I have a few clients that have wrist problems… what can i suggest to them to do during practice? plank, down dog, etc?
i hav wrist problems as well, i just work up to harder wrist exercises and make sure i dont hurt myself anymore
you can place the heels of your hands on a wedge or simply on a rolled yoga mat when in down dog, etc to decrease the angle of extension of the wrists. you can also have them change the position of the hands slightly, so that instead of being directly under the shoulders they are slightly in front of the shoulders, this also changes the angle of extension. in extreme cases you can have them modify using the seat of a chair or the wall. in some poses you can have students make a fist rather than having the hand extended at 90 degrees.
the wrist strength will definitely come with time, but it is also important to build flexibility through some simple stretches such reverse prayer position or bringing the hands to prayer position and drawing the heels of the hands downward.
if wrist pain is minor, simply having the student spread the fingers and press down through the knuckles where the fingers join the palms of the hands can help take some of the strain off the wrist joint.
if you want to read about this problem in detail, there is an excellent article at yoga journal: http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1247.cfm
namaste!