Gyro balls and yoga

The Powerball is a relatively new gyro-based exercise device intended for strength building in the wrists and fore-arms. I'm using it to help me in my yoga practice.

Aasanas that require wrist and forearm strength are greatly benefited by using the wrist exercising gyro for 3-5 minutes a day.

For example, using the gyro helped me get going with hamsasana (where your fingers are pointing towards your face)

which is a lot harder than mayurasana (where your fingers are pointing away from your face, and towards your feet).

You can immediately spot the difference between the final pose for each posture.

1. In hamsasana, your body is bent at the buttocks, whereas in mayurasana, the body is mostly straight.
2. In hamsasana, your face is closer to the ground than it is in mayurasana.
3. In hamsasana, you are bent further forward (angle that the forearms make with the floor) than you are in mayurasana.
4. In hamsasana, your back is slightly more bent compared to mayurasana, where you back is mostly straight.
5. In hamsasana, your elbow is further down your abdomen compared to mayurasana, where it is tucked into your stomach.
6. Hamsasana needs more wrist strength compared to mayurasana.