Comments on: Plank Pose

By: Elinor Fernandez

Elinor Fernandez — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 02:00:24 +0000

Really love your teaching style.. I can hardly pull myself up into plank before discovering your videos...now I can hold the pose in 5 breaths..not much..but already a big achievement for me!

By: Maria Mylonaki

Maria Mylonaki — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 13:57:38 +0000

Hi Adriene, huge fan from Greece here!

I am trying to understand whether the inside of my elbows should be pointing outwards or side (facing each other), can you please specify?

By: Margaret

Margaret — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 19:34:18 +0000

adrienne. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I've been following you and doing a daily yoga practice with you every day since last June 2016 when I discovered you on You tube and on your web site. Sometimes I choose slow, sometimes dynamic sessions. I live in the UK and am 64 years old. I have been doing yoga for ever, and I really appreciate your style of teaching, your mantras and your ethic. I love slow meaningful yoga and all that goes with it. Thank you again and for sharing.

By: Joanna Norland

Joanna Norland — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 04:30:52 +0000

So enjoying this foundations series - thank you!

By: Adriene

Adriene — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 04:29:59 +0000

In reply to rebecca gabriella middleton. Hi there, have you tried padding the knees with a blanket or pillow? Also folding up your mat can provide a little extra cushion if you need. I recommend making sure that you are shifting your weight forward so that the majority of your weight is connected through your center while use use your arms (and less knees) to push up and out of the earth. Think about a long straight diagonal line from the crown of the head to your tailbone. Let me know!

By: rebecca gabriella middleton

rebecca gabriella middleton — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:15:47 +0000

I have been trying to do modified planks putting the weight onto my knees, but my knees hurt way to much to hold for more than a few seconds (though my core feels strong enough to hold for longer). Have you got any suggestions of what I'm doing wrong, or a different modification to try?

By: Adriene

Adriene — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:35:31 +0000

In reply to Ben. Hi Ben! Yes, you are right- on elbows/forearms is actually more work for the center and it is good to point out that you have to work a little harder to not sink into your shoulder bones. I do get A LOT of students with wrist pressure and carpal tunnel. However, I will go out on a limb and say that about half of them actually suffer from injury or carpal tunnel syndrome and the other are just beginners learning how to light up the body, perhaps muscles they have not engaged in awhile or ever, leading them to experience too much pressure on their wrists in yoga asana. As I do not use a lot of props in my public classes so I mainly recommend fists and forearms (title of my next book) for modifications. If I am teaching a private session or customized class I will break out the props to treat and experiment with wrists and they can be very helpful.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:06:33 +0000

I'm a classical guitarist with wrist pressure concerns, so I loved the elbow variation. It was a wicked awesome burn for the abs btw, although even more challenging to avoid sinking into the shoulders.

Up until now, I have been using fists for any extended plank poses, but as that is not really an option for downward dog, any hatha flows moving between the two required an awkward switch, and I would just do the regular version for both. Now that elbow-plank is an option, I'm going to practice my elbow down-dog (which is pretty bad atm) and see if I can learn to do an entire sun salutation flow with all elbow variations.

So, thanks! Any pointers, or experience teaching wrist pressure-concerned folks live?