In class, we have been working on opening the shoulders in preparation for Shoulder Stand. One of the postures we have been doing is clasping the hands behind the back and lifting them up while keeping the heads of the arm bones back and the thoracic spine moving deeply into the body.
One of the questions that came up was whether you should work on getting the heels of the hands together in this position. The answer is that “it depends”. (My favorite response!) This question also tells me what my students are considering the important part of the pose. Remember that we always want to move from the big joints first; the hips and shoulders. If we don’t, then we place too much leverage and pressure on the spine. In this example, it’s not what the hands are doing that is important. It’s what the shoulders are doing.
Take a look at these two photos of me with my hands clasped behind my back:
In the first one, the heads of my arm bones are wrapping forward, my chest is sunken in and my upper back is hunched.
In the second one, the heads of my arm bones are staying back, my thoracic spine is moving into my body opening my chest.
In this pose, the important action is that of opening the chest and stretching the Anterior Deltoid, the front of the shoulder, Pectoralis Minor, the front of the chest, and the Biceps. It is much better for the student with tightness or restriction in the shoulders to take the hands further apart by maybe holding onto a belt so that they can get the chest open and the heads of the arm bones back. Only after that is achieved can the student begin to work their hands closer and closer together until the palms finally touch.