Tapas: From Fire to Light

This month we’re midway through our exploration of yoga’s Niyamas, the observances that guide us to cultivate our relationship with our inner world so we can meet life with an open heart. Last month's teaching of Santosha, invited us to find a depth of acceptance when things are hard, in order to cultivate our capacity to be with life's challenges. This sets the stage for our next observance Tapas which literally means “heat” but is often translated as “self-discipline” or “transformation”. When life delivers times of crisis, we’re given an opportunity to let what might cause a breakdown instead be an invitation to break open.

Sadhana (disciplined practice) prepares our body, heart and mind for these challenging times. Through the practice of Tapas we cultivate our capacity to stay in the fire and through this process we burn away the limiting beliefs – the stories that keep us from knowing who we really are. To fully engage with the power of Tapas we need to ask ourselves:

What are we practicing for?

Are we using our practices to merely manage life's challenges?

Tapas asks us to turn toward and stay with the fires that arise in our lives until we become blessed by the very thing that has caused our suffering.

In the past I associated this teaching of Tapas as intensity, but I now see that this discipline comes in many forms. It may be committing to a calming or restorative experience in the midst of life's craziness so we can stay present with what’s unfolding in our lives. When we think we don’t have the time is likely when we most need these rejuvenating practices. Tapas is often associated with fire and on so many levels it's a perfect metaphor. Fire has the capacity to create destruction but when tempered or controlled it’s a source of transformation. Tapas guides us to find a middle way where we can stay present and respond to life rather than freezing, numbing or “burning down the house”. When we weave Tapas into our practice we attune to what we need in order to create a “controlled burn” when life gets heated. From this place every situation, no matter how challenging, becomes an opportunity for profound growth.

Much love,
Sue