I'm learning that going to my edge is where I experience the most aliveness in life.
The problem is that too often I revert back to my comfort zone all cozy-like and forget that the edge is where aliveness is. The past few weeks Sydney has been in full lockdown. It's also the middle of winter. So, I decided to go into hibernation in my cozy little apartment. Eat, sleep, drink (& write essays of course).
Sure I was warm, but I was feeling the dullness that comes from comfort zones. Every day I felt less and less alive.
For a long time I hid inside my comfort zones until three things changed me forever:
All three of these things have something in common. They push you to your edge. In fact, in Yin, you are encouraged to 'find your edge.' In yin, you practice slow, long poses where you meet the resistance of your body (& your mind) at the end of a pose. As you sit at your edge in a pose, breathing deeply you often find your body releasing and going deeper and deeper into the stretch.
It's my favourite part of yin.
It's where I feel the most alive. I feel every breath, every sound, every smell, every sensation. And I get a similar sensation when I lift a heavy weight, or when I dive into a cold Sydney ocean. It's where I come alive and find true awareness, deep awareness.
Aliveness has ruined me forever for comfort zones. Now I chase the edges.