Working With Your Edge

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By Jill Gambaro

In yoga they talk about working with your edge. That in any given pose, on any given day, there's a limit to how much you can comfortably stretch your body.  One day you will be able to touch your toes, the next you won’t. There are many factors that enter into it, but in yoga they’re not important. Only the listening is. Whether you want to push yourself beyond that edge on any given day becomes a decision your body makes for you. Teachers instruct you though to keep your eyes on your own mat for competing with those around you is no way to progress yourself.

After five years of being disabled from carpal tunnel syndrome, I found that pushing myself from time to time actually helped. Not that day or the next day or two even. Instead, I often found I slept hard for the next several days. But by the next week, my functionality had increased. This is very important for a repetitive strain injury as lack of functionality is the biggest barrier to returning to a productive life. Pushing too hard too fast can cause major setbacks, but never pushing your edge can mean you never improve either.

I’m not a medical professional, I’m just speaking from my own experience so if you want to try this, proceed with caution. Many practitioners advise RSI patients to track their functionality so that you don’t ever exceed it. One cognitive behavioral practitioner advised me to stop long before I was tired or in pain in order to leave myself feeling more positive about the experience. There is wisdom in both approaches. But I did find that by carefully choosing when I thought I could handle pushing myself just a little, it made a huge difference.

If you’re going to attempt something like this, make sure you have an out. I would venture a 2-½ mile walk, an extra mile beyond my capacity at the time. The trail was a loop so doubling back would not have helped me. But sitting down and taking a break did. I chipped away at that 2-½ mile walk for over a year before I was able to conquer it.

There are lessons for everyone in this. We all have our limitations—physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. It is important I believe to honor those limitations. But if you want to improve in any area, lessons from the yoga mat are a good place to start. Listen!