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Chapter 8
Playing The EdgeA large part of the art and skill in yoga lies in sensing just how far to move into a stretch.
If you don’t go far enough, there is no challenge to the muscles, no intensity, no stretch,
and little possibility for opening. Going too far, however, is an obvious violation of the body, increasing the possibility of both physical pain and injury. Somewhere between
these two points is a degree of stretch that is in balance intensity without pain, use
without abuse, strenuousness without strain. !ou can e"perience this balance in every
posture you do.
#his place in the stretch is called your $edge.% #he body’s edge in yoga is the
place just before pain, but not pain itself. &ain tells you where the limits of your physical
conditioning lie. 'dges are marked by pain and define your limits. (ow far you can fold
forward, for e"ample, is limited by your fle"ibility edge) to go any further hurts and is
actually counterproductive. #he length of your stay in a pose is determined by your
endurance edge. !our interest in a pose is a function of your attention edge.
In daily life, he we can to remain within a familiar but limited comfort *one bystating away from both our physical and mental edges. #his would be fine e"cept that as
aging occurs these limits close in considerably. +ur bodies tighten, are range of
movement decreases, and our strength and stamina diminish. y consciously bringing
the body to its various limits or edges and holding it there, gently nudging it toward more
openness with awareness, the long, slow process of closing in begins to reversed itself.
#he range e"pands as the edges change.
Sensing where your edges are and learning to hold the body there with awareness,
moving with its often subtle shifts, can be called $playing the edge.% #his is a large part
of what you’ll be doing in your practice. !our skill in yoga has little to do with your
degree of fle"ibility or where your edges happened to be. -ather, it is a function of how
sensitivity you play your edges, no matter where they are.#his is a very freeing idea. ormally, we have an idea of how the posture
$should% be. /e have ideas about how deep we should be able to go into a pose, but we
should look like while we are there, and how long we should be able to stay. /e are
often more aware of what we aren’t than what we are.
#his idea of the $completed% or $ideal% posture as a specific destination
somewhere it the future is often a lurking presence in the back of our minds as we do the
poses. ecause of this, there will necessarily be a gap between where you are in the
posture and where you think you should be. #his gap, more often than not, contains a
subtle frustration, a conflict, a feeling that where you are is insufficient0or worse, who
you are is insufficient0and that if you were truly doing yoga properly and were a $good%
or $evolved% person, you would be somewhere other than where you are. If this is the
case, your practice will be permeated with the effort of going somewhere else. It will be
future1oriented, the present moment being, significant only as a stepping stone to the
future. And you will miss being present.
'nvisioning the postures in advance can yield dramatic results, however. And
watching
someone else do and advanced and difficult posture that you would like to achieve can
be especially helpful, both because you see it is possible and can be performed with ease,
a because your nervous system0simply by watching0receives a tremendous about of
nonverbal information about how to perform the pose correctly. (aving that information
in your nervous system and the back of your mind as you practice can make that poseeasier for you, as one as you use it as a general guidelines that you understand will be
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healthy understanding of pain0and to have a feeling for the distinction between pain and
intensity.
#he word pain actually stands for a variety of different possible sensations raging
anywhere from sharp and intense to subtle and dull. &hysical pain may arise from a
variety of causes) a pulled muscle, for e"ample, or from a stretch that’s too intense.
&sychological pain often involves the feeling that you are in a place you don’t like, doingsomething you would rather not be doing.
(erein lies one of the reasons for the fre4uent confusion between intensity and
pain. A powerful stretch, whether or not you have gone too far, will generate an intense
sensation. Someone who is not used to intensity or is e"cessively worried about getting
hurt may be afraid of the intense sensation and resist it. Resisted intensity becomes pain.
#herefore, even relatively mild levels of intensity can be e"perienced as pain if you go
beyond your psychological edge.
If fear prevents you from going deeper or staying longer in a posture, it is wise to
avoid overriding the fear by being brave or courageous, since this makes injury more
likely. Instead of pushing past psychological limits, open more slowly by finding a less
intense level of stretch just before fear enters. (old the position there as you deepen the breath, rela", and acclimati*e to the stretch. y playing the edge of fear like this, you
never have to e"perience psychological discomfort.
