That bit of counterintuitive wisdom from one of my yoga gurus changed things for me. When I first started practicing yoga, over ten years ago, I almost gave it up when I joined a class and the instructor demonstrated a pose that drew a visceral reaction from me. My immediate thought was, "There's no f*in way I can do that!"
Luckily, I kept coming back and eventually learned that the objective is not to get into specific poses or to hold poses for specific times. Rather, the objective is to Find the Edge. It can be the Edge of flexibility, the Edge of strength, the Edge of endurance, or all three at once. So, if I'm tight, it's easier for me to Find the Edge, and therefore, it's easier for me to do yoga.
Interesting things happen when I Find the Edge and stay there for a bit (i.e., hold a pose). Over time, the Edge changes — I get more flexible, stronger, and more resilient. It even happens in the moment. When I breath into a pose, I get deeper without even thinking about it. All I have to do is... Find the Edge.
Changing my focus from doing poses to finding the Edge has allowed me to let go of judgement, accept where I am at any given time, and progress smoothly. It has made all the difference in my yoga practice, and I have come to realize that it is a key to success in other things, as well. For instance, I found success in weight lifting (Find the Edge for Progressive Overload), endurance training (Find the Edge for Zone 2), and High Intensity Interval Training (Find the Edge for VO2 Max and EPOC).
Find the Edge also applies to business success, but more on that later.
