Finding Your Edge

This is my niece Lexie and today is her first of kindergarten. She reminds me a lot of myself. She's quiet, but not necessarily shy, she's fiercely loyal, tender hearted and very determined in her ways. And when I see her carrying a camera around snapping photos and doing yoga in the front yard, I know that she's a girl after my own heart.

In yoga class I often use the phrase "find your edge", referring to how far one should move into a pose. Not being overly cautious and not stretching far enough, but at the same time, don't stretch beyond your body's limits for that particular day. There's a fine line that exists and it's different for everybody.

The phrase of "finding your edge" can apply to your yoga practice and your daily life. Try doing something different every once in a while (or maybe once a day) that's takes you just a little out of your comfort zone. I can think of several times when I took a big step out of my comfort zone and I learned so much from these experiences. In graduate school I accepted an internship in a teeny tiny town in South Carolina. I'd never been to SC and I lived there for the summer with a host family working as a recreation director for a rural community. I accepted a job in TX, once again I had never been there but this time I swapped my host family with Andy, my soon to be husband at the time. I presented at a National Conference and overcame a fear of public speaking in front of my professional peers. I decided to train for a marathon when I had never ran more than three miles. I quit my job in TX to move back home and instead of getting a "real" job I decided to focus on teaching yoga. Now two years later I'm on the edge of opening my very own yoga studio. I get so excited just thinking about it!

So if you ever need a little inspiration on just how exactly to find your edge. Watch your children (or nieces and nephews), go to a playground or a park and observe how they interact with each other and the world around them. For they are the ones finding and exploring their edge on a daily basis. Just like Lexie in the photo, making her first attempt at tripod headstand. She fell over but got right back up and tried again.