#his can have a very profound influence on all aspects of your life. +ne of the
things you learn in yoga is to enjoy working with intensity. Intensity is simply more
“energy” at any given moment, more feeling. (appiness and sadness, for e"ample, can
both the e"perienced with more or less intensity. If you are unable or unwilling to deal
with an increase in intensity, however, not only in your yoga but in your daily life as
well, your range of life e"perienced will necessarily remain limited and narrow. !oga
can teach you to enjoy and learn from a broader range of e"perience. It will encourage
you to seek out and process more intensity. #he more you do this within the safe area of
yoga practice, the more it will influence all of your life. #his is not as intense as it may
sound. 3ore intensity isn’t even noticeable as you become open and strong.
#his has two distinct advantages. 5irst, you’ll will be able to allow more pleasure
into your life. 3ore good will come to you because you are open and receptive, no
longer pushing it away. !ou will e"perience more joy and find yourself able to handle
the heightened intensity of happiness. (aven’t you noticed that even in the midst of joy,
something you thought you wanted, there is often a part of you that wants to turn it off2
+r at least turn it down a bit2 It’s difficult to handle intensity of any kind, even if you
like it. !oga can change this for you forever. As you are able to generate more energy
and process more intensity in the poses with enjoyment and full willingness, you will
correspondingly be able to receive and process more goodness in your life.Secondly, yoga teaches you to e"perience the so1called $negative% emotions and
intensities without being overly disturbed by them, without having to run away from
them. #hey will feel less intensive than they previously would have. !ou will then be
able to learn from the $bad% and painful e"periences in life without being bowled over by
them. And therefore, because your full range of life e"perience is being broadened and
enlarged in all directions, you are now able to learn from both the $good% and $bad,%
making your life that much richer.
It is important to learn how to generate voluntary intensity deliberately and
willingly, by deepening the breath, increasing the current, strengthening your lines,
and flirting with the various edges that arise in each pose. #his is best learned in
postures that are easy for you. In these postures any intensity you e"perience is largelyself1generated. 6earn to create voluntary intensity in these easy poses and an the early
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stages of any pose you do, and then delicately press into your tight areas in order to
nudge them gently to greater openness. #his will prepare you for the intensely
pleasurable sensations that come with the territory of advanced yoga. Intensity is
pleasurable when you are prepared for it, when you are able to let go into it) it becomes
unpleasant when you resist it or generate too much. Skill in yoga involves creating the
perfect amount of intensity0not too much, not too little.
Minimum and Maximum Edges
'very pose has a $minimum edge% and a $ma"imum edge,% as well as a series of
intermediary edges between these. 3ost of us are aware of the ma"imum edge, it is the
easiest to detect. #his is the point where the stretch begins to hurt. It is the furthest point
of tightness beyond which you should not go. If you were to force yourself beyond this
point, you would definitely be in pain and might easily hurt yourself or pull a muscle.
#he minimum edge is where you sense the very first sensation of stretch, the very
first hint of resistance coming from your muscles. 5or e"ample, bending over andtouching your toes may ta" you to the ma"imum, but about halfway down 7or less8 you
can sense the first edge. #his is where you initially become aware of a stretch.
It is important to be aware of your very first edge, your minimum edge. #aking
your time to open that edge is like preparing to go through a series of gates. !ou must go
through the first gate before you can go through the second, and the second before the
third. #he real key to depth in postures is going slowly, making sure you have
thoroughly opened your early edges.
As you come into a pose, look for your very first edge. Do not rush past it.
When you feel that edge, stop. top moving, deepen the breath, clarify your energy
lines, and wait for it to open. !ou will know the first edge has opened when the
sensations of stretch begin to diminish. At that point you will naturally want to go deeperinto the posture. -ather than having to push your way in, you will feel drawn into the
pose. As you are drawn deeper, a new edge will soon appear, and the sensations of
stretch will come back. /ait for the sensations at this new edge to diminish before going
deeper.
