I had a yoga class this week, where we did a lot of twisting and fwd bends. After class, a young - very flexible student, informed me that 1/2 thru class when we did a long lying down twist (jathara parivartanasana) with partner assist (holding shoulder and thigh), that her right thumb became numb and continued to be numb thru out the class. I thought that this area might be associated with the opening of the intestines for that side. Could you explain this occurrence? Thank you, Peace.
I suspect her reaction is due to over stretch of the brachial plexus (armpit). The nerves there come from the neck and if either the head is not aligned during the twist or the hand is held above the armpit height, this can occur. A very flexible person will have an increase in vata, which can also make neck alignment unstable.