If You Feel the Edge, It’s Working!

There’s a lot you can learn from a Let It Go Yoga practice. Working your edge is one of the ways that Let It Go Yoga allows you to create a personal practice that is just right for you.

What is the edge? While holding a yoga pose, the edge is the place in your body where you feel the pose and you know you are getting a good stretch. It’s the place that gets your attention, where you are working in the pose and where you can also hold it for a few minutes. The place just before it is too uncomfortable to stay. Some students say “oh you mean, pain!” But in yoga, a better word for it is “heightened awareness”!

Let It Go Yoga looks easy and in some ways it is, but for many students it is a challenge. And it is meant to be challenging. When we are faced with a challenge some of us may automatically want to push and shove our way through it or some may not want to come into it enough to gain the benefit and that’s where learning how to work your edge comes in.

 

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Click here to view your free Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!

The beauty of finding your edge in a pose is that you are sure you are working the pose just enough that’s right for you.
While practicing yoga if you focus on the place where you feel the most sensation, you can learn to adjust and modify your practice to suit your needs.

For example: if you were to use a scale from 1 to 10, one being you cannot feel the pose at all, and 10 where it is too much to hold, your ideal edge would be a 5 or 6. The edge is the heightened sensation that will get your attention but the edge is NOT a sharp pain or pain that you need to endure in order to get benefit.

Once you’ve found it, or it has found you, you can begin to learn about yourself. This self inquiry will help you to focus and gather information.
You can decide if you need to back off or add more. You can notice if you are holding tension in other parts of your body. You can add deep breathing and see how the edge changes. You can create relaxation by using your thoughts and your internal dialogue to teach your body to release. You can notice your physical and mental state when you are at your edge. Adding this awareness will allow you to know where and what you need to let go of to relax and become more flexible in each pose.
Some days when I come into a pose and feel an edge in my hip, I notice that my entire body will begin to tighten up. I may tighten in my shoulder, my neck, my hands, my mind will tell me to get out of the pose. But if I can adjust the posture to a place where I can hold it for a few minutes, I can begin to practice control and surrender. I can control the amount of sensation I am experiencing and I can surrender and see what see what I can go of that really isn’t needed. I may feel a big release and realize that I have been needlessly holding on tight. Other times I need to be patient and breathe and gently allow my body to release as it’s ready. Sometimes, I realize that my self talk needs to change and my mind needs to let go of judgments and expectations.

Yet even in the most difficult poses, some of my students tell me that they don’t feel an edge! It’s true, some people are just a lot more flexible than others. But that does not mean that yoga is not working. If you are not feeling the poses, that just means you will need to experiment and find ways to heighten the sensation and bring yourself to the edge. You need to modify the pose by coming into it in a different way.

Either way, if you are feeling too much or not enough, it’s something only you can tell from the inside. On the outside it may look like the perfect pose… but if you do not feel the pose or if you are feeling too much, you need to explore and adjust until you find your 5 or 6.

Every day is different and every time you practice it will be different. Each time will bring you more awareness and give you an opportunity to release unnecessary pain and tension.

 

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Click here to view your free Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!

Finding your edge in your Let It Go Yoga practice is what brings you into the present moment and will be your guide to allow you to adjust the pose to your individual needs. It’s an important part of your yoga practice that lots of people miss. There is no one way or right way practice a pose. You need to find what works for you. It doesn’t matter if the pose looks perfect. If you can feel an edge, you know it’s working for you.

Written by Sue Anne Parsons, Owner of Let It Go Yoga, ERYT500, IAYT