Why Don’t My Hands Touch In Gomukhasana?

Transcript of: Why don’t my hands touch in gomukhasana?

Hey everyone! Welcome to this month’s question of the month. You can submit your own question by going to yoganatomy.com/myquestion. To get straight to it, this month’s question comes from Shaina. She’s asking about how to get her hands to touch in gomukhasana.

The Question:

Specifically, Shaina’s asking about her inability to bind her hands, to get her hands to touch behind her back when she reaches one arm over the top, one arm from underneath. She says it has never been close. It hasn’t changed. She’s been practicing yoga for years. Of course, that gets frustrating after some time. So, what’s going on? She wants to know why she can’t get them anywhere near each other and how to get her hands to touch in gomukhasana.

The Answer:

So, when you’ve been practicing for years, you know how it is when we practice. Change happens slowly of course. Well, when we first start, change happens very quickly. Then it kind of plateaus for a while, but we see some change. Things get closer. Little things change. When you stop seeing that and it’s been years and you haven’t seen any progress on something, it’s time to get out of the mode of “what do I need to stretch or what do I need to strengthen.” Kind of push muscles aside for a moment—which is primarily what we would be changing through our yoga practice—and look at other factors.

Check proportions

There are two other factors that come up for me. One is proportions. If you have relatively short arms relative to a long torso, you can imagine that would make it difficult for those fingers to touch, much less grab so that the hands touch in gomukhasana. That’s one possibility. Check proportions.

Consider bone shape

Number two is bone shape. Now, generally speaking, we have similar bone shapes. They are similar enough that it doesn’t make a big difference. However, there is a small percentage of people on both ends, more flexible or more restrictive types of bone shapes. This primarily happens at the shoulder joint and at the hip joint. Of course, it can be in other places. The ankle joint may be number three. There are a few places. But, for the most part, our knee joints are pretty similar. They are even more similar than the difference that might be found in a hip or a shoulder. Those are a little bit more variable.

Scapula shape

Now, we’re talking about shoulders. What are we talking about in shoulders? I’ve talked about this before. You can also look it up. There are three types of scapulae that have been identified. Everybody in the anatomy world recognizes this. One is more restrictive for certain movements. One is more freeing for movements. The one that the majority of people have is somewhere in the middle of the other two. Most of us have that one in the middle.

Abduction of the shoulder

But here’s the thing to remember. When we abduct our arm, this part of our humerus bumps into this part of our humerus. This is the acromion that you feel out at the end. That’s the very edge of your shoulder joint. You feel a little bone there. That’s the back corner of it. Then you come around and feel a little shelf and then feel the bump. The bump is where the clavicle meets the scapula.

When you abduct your arm, you only abduct—most people abduct to about 90 degrees. Don’t take the model too literally either. It’s just a plastic model. At around 90 degrees bones bump. Everything above that point for the majority of people is a movement of the scapula. So, from here abduct. Then, to take my arm here, I am upwardly rotating my scapula after I’ve abducted the shoulder joint itself. If you have more restriction here, that will make it even harder to get your arm up, much less, bend the elbow and take it down so that the hands touch in gomukhasana.

Understanding why the hands might not touch in gomukhasana

Now, if you’re trying to get the hands to touch in gomukhasana, that could be a factor. It could also impact rotation and your ability to rotate, especially this one which is internal rotation and can be more difficult. I don’t think you will find a bone shape problem with the scapula, but it could be a mobility issue with the scapula as well. So, we’ve got proportions. Bone shape is the second factor. I’d have to see Shaina to know which one of those two is relevant. And the third factor is less likely but possible. That is some mobility issue in the scapula. Okay? Those are the three potential reasons. If I saw Shaina, maybe I’d narrow it down to one or two of those.

Anyway, if you’ve got a question that you want me to answer on camera, go to yoganatomy.com/myquestion.