One of the key elements of Healing Yoga is working at the edge of bodily sensation. The edge marks the healthy limits of your body’s flexibility and the place when your mind naturally focuses when you are fully aware of your body.
Going over the edge brings pain which is a clear signal from the nervous system that damage is occurring. Practicing short of your edge often reflects an unwillingness to put out energy or to fully feel what’s going on.
Practicing at the relaxed side of your edge, you can breathe deeply and safely explore the posture. Finding that one sensation that is calling to you the loudest, you are able to hold it as you remain in silent witness of it. Over time your body’s limits expand and your edge expands until you reach a healthy range of motion and a feeling of balance and well being in your body.
You don’t need to fall off the cliff to know it’s edge. By approaching it with caution and attention you are able to reach that sweet spot where tension, density and holding begin to dissipate without any action on your part other than being present. In that moment of deep connection breath and energy move in, and through the edge. Years of dis-ease begin to dissolve.
Unprocessed emotions of fear, anger, grief, shame and guilt often start to arise, many times disconnected from their source but sometimes carrying with them a memory. Don’t give in to reliving that emotional experience but rather review it – observe it from a distance and at the same time give yourself permission to fully feel it. While this may sound like a paradox, the one who sees is not the one who feels. Knowing you are in a safe space and fully supported allows you to surrender to the experience.
Some poses you will be able to hold for just a few breaths, others longer.
Resist the tendency to give in to Ego and endure the posture. Instead explore and embrace what happens when you relax and breathe while holding the posture. Holding your breath is a clear sign that you are resisting so let the breath flow easily and smoothly. Work up to where you can hold a posture for a full 5 to 7 breaths.
The body needs this time to feel supported and safe so as to be able to fully surrender into the flow of energy.
In presence there is the freedom to love oneself from a higher vantage point, that of Spirit choosing to have certain human experiences so as to grow and evolve. Caring for oneself in this manner takes the Edge to another level.
