Changing the alignment of the pinky finger by moving it in line with the outer edge of my palm has been a radical restructuring of my practice.
Retraining my hand so that my pinky finger lines up with the outer edge of the palm has created a profound shift in my asana practice, especially inversions.
I don’t get many of those lightbulb moments anymore.
I am teaching this alignment cue in every one of my classes.
Sometimes I simply say look at your hands and move the pinky in line if isn’t there already. At other opportunities, I’ll take the time to go over the benefits in more detail.
What I am fascinated by is how most students hear the instruction “move the pinky” and rotate the whole hand and wrist instead.
At first, I disregarded this but it happens so consistently I am forced to think about it though I have no particular insight as to why so many people employ a consistently wrong adjustment.
I’ve used different variations on “move your pinky in line with the palm” and they all tend to produce a similar inverted wrist adjustment.
Changing the alignment of the pinky finger to be continuous with the outer edge of the palm is a great change to make in your practice.
Just make sure that you make the adjustment correctly and you will reap many benefits from a tiny shift of a finger.