9o this over and over. /ait for the sensations of stretch to diminish somewhat
and then go deeper. It will feel as though you are sneaking into the pose, not barging
your way in. &roceed slowly, edge by edge and gate by gate. Apply pressure and wait
for the musculature to open. #hen you can move deeper into the pose, apply more
pressure, all the while orchestrating the tone of the pose with the breath and current, and
waiting for the musculature to open and the sensations of stretch to diminish. :ontinue
working like this until the musculature will no longer release. #hen stay where you are
and be motionless. -etain the sense of energy and stretch, and release every hint of
strain. e as rela"ed as you can be) do and don’t1do. /hen you sense that it is nearly
time to come out of the pose, delicately accelerate your energy for a moment. 5inally,
release the stretch altogether and come out of the pose.
/hile you are at each new subse4uent edge, deepen the breath, define and clarify
your lines, and pay close attention to the actual feelings of the stretch. ;eep tabs on
whether you are enjoying yourself or not. If not, why not2 5ind a way of doing the pose
that is enjoyable. And then be interested Are the sensations increasing2 If so, it’s a sign
that you are too deep in the posture and should back off a bit. Are the sensations staying
the same2 If so, stay where you are, deepen the breath, and wait for the sensations of
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stretch to diminish. And when the sensations of stretch have diminished somewhat and
you are able to rela" with intensity, you will instinctively know it is time to go deeper.
&roceed step by step, edge by edge, paying close attention to what you are doing,
being sensitive to be changing sensations of stretch. -emember, yoga is essentially an
awareness process wherein you attend to these subtle shifts in sensation and feeling. #he
attention you give to these changing sensations of stretch is what e"ercises and developsyour sensitivity. !ou will become sensitive to subtler and subtler sensations.
/hen the sensations of intensity no longer diminish at the new edge, it means
your muscles are not yet ready for a stronger or deeper stretch. !ou can flirt with these
tight areas by pressing into them gently, by changing the strength and character of your
breathing, by increasing and decrease the current in your lines, by staying in the posture
longer, or by doing several repetitions of the pose0but do not force your way through
them. -espect your tight edges. 6ure them to greater openness.
#he more you do this, the better you’ll get at it. Instead of telling your body when
to move or what to do, you’re learning to wait until it’s ready. !ou wait for the inner
feeling to tell you when to move. !ou listen for the inner cue to action, and this becomes
easier and easier to detect. /hen you feel the energy flowing freely and the sensations ofintensity beginning to wane, that’s the sign. If you go too fast, however, the sensations
will increase instead of diminish. #here will be pain0a roadblock to the free flow of
energy. #his is feedback that you have gone too deep, too fast, too soon. e interested in
the feedback you’re receiving from your body while you are in the pose.
6et’s take an imaginary pose and rate it from one to ten. $+ne% is the beginning
of the pose. $#en% is as far as you can go before reaching pain. #here is no pain in the
one1to1ten range, though the sensations of stretch will become increasingly intense has
you approach ten. Anything beyond ten we will not consider.
As you proceed from one to ten, the intensity will gradually increase. At one you
will not feel much, but somewhere around two or three you will feel your first edge.
3ost of the time we rush past these early edges, looking for the real stretch deeper in the
pose. It’s important, however, to find your first edge and acclimati*e yourself there
before deepening. It is the opening of this early edge that allows the later, deeper
openings to occur. If you’re early edges are not fully open, your body will not be ready
for the intensity of the deeper e"tensions. Somewhere around eight or nine and inching
into ten is what I would call your ma"imum edge, the deepest e"tension or degree of
intensity you are now capable of sustaining without pain or discomfort. -emember,
never push yourself into pain.
It your limits in a posture are marked by pain, and if the intensity of the stretch
continues to increase as you come closer and closer to your ma"imum edge, how do you
tell the difference between pain and intensity2 'asy< #he answer is obvious. If you donot like the sensation and you do not want to be there, it’s pain. It’s totally up to you.
