Hi all,
I started yoga a few weeks ago and have noticed that during various postures my arms will shake a lot. From looking around i think i have the hakiest arms there. Is this normal? And i’d like to know if anyone else had shaky arms when they started and how long it went for? Does it even go away?
It will go away, your just getting your strength. It’s normal, and your fine.
What he said!
Any limb can go trembling. As long you are not pushing yourself to hard, its nothing bad.
Just relax and let the arms tremble, don’t judge it - just observe it.
I have the same thing but with my legs! I try to stay in the pose though untill I can’t focus no longer because of the trembling… it will get better and it will go away…some day 
Hi, namesake.
In what postures do you feel it ?
It may be not about strength or even stamina.
Just relax.
Hello Sasha and welcome to the forum,
Shaking in the physical body while in a yoga posture is not unusual, for either new students or those with long-standing practices. To reassure you, it is unlikely that this is a symptom of something to be concerned about, while staying curious as you are, is going to continue to benefit your practice 
Shaking, trembling or quaking in the body can happen due to few reasons, and here are two: 1) the muscles that are contacting are being fatigued; and 2) you may also be experiencing a [I]kriya[/I] (a physical/emotional/spiritual release through the body). Often there can be the experience of a combination of the two, with fatigue leading to a [I]kriya[/I], or vice versa.
In an environment that you feel safe and comfortable in, a [I]kriya[/I] can very beneficial, with some immediate emotional relief felt. This is the case, even though it can also be accompanied and followed by feelings of confusion, or “Wow! I feel so weird!” It is because what was in the tissues of our body is now released, and it is an unfamiliar feeling to be without this [I]granthi[/I] (knot) in our bodies.
If it is simply fatigue, then you will grow stronger in that pose by doing the pose with careful practice. If you are noticing fatigue, then use extra care in these postures to stay in a safe, middle range of motion that is relative to your own body; this keeps your joints safe while you build strength and endurance. We want the belly of your muscles to be doing the work and carrying the effort of the posture, never the attaching tendons or the joints themselves.
I hope this helps. If it doesn’t quite hit the mark, ask again and we’ll keep looking at it for you.
Wishing you well in your practice,
Nichole
Sasha,
would you describe your current asana practice please.
The possibilities are simply to broad for me to give you a sound reply without tht feedback.
thank you
gordon
SashaL, thank you for asking this question. I started about the same time as you and I experience this as well.
Along with what Nichole said you could be working the muscles too intensely or using them incorrectly. This causes the nerve to fire and cause the shaking. Proceed slowly with a new practice. You want to strengthen and lengthen, but not overwork the muscles. When you begin to shake in a pose, come out of the pose for a breath or two and then try again.
Best of luck!
Thanks everyone for your helpful answers. To Sasha , and InnerAthlete the trembling occurs mainly in any position which requires sustained strength in my arm muscles, so downward facing dog, cat, warrior one and warrior two. It appears my legs are much stronger as they rarely tremble (I wonder why?) I also managed to pinch a nerve in my right elbow last time! I’m not sure how I did this, but I need to be more careful.
Actually the information I was requesting is the duration and frequency of your practice, the style of practice (hot, cold, frozen, fast, slow, slower, Bikram, Iyengar, viniyoga), and the postures you are doing throughout the class.
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;34656]@SashaL
Actually the information I was requesting is the duration and frequency of your practice, the style of practice (hot, cold, frozen, fast, slow, slower, Bikram, Iyengar, viniyoga), and the postures you are doing throughout the class.[/QUOTE]
I do it for an hour, once a week. The yoga I’m doing is called power yoga. I am not sure what all those terms mean, but I guess it’s fast? It’s not done in a heated room, just normal room temperature. And no props are used.
Ahhhhh thank you. It’s like a breath of fresh air in a musty room.
Generally speaking, muscle tremors are not a desired effect of the practice. Further, there are several possible reasons for it - one of which is that the practice itself is overworking the student. It can also be that the student is over working and the practice itself is not - though that is less likely than the former.
In some cases the tremors can be confusion in the nervous system and there are even some who assert that such tremors are not only helpful release of that which is stored in the muscle tissue but necessary for well being. That is not particular a position I hold.
If you are relatively inactive in the rest of your living and this is your return to activity or introduction to it, then the sort of practice you’ve chosen would very likely lead to shaking. It is a very active, fiery, yang practice which tends to place great demand on muscles in a “ready or not” fashion, thus the lack of modifications (or props as you point out).
If my student were asking I would suggest she determine if the shaking will abate as she becomes more accustomed to the practice, all the while paying close attention to the state of her nervous system, not just during practice but in the period in between sessions. Should it become obvious the nerves are frazzled before it becomes obvious the shaking is stopping then perhaps a sampling of another style of practice (gentler not friskier) would be appropriate.
Some people say it is releasing and purging,cathartic, which it can be and some people say it is not really desirable.I tend to lean towards the not really desirable. But it could perhaps be the former and you might be on your ‘edge’ perhaps. It could also occur in someone new to the practice…I always tend to err on the side of caution though,as yoga tends to be about gentle coaxing, and may be done ina very systematic and intelligent way,certainly never forcing.Harmonising,more like.
It could suggest that the muscles would the love to embrace the changes but the nervous system has not adjusted sufficiently( spasm or tremors for e.g might suggest it’s sending another signal and you’ve went beyond gentle coaxing).This in turn might point towards nervous system inducing and relaxing(i.e parasympathetic ) practices like pranayama and meditation, and be sure to get in a decent enough savasana at the end of your asana and/or over-all session.