Comfort Zones

There are times in my life when I need someone to challenge me...not in an adversarial way...just a firm, solid push that moves me across the outer perimeter of my comfort zone.  I am quite familiar with the well-defined boundary of my comfort.  I cling to it...balancing right on the edge. 

Often I see something just outside my reach.  Something alluring that speaks to me.  I rise up on my toes...balancing....teetering...stretching my outreached fingers toward the goal.  Predictably, I lose my balance and pull back.  I collect myself and regain my composure having barely escaped the vulnerability of a fall outside my comfort zone.  I catch my breath.

Other times I reach with determination, grasping the target of my reach and swiftly pull it toward me.  But I do not venture across that treacherous line.  This feat may initially feel like an achievement but the successful feeling quickly fades - constricted by the size of my comfort zone. 

What is truly amazing is when I teeter on the precipice of what I know then choose to step with purpose and intent beyond my previous experience.  When I acknowledge what is possible beyond that boundary and choose to step toward it without the guarantee of a specific outcome...that may be uncomfortable, but can also open me up for incredible personal growth.

I have experienced this opportunity for personal growth many times.  Recently it came during a yoga class.  I was moving up from the beginner class and making my first attempt at Power Yoga.  The name scared me.  Power.  Yoga.  But I unrolled my mat...determined to give my best during the class.  As the class progressed I realized that I am accustomed to stopping an exercise when it becomes difficult.  I am a fitness instructor and I format my class.  I determine what exercises we do...what the duration and intensity will be... and we definitely don't do anything I don't like to do.  So...as we held Goddess Pose and my thighs began to quiver and sweat started dripping off my brow, I realized that I need to be the student.  As we moved into Half Moon, I understood the need to give up orchestrating and do more enduring.  I need to do things that are difficult...not just the things that I am good at or that come easily.  I need to be pushed beyond what is comfortable.

So...thank you to all my teachers, mentors, family and friends who nudge me ever closer to the edge of change...through discomfort...through uncertainty...through fear...and into a new, much larger comfort zone.