The Healing Edge: an Introduction

One of the things I've been blessed with in my life is a very rich yoga practice. For me, it's become my wisest teacher, surprising me with new insights and a felt sense of rightness each time I practice. The concept of the healing edge was introduced to me through yoga and has been persistent in my practice from nearly the beginning. It's become a hugely helpful tool for growth as I bring what I've learned and continue to learn in yoga into my entire life.

In a nutshell, the healing edge is that place in you where, if you push past it, you risk injury, and if you don't quite reach it, you stay in the status quo. Your healing edge is that place of balanced effort and surrender where you find equanimity. I've found that it seems to be somewhere between 50 and 70% exerted effort. You go too far and you're struggling, flailing, hurting yourself (or even others); not far enough and you feel like you're lazing your way through, not trying at all. You feel bored, stuck in the same ol' place, or wonder "what's the point of this? it's too easy." The healing edge is that luscious place in between, it's that moving thread of just-right balance where insight is alive and possibility is transformed into something that really IS.

This healing edge is particularly helpful for those of us who are in a state of perpetual growth, always learning and striving to be better. I've been using it a bunch lately to work past difficult patches and the effect has been nothing short of transformative! It has helped me to tap into my internal wisdom, using it as my guide, to grow stronger, more courageous and easy-going. As a highly sensitive person, I'm prone to overwhelm at certain times and I've gotten pretty good at managing those times that are environmental or emotional in nature, but things get a bit tricky when the question of the purpose of my existence comes into play.

Perhaps this concept is totally new to you, so let me break it down. The idea of the healing edge has to do with the fact that the physical growth of living things happens at the edges. Two examples come to mind...

Imagine a sprouting seed, for one example. Under the right conditions, a dry, hard seed placed into soil will eventually sprout and transform into something grander, more substantial, more effective, more whole -- its ultimate plant form. It is at its healing edge where both new growth springs forth and old tissues die away.

Picture taken from http://www.steve.gb.com/science/plant_growth.html

As the seed swells and cracks through its outer shell, the cells of the sprout differentiate to become the first leaves, stem and rootlings of this new plant, the leaves grow and unfold, creating a pressure that eventually bursts forth from the hard outer casing entirely. The rootlings turn to roots,  becoming thicker and more effective at drawing nutrients and water as they reach downward and outward, expanding their hold and growing their network. The tiny petiole of a stem that was once tucked between the first leaves and the rootlings of this new seedling, widens as it lengthens, developing its structure especially designed for supporting the plant physically and providing a sort of conduit through which nutrients and water flow. The earliest leaves unfurl and spread as they follow the path of the apical meristem of the original germ, that persistent place in this budding form where cell differentiation initiates. This is the place where the cells of the new leaves, stems, and branches, possibly even flowers and fruit if it's in the plant's nature to develop those, get their functional assignments and transform from the same-same cells of the early seed to the reaching, growing, absorbing, breathing, supporting cells of the growing plant's whole self. The plant continues to grow as its cells differentiate throughout its entire life. It is at that place of differentiation where the healing edge of this plant resides.

Now, let's bring this into the human realm.

My favorite pose in yoga for finding my healing edge at this stage in my personal growth and yoga practice is Parsvottanasana because of its rich offerings of strengthening and flexibility in nearly every part of the body all at once. This pose creates an experience for me to feel wholly into those places of growth within my body and offers the fringe benefit of calming the mind. When I hold the pose long enough, exerting just the right amount of effort to maintain my alignment while deepening the stretch, breathing into it deeply to create space and relax into a place of feeling physically supported and held, I can begin to feel into those places of growth within my psyche and my soul. A simpler pose I'd like to offer is Upavistha Konasana (seated wide angle) as a another example of finding your healing edge so that you, too, can begin to bring it into your life. Check out Jess Ryan's video as she demonstrates. Notice how she speaks of "finding your own edge" about 2:40 minutes into the recording. As you practice this pose, you might even notice how you can find your own edge not only in how far you lean forward, but in the width of the angle of your legs, or even in the subtle nuances you can feel as you release into the pose. This is a great place to begin developing your awareness of this concept of the healing edge in your body so you can then begin bringing this awareness with you as you go about living your whole and beautiful life.

What other examples can you draw on from your own vast knowledge base to help you to find and explore your healing edge? Can you find it? How can you use it to nourish and germinate the seed of your intention -- the purpose behind your very existence? It just takes practice. Let it work its magic in you ... one breath at a time.