#his is your yoga. !ou are not here to punish yourself or do something you don’t want to
do. !ou are learning to generate an intensity that is attractive, pleasurable, that you like
and want. It’s something you are actually looking for. At your ma"imum edge, just
before pain0but not in pain0is and intensity that is e"tremely pleasurable. #herefore,
go slowly. #ake your time. 9on’t mess that perfect point. Increase the intensity of the
pose gradually and deepen the pose with care. #his will teach you to enjoy and
assimilate greater amounts of energy and intensity.
#he feeling1toned of a perfectly orchestrated strong stretch at a deep edge has a
seductive 4uality to it. It’s intense, pleasurable, e"hilarating, and invigorating. !our
body will like it. #his should not be surprising, however, because by stretching your body to full openness, you are freeing yourself from the constraints of tightness,
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contraction, and pain. !ou are increasing your internal energy flow, flushing new life
through your system, opening and nourishing yourself at very deep levels) and all of this
is good for you and therefore feels good. ut if you unawarely press too deeply, too
4uickly, into a posture, then the pleasurable and attractive sensations of intensity will
become painful and unattractive. If you happen to go too far into a stretch0$too far%
meaning you do not light it0than ease out of the pose until you do. :enter yourself inyour breathing, regain composure, and then slowly go in again, being more careful this
time.
e clear about this if you start not liking the stretch for any reason, then move
out of the pose until you find a place you do like. -easons for not liking where you are
can be physical or psychological. !ou may be stretching the muscle too much, or you
may not be in the mood. 'ither reason is valid. ever be in a place you don’t want to be.
If you do not like it, change it. Adjust. 5ind the degree of stretch you can totally
immerse yourself in.
Sometimes you will want to flirt for seriously with your various resistances and
with the common reluctance to stay with an intense, and perhaps uncomfortable,
sensation for an e"tended period of time. ut doing this when you want to do this isdifferent from doing it when you do not want to. If you avoid feedback and spend a lot
of time being uncomfortable or in pain, you are not going to enjoy doing yoga. !ou will
not look forward to your practice. !ou will not be working with the principles of
opening. And by encountering unnecessary tension and resistance, you will not be doing
your body any good, either.
Edges, Breathing, and Wholeness
Since your movements and stretches will be coordinated with your breathing 7$3ove
when you breathe, and breathe when you move%8 the most subtle and sensitive way to play your edges and fine1tune the feel of your stretches is with your breathing. /ithout
the sensitive use of your breathing, your stretches cannot be precise. #he muscles and
lines are not sensitive enough in themselves, nor sufficiently delicate, to fine1tune a
stretch accurately.
#he overall feeling in your muscles and body is the sound of yoga. #he sound is
a feeling, a tone, a feeling1tone) it’s very much like singing a note. And if $ sharp.%
:ontinual readjustment is necessary to stay perfectly tuned. I usually create a line of
energy that is slightly flat, just below perfect tension and with low current. I then deepen
the breath as I increase the current to fine1tune the line. #his enables me to press
delicately into an edge from the insight out without invoking the stretch1refle"
withdrawal mechanism) and if I happen to go too far, I soften my breathing, back off theedge somewhat, decrease the current in my lines, then try again. In this way it is possible
to create a strong current of energy in any given line, or flirt with a ma"imum edge, or
perform a difficult and advanced posture without forcibly pushing beyond physical and
psychological edges. #he moment you do that, remember, your intention will fragment,
and your attention will wander. !ou will begin to resist what you are doing, part of you
wanting to continue and part of you wanting to stop.
#he hallmark of practicing yoga probably, however, is wholeness, whole1
heartedness, not being in conflict. #he idea is too generate wholeheartedly the optimum
intensity of energy by consciously creating and increase or decrease in current. !ou then
use this energy to e"tend your boundaries and limits, to e"pand your comfort *one,
basically0both physically and psychologically speaking. !oga is not about $ pushingthrough the pain,% $ overcoming the pain,% $ no pain, no gain,% or about being
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e"cessively willful. It you are having to be brave and courageous in order stoically to
withstand e"cessive intensity, you are pushing too hard. !ou are forcing the issue,
fighting. Never fight yourself . !oga is not about fighting. #here is no advantage to this
and there are many disadvantages. 'ase up when necessary. Intensify when appropriate.
