What are they? Do I have them? Is it a problem? And how do I counter-act this?
Often there is misalignment within the body caused in childhood. For example, one could have experienced a fracture to the upper arm bone and as a result, the bones connected to the elbow grow in an imbalanced way. Often women have a wider carrying angle than men, due to our childbearing hip structure.
Hyperextended elbows can also present themselves in people who use repetitive one-arm throwing actions such as golf or tennis.
We all have a “carrying angle” which allows us to swing our arms by our hips and carry various things. When the misalignment repositions the forearm while fully extended, angled away from the body to a greater degree than normal (roughly 30 degrees), this can cause elbow pressure.
If the angle is too much on the nerve of the inner arm, it can overstretch and cause pain and inflammation.
Normally, you may not have any sensation or pain in your normal daily activity. While practicing your inverted postures you may begin to feel the effect of the weight-bearing load on your elbows or even in your neck and wrists if not adjusted properly.
If so, in this class I will go over various modifications you can make to:
- Strengthen the muscles around the elbow.
- Learn the movements and actions required for you to build strength and length, in all areas of the arms all the way up into the shoulders.
- Learn to use various props which support you learning these action
What you can expect from mindful practices
- You will develop more balance
- You will feel lighter and more movement of energy in the arms
- You will learn to remove the load on the elbow.
- You will create more evenness to the inner and outer arms, both lower arm and upper arm.
- You will feel stronger and more confident that you are connecting the arms at the elbow and aren’t causing damage to yourself!
With anything new, you must try different scenarios and see which help you to bring a sense of ease in the areas that are overworking, and at the same time identify when and where you need to build strength and work more.
Balance is the key, neither under-doing nor over-doing. Whether this is with your elbows or within your life in general!