to relax before returning to what you were doing
• If you do a lot of computer work, please try to do this stretch a few times a day to counteract the tension building in the upper body and arm/wrist area.

Consider This

• You can stretch out the stress in your upper back by taking a few deep breaths while your elbows are drawn together and your hands are in ‘prayer’ up by the face region. Focus on expanding the back on the inhale and softening down into your chair on the exhale (keep shoulders back while softening….) smile to soften the face.
• Relax your nervous system when incorporating deep breathing to correspond with movements