&ractice skillfully.
#he optimum degree of intensity is the amount that elicits your ability attention)sometimes this will be a lot, and sometimes this will be a little. #he correct amount is the
amount that helps you be one1pointed and whole. It is the amount that feels perfect to
you now. #oo much is a strain, and too little is not sufficiently interesting. !our mind
will wander in either case. Getting $better% at yoga means getting better at generating the
perfect degree of current, intensity, breath, and feeling so that, in that moment, you are
consciously one with what you’re doing0whole, not conflicted, and e"actly where you
want to be.
#herefore, learn to be more interested in the feeling1tone of your body than in
how deep you are in the posture. 6earn to create and energy flow that is attractive to you.
9o this by pressing into your edges with the perfect degree of current and the perfect
pitch of breath. -eali*e this is not a function of how fle"ible you are. A stiff body cando this just as beautifully as a fle"ible one. #he beautiful inner music0the inner feeling
0is the yoga, not the achievement of elaborate postures. And be assured, your body will
grow more beautiful and become strong and fle"ible by being played beautifully.
#his is where the concept of push and yield most meaningfully displays itself.
#he art of yoga lies in how well you play your edges, how delicately you flirt with your
limitations, how well you lure yourself deeper into the postures, how sensitively you
balance the desire to achieve results with the rela"ing of non1desire and surrender, and
how thoroughly you immerse yourself in the process and enjoy what you are doing. And
again, the primary tool you use is your breathing. !our breathing orchestras the
feeling"tone of the poses as it brings them to life.
#eep in mind that the various poses are like maps into your body. (aving a
map, however, does not infer a specific goal or a predetermined destination of where you
should be in the pose. #he idea is too use the map to e"plore0to look deliberately for
tight, blocked areas within yourself0open them, and thereby create lines of clean energy
flow. #his re4uires that you be delicate, deliberate, and e"actly, not in the sense of
$blueprint,% but in the sense of being increasingly inwardly sensitive for the specific
alignment and intensity of stretch that feels most right. #his entails pressing for greater
depth in the poses, greater openness, yet also remaining passive and yielding. !ou knock
on the door, breathe, wait, then go deeper when the musculature lets you in.
=se your breathing and energy lines to nudge into your edges, being watchful and
patient. 9o not barge in, but also don’t just remain passive. Apply pressure in specificareas, increase the intensity gradually, breathe, and wait for them to release. 6ovingly
persuade the tight areas to open, breath by breath by breath. :ommunicate nonverbally
to the various tight areas that it is in their best interest to rela" and open. !ou this by
finding easy places in the poses where you can establish an energy flow, then bring this
flow into the contracted area.
Again, never push yourself into positions that cause you to resist the stretch
physically or emotionally. Always start from comfort and safety, and only increase the
stretch after you’re comfortable where you already are. #hen feel free to go after your
deeper e"tensions and stronger stretches. =se as much ambition and desire as you want.
&ush as much as you want. 6et go as much as you can. ut learn to do all of this with
sensitivity. 9eepen the breath and increase the force in your lines at relatively easystages, then wait and be patient. !our body will open and let you in when it’s ready. y
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staying at easy stages of the pose longer, you will increase your strength and endurance.
!ou will need these in order to hold the increased fle"ibility that will accrue through time
and practice.
kill in yoga is a matter of harmoni$ing your breathing with your energy lines
as you flirt with your edges. It’s a matter of getting all three just right, of changing them
when necessary, and of adjusting and readjusting in order to create the feeling1tone that isthe most attractive to you in that moment. It’s a matter of adjusting the tension and
stretch of your muscles, and the pitch of your breathing, to produce the perfect feeling1
tone. !ou can make it e"4uisite. #he more perfect it is, the more one1pointed and
focused your mind will be.