Today's philosophy is the topic of Tapas.
Yoga Sutra 1143.
It says,
Translating that,
It essentially means or it essentially says,
By practicing Tapasa,
By practicing discipline,
Impurities are destroyed and the body and senses become perfected.
Tapasa is discipline or austerity or effort.
There's this woman that I know and let's call her Priya and she's a mom,
She works full time but she's got all her plates spinning.
She's like really busy with everything and one day she mentioned to me that she was just not feeling like herself anymore.
Life was moving but she felt stuck.
I don't know if this sounds familiar to anyone.
So one day she made this quiet but wild decision.
She started waking up an hour earlier every day.
She started waking up at 5 a.
M not to do the housework,
Not to prepare the meals for the children but simply for herself.
The first few days were quite brutal as she described it.
But she pushed herself,
She hit snooze like it was her job.
She kept at it and eventually what happened is those early hours,
Those early hours to herself in the morning,
They became her sacred space.
She did her yoga,
She did her breath work,
She did her meditation,
She did her journaling.
She even would just sit and drink her tea in peace and over the period of time she didn't just find herself more productive.
That came automatically but she felt more centered,
More grounded,
More clear,
More focused and the words that she said to me is I got myself back.
I found myself again.
The choice that she made to stick with something uncomfortable because it is aligned with her deeper self and that is essentially what we call tapas in the yogic world.
So what is tapas?
In Sanskrit tapas means to heat,
To heat something up or to burn but it's not about setting yourself on fire for no reason.
It's about discipline,
It's about dedication,
The kind of effort that leads to transformation.
It's like that inner fire that says this is hard but it matters so I'm going to do it anyway.
So in the yoga sutras of Patanjali tapas is one of the five niyamas.
Niyamas are personal observances for living well and the interesting part is that tapas is not framed as punishment.
It's about refinement.
It's the friction that polishes us,
The consistency that clears away the clutter so our real self can shine through.
So how do I,
How do I practice tapas in my daily life?
Bringing it down to earth,
Tapas in today's world might look like choosing to move your body even when that streaming service is seducing you to sit on the couch or sitting with that tough feeling instead of distracting yourself,
Saying no to a third scroll through social media so that you can journal for five minutes instead.
Having that hard conversation you've been avoiding.
There's always that hard conversations that we are avoiding,
Right?
Having that hard conversation that you're avoiding or getting up an hour earlier simply to reclaim yourself in the same way that Priya did.
So it doesn't have to be big,
It doesn't have to be dramatic.
It can simply be about choosing what nourishes you over what numbs you.
A bit of a pause here.
Tapas is not about punishing yourself into exhaustion.
Tapas is not the hustle culture.
If what you're doing is leaving you drained and depleted,
That is not tapas.
That is over extending yourself,
That is burning out yourself.
True tapas.
True tapas might leave you tired but it will leave you clear.
It will leave you grounded.
It will leave you feeling lit up inside.
It will not leave you feeling burned out.
How do I work with tapas?
Tree qualities,
Tree qualities of tapas that actually work and this is what I have personally experienced.
The first is make it small but make it consistent.
Small but consistent.
It's not about going all in only for one day.
It's about showing up a little every day.
10 conscious breaths.
One walk around the block.
10 minutes of movement.
Small but consistent.
Choose the edge but not the cliff.
Because tapas,
It lives just outside your comfort zone.
Just outside on the edge of your comfort zone.
It is not in your danger zone.
So when you're practicing tapas,
You're aiming for stretch.
You're not aiming for strain and most importantly,
Know your why.
Know your why.
Because tapas,
It can only work when you connect it to something deeper.
So ask yourself,
Why are you meditating?
Why are you exercising?
Why do you want to go on that diet?
Why do you want to pursue that career?
Ask yourself,
Why?
Why are you saying no to the path?
And when you know your why,
Anchor to that why.
Something simple we can try right now,
Just in this moment.
Take a breath.
Release and think.
Where in your life is discomfort nudging you to grow?
Where in your life is discomfort nudging you to grow?
Once you've kind of identified that,
The next question you would ask yourself is,
What's one small action you can take every day?
Every day.
Small action every day to step into that discomfort consciously.
What is one small action you can take every day to step into that discomfort consciously?
How can discomfort make us grow?
Discomfort makes us grow because it stretches us.
It lets us expand that little bit.
Every time we lean into that discomfort,
We stretch ourselves a little bit.
We grow a little bit more.
It's like exercising.
For many,
When they are starting,
It's a discomfort.
Practicing yoga every day,
Doing the asanas,
For many it can be a discomfort.
But pushing through that discomfort,
Putting on your gym clothes or your joggers or whatever you wear while practicing yoga,
Sitting on that mat,
Closing your eyes,
Getting into that discomfort to do what needs to be done.
Every time we lean into that discomfort,
We grow.
Where in your life is discomfort nudging you to grow?
And what's one small action I can take every day to step into that discomfort consciously?
For example,
If you're an introvert,
You know that connecting with people is going to enable you to grow.
But talking to someone,
Getting on the phone,
Initiating a chat can feel very uncomfortable.
So one small action could look like getting your phone,
Typing a,
Hey,
How are you?
And letting it flow from there,
Taking that one small action.
So tapas doesn't make life easier,
But tapas makes you stronger.
Is that quiet decision that you make to keep showing up,
To stay present,
To say,
I will not abandon myself in this moment.
And over the period of time,
Those small flames of effort,
They burn whatever is in the way of your full self,
Of your true potential.
So that verse in the yoga sutras,
True tapas,
Impurities are burned away and the body and senses become perfected.
I think the modern version of that would sound more like true tapas,
We become who we actually are.
The question that you can ask yourself,
Maybe today or maybe for this week,
What is my tapas today or where is my tapas today?
And then choose one small conscious action and do it for the whole week till you come back to the next Yoga Nidra session.
Thank you for listening.
