Feedback, Breath and good alignment are the three important parts of your Edge.
Your Edge is an important component of your yoga practice. Finding and working with your Edge helps you improve your yoga practice. At the same time you avoid injuring yourself.
Your Edge is that comfortable yet challenging place in a yoga pose. There can be more than one Edge in an individual yoga pose. Usually you work through one challenge in a pose only to move onto a new challenge in another spot. In each of these spots there is an Edge that you can work with.
What is your Edge
Your Edge is that comfortable yet challenging spot within a yoga pose.
You move into a yoga pose as far as you can go without injuring yourself. If you go beyond this spot the risk of injury increases. If you back away from this position there will be no improvement in your flexibility.
One of the key ingredients in working with your Edge is moving towards and away from your edge as your breathe in and out. Moving to your breath is just one of the three components of working with your edge
What are the three parts of your Edge
When you work with your Edge you use all these parts to achieve the greatest benefit and avoid injury.
- Feedback
- Your Breath
- Your Alignment
To successfully work with your Edge you need to start with the feedback from your body.
1 -Feedback
As you approach your Edge in a yoga pose you become aware of the tension building in your muscles. At some point your body is going to warn you that if you go any further you are going to injure yourself. As you attempt to go beyond that point your muscles tense up to protect themselves from injury.
You use the feedback from your body to become aware of this tensing. This tensing means that you have passed your Edge and you are in the Danger Zone. It is time to back off a little bit and get back to your Edge.
You can use the feedback from your body to stay away from your Edge. No tension develops in your muscles because there is no need for them to protect themselves from injury.
In the first position, going beyond your Edge, your muscles will tense to protect themselves. In the second position, staying away from your Edge, your muscles remain relaxed. In both of these cases no stretching is happening and your flexibility is not improving.
The third position, staying at your Edge, is the only place that flexibility will develop.
Once you are able to approach your Edge and stay there it is time to add in your breath.
2 – Your Breath
To improve your flexibility you need to do more than just stay at your Edge. Using your breath you move towards and away from your Edge.
This movement is slow and small. As you breathe in you move away from your Edge. When you breathe out you move towards your Edge but not beyond. As you move forward you use the feedback from your body to sense when you are approaching your Edge.
As you breathe in you move away from your Edge. When you breathe out you move towards your Edge but not beyond.
The increasing tension in your muscles tells you when you have reached your Edge and it is time to stop your forward movement.
You get the most benefit when this movement is done with a slow breath. The slow movement lets your muscles become used to the stretching as you always stop at your Edge and never beyond.
Overtime as you approach your Edge on an exhale you will notice that you are able to move a little further into your pose than you could before. This means that your Edge has moved. You now have a new position to work with.
Adding good alignment to your breath and feedback improves the benefit of working with your Edge.
3 – Your Alignment
To get the most benefit from a yoga pose you need good alignment.
For example to create more flexibility in your hips as you fold forward you work with your ribs. To move the stretching from your lower back into your hips, lift your ribs away from your hips and straighten your back. This small movement causes your hips to get more involved in the stretching.
This change in alignment will protect your lower back and improve your flexibility as you use your Edge to move your hips forward.
What does it mean when my breath becomes restricted
You use the quality of your breath as another feedback mechanism from your body to show where you are in a pose relative to your Edge.
If your breath is flowing easily and there is no tension then you are away from your Edge.
If your breath is restricted or harsh then you have gone beyond your Edge and you are at risk of injuring yourself.
Slightly challenged breathing is the right place to be.
Summary
Using the feedback from your body as well as the feedback from the quality of your breath helps you to find your Edge.
Using your breath to move you away from and towards your Edge is the key to increasing your flexibility in your yoga pose.
Insuring that you have good alignment helps you to uncover the Edge that may be hiding in a pose.
Next Step
Your yoga teacher can help you to find your Edge in a yoga pose. Checking how you are moving with your breath will insure that you get the greatest benefit from working with your Edge.
Additional Reading
To learn more about working with your breath and your Edge have a look at How the Rolling Pin Factor works with your Edge.
Your breath can tell you if you have gone beyond your Edge. The article Why you should avoid the Volcano Zone in your yoga practice gives your more detail about avoiding this problem.
Why making a mountain out of a molehill is best for your yoga practice demonstrates how improve the alignment of your back in a yoga pose helps you to find your Edge.
