Thread: Playing the Edge

Before heading out to my 10-day meditation course sans speaking, reading, writing, internet, cell phone, wallet, house keys, and meals after 12pm, I leave you with this nugget of wisdom from the First Ourselves website:

The other day, while powering through a particularly challenging workout at the gym, a friend looked up at me from the weight bench and asked, “Why do you work out so hard?”

I paused, wondering how to give her a short version of a long answer. “Pushing myself in the gym is what gives me the courage to push myself in my daily life.”

My friend got it. Recovering from a recent knee surgery, her workouts are often fraught with pain and fatigue as she seeks to regain function of her knee.

In the 1970s, yoga teacher Joel Kramer coined the concept of “playing the edge.” What is the edge? The edge is where you brush up against your physical and mental limits in a yoga pose. I play my edge when I push my body in the gym.

Karly Randolph Pitman
founder, First Ourselves

The key to playing your edge is detachment. Instead of resisting your edge, fighting against the discomfort, you breathe, and then push your edge a bit deeper: adding another set of weights, trying a new exercise, or attempting a challenging workout. As you push yourself forward, out of your comfort zone, you meet up against another edge. Then you deepen that edge. And on and on and on.

As you play your edges, you expand your idea of what’s possible. I played my edge last week when I popped up into a headstand without using a wall for support.

And I also played my edge when I was feeling anxious, fearful and lonely one evening after dinner, and instead of reaching for food, I sat with my desire to eat without acting on it.

What are your edges? How can you play them? The next time you feel like you have to eat that bite of cake or cookie, can you play your edge, breathe, and see if you can sit with the discomfort of craving without imbibing?

When someone criticizes your eating habits, or mocks your desire to give up sugar, can you play your edge, responding with a sincere, “I love the way I eat. It works for my body.” And let go of any judgment, self-consciousness, or need to compare yourself to them?

As you play your edges, you find your desire to eat sugar fading. You recognize that you have incredible strength, the ability to ignore the pull of your monkey mind, demanding its next sugar hit. You learn that you can persevere; that you can endure; that your successes do outweigh your failures.

And as you play your edges with sugar and in the gym, you expand that space to play your edges with your very life. Life itself becomes an opportunity to leap out of your comfort zone.

Staying sugar free is my hero’s journey. It’s how I play my edge. It’s how I travel the path of the warrior, embracing my sugar abstinence as a spiritual practice.

CONT'D...

CONT'D...



No one ever said that following your true calling would be easy. Playing the edge, while sounding lighthearted, may be anything but. The ancient myths and stories are full of heroes who went through many trials and hardships before they arrived at their final destination; before they completed their destiny. (Notice the similarity between those words: Destiny; destination?) The warrior’s way is by its essential nature a challenge. It’s very difficulty is what refines and hones us, what softens our rough edges.

There are times when my walk is uphill; when the journey is harrowing; when my sugar abstinence feels too hard. And during those times, what keeps me going are three things:

The love and respect I have for my willingness to pursue the difficult.

The love I feel from my creator, from the universe, from those around me. God wouldn’t give me a challenge if he didn’t also give me the resources to overcome it.

And the courage, determination and strength that I gain every time I hit the yoga mat, the weight room, or the streets outside my door: every time I push my body past its edges.

To your abundant health,

Karly Randolph Pitman

Originally Posted by Azhia

Before heading out to my 10-day meditation course sans speaking, reading, writing, internet, cell phone, wallet, house keys, and meals after 12pm...

Did you know friend, that I admire you? Wanna be my guru?

Seriously, I wish you the best during your spiritual path... I'll be thinking of you and sending you good vibes!

Love 'n' kisses! Mouah!

Qamar

Thank you for sharing for the benefit of all!

no speaking, reading, writing, internet, cell phone, wallet, house keys, and meals after 12pm,

Wow...heaven...your going to heaven? except for that food thing, of course!

Wonderful - thanks for that!

Let us know how you get on - we want a full run-down on your return! xx

Originally Posted by Azhia

Before heading out to my 10-day meditation course sans speaking, reading, writing, internet, cell phone, wallet, house keys, and meals after 12pm

Sounds like a Vipassana retreat! I went to one 7 years ago and then served at one as well. Those retreats were the most important thing I've done for myself ever. They literally changed my life. Enjoy yours and tell us how it went when you come back.

Sophie, I'm so excited to meet another person here on Bhuz who has sat at a Vipassana course.
This was my 3rd one. I would love to serve at the next one.
Each one is more challenging than the last. It is truly life and consciousness altering; the amount of crying I manage to do really lifts many burdens from my mind; not to mention I replenish my bank of creative ideas (even though we're supposed to be meditating, it's the perks of having "distracting" thoughts). ;0)

I always anticipate having problems with the food thing but actually going through it, it's not a big deal. I just don't do enough physical activity to warrant a lot of food, it's easier to meditate when I'm not full, and I really slow down during these courses (anyone who has been around me knows I'm a pretty fast, perky person; you wouldn't recognize me when I'm the snail for 10 days!).

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to seriously learn meditation. Centers all over the world!

Originally Posted by Azhia

Sophie, I'm so excited to meet another person here on Bhuz who has sat at a Vipassana course.
This was my 3rd one. I would love to serve at the next one.
Each one is more challenging than the last. It is truly life and consciousness altering; the amount of crying I manage to do really lifts many burdens from my mind; not to mention I replenish my bank of creative ideas (even though we're supposed to be meditating, it's the perks of having "distracting" thoughts). ;0)

I always anticipate having problems with the food thing but actually going through it, it's not a big deal. I just don't do enough physical activity to warrant a lot of food, it's easier to meditate when I'm not full, and I really slow down during these courses (anyone who has been around me knows I'm a pretty fast, perky person; you wouldn't recognize me when I'm the snail for 10 days!).

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to seriously learn meditation. Centers all over the world!

I'm excited too! I wish we could sit and meditate together! I met really nice people at the course, and for a while we had meetings, each time someone else hosted the sit. After a couple of months it fell apart, but I still keep in touch with one girl. She was my first friend in the US.

Yes, the crying, the distracting thoughts, the vivid memories that attack you, all the good stuff :) It's truly a unique purifying experience. And the change is so apparent. After the course had finished I drove back to the Bay Area. I got out of the car and walked towards my husband without saying anything, not a word. He looked at me and told me that I was a different person. Well, maybe it was so apparent because I didn't say a word, which was very unusual of me :))) The initial "power" effect lasted for about two weeks, and after the glow subsided I was left with myself trying to reevaluate my life, but I felt like I could deal with it, that I finally had the inner strength. I'm still processing the lessons of those retreats. Sometimes I forget and fall back to my old patterns, but eventually I get up and shake them off. It's a struggle, but I feel like I'm moving forward.

Now I'm thinking, that hubby and I should definitely go to another one this fall together. (He did one too, 4 years ago)

p.s. The food at the North Fork center was sooooo good, it was really hard to resist pigging out. A. I love good food b. I'm always hungry :)))) So this was another thing I struggled with, especially because like you said meditating is much easier on an empty stomach... Running to find the recipes I brought from the service course, which I of course served at the kitchen! :)))

Originally Posted by Azhia

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to seriously learn meditation. Centers all over the world!

I second that recommendation. I've attended two silent vipassana retreats at Spirit Rock in Northern California. Each time I've come away much more grounded and blessed, with a stronger practice.

Tammy