Recognizing the Edge

I talk with my students about finding our edge. That spot where we get a good stretch, but if we go further it's too much. Usually we find our edge by toeing our way over the line, and then backing up to it.

And if we take on too much, too fast, we risk injury. If we're going so fast we don't even see the edge, we're pretty much guaranteeing damage.

I certainly play with the edge in my own Yoga practice and it changes day by day. But today isn't about Yoga.

I walk nearly every day. I walk to work and I wear a heart rate monitor to ensure I'm walking fast enough. I usually avoid walking down the big hill from my house because it is hard for me to get my heart rate up high enough while going downhill.

So today I ran part of the way. And what was I thinking after a few short, very slow, jogs?

• I stopped running for a reason. Because my body kept telling me that running was a little too much for it.
• Back when I injured my knees I was told that running downhill is one of the worst things I can do to my knees.
• My knee hurts. Already. After a very short run.

Then I had a choice. Listen to what my body was telling me and pull back from the edge. Or push through. I listened. I will not be running. After work I tried some techniques to get my heart rate up while walking.

The edge is about listening to the wisdom that lies inside of us before it screams to be heard.