May I be human for a moment? There are times I don’t want to come to my yoga mat for my personal practice. Sometimes, it’s the mere thought of savasana that has me reaching for my favorite book instead. Other times, it’s the idea of a dozen sun salutations or the imposter syndrome I succumb to when I attempt pigeon pose (my least favorite asana – ahem, bird – in all the land). A voice of self-sabotage rings like an alarm clock, and I don’t hit snooze on it. I let it blare in my ear. I let it win.

Because I am a yoga teacher, this admission might waver on blasphemy, and I own it. Just like most other humans, there are times I don’t want to do the work of shedding to become more of myself. Luckily, we all have a superpower to help light our way, a heat like no other. Tapas.

WHAT IS TAPAS?

Tapas is a niyama, or a positive duty (aka habit) meant to help us live healthily. The Sanskrit word tapas translates as “burning enthusiasm”. The root, tap, means “to burn”.

Is your heart feeling a little warmer? More on that later. Just for now, notice.

To engage in the duty of tapas is to cultivate the discipline needed to burn away impurities. Tapas isn’t about denying ourselves; it’s about becoming more of ourselves by releasing, through consistent effort, what isn’t really us. At its radiant core, tapas is the fire of our active intention to live well and true; the passion that propels our footsteps forward toward making our dreams reality, the action of showing up even when we don’t want to and even when things get uncomfortable.

Tapas remains our spiritual kick in the rear to get it together because our true nature knows we are capable. In fact, our true nature depends on us to break through the pains to grow. Can we handle our own flames?

Of course, we can.

Personally, I utilize tapas through my practice of “Morning Pages,” a creative release exercise coined by Julia Cameron. As its name suggests, Morning Pages is a commitment to write three pages of anything every day. The words can be an unadulterated stream of consciousness or a story beating in my heart that needs breath on the page. Like Yoga Nidra, a person can’t do Morning Pages wrong, except if he/she/they quit the process. Therefore, I write my pages with discipline, in spite of my often very human nagging voice that says, this is too much work. Because you know what else is too much work? Re-finding myself each time I stray from my writing practice. I shed the need for perfectionism in my creativity in order to be perfect.

LET’S BRING IT BACK - HOW TO USE TAPAS IN AYURVEDIC SENSE

Ayurveda is the beloved sister science of yoga, and one cannot be lived out fully without honoring the other. While a person, yogi or non-yogi, can engage in an ayurvedic cleanse whenever feeling tired, ill, or sluggish, the changing of seasons is a common timeframe, traditionally in order reduce ama (natural toxins) or to balance the three doshas (pitta, vata, and kapha) which are our natural human constitutions.

The purpose of an Ayurvedic cleanse is to nourish and replenish rather than to deprive. In this way, it walks hand-in-hand with tapas – calling us to our own enlightenment through discipline and consistency. In order to rid ourselves of toxins during any ayurvedic cleanse, it’s vital for the spirit of tapas to hold us accountable each day, especially when we feel uncomfortable. Typically, there are three phases of an ayurvedic-style cleanse: the preparation phase, the cleanse phase (when it’s vital to uphold routine), and the rejuvenation phase. Even during a shorter cleanse, perhaps a week long, tapas is the burning enthusiasm we must use on day five when some part of us wants to give up. Tapas is the match that strikes our inner agni, or metabolic fire, and lets the heat melt away all the things keeping us in a state of complacency, a state of un-transformation, if you will.

TAPAS CARES ABOUT THE WHY

To keep the heat of tapas hot, the intent of our doings remains vital.

For instance, why is an ayurvedic cleanse important beyond becoming more of who we are?

There are many benefits, in fact, including:

Restoring a sense of calm to the nervous system
Fostering clarity in the mental, spiritual, and emotional spheres
Nurturing an improved sense of energy, vitality, and enthusiasm for life
Supporting the maintenance of a healthy body weight
Restoring balanced sleep cycles
Promoting regular elimination
Recovering a natural state of balance
Promoting optimal health

(Source: www.bayanbotanicals.com)

The fires of tapas thrive on a sincere “why”. Choose a worthy intention to apply to everything you do and let it guide your way through the dark moments of wanting to give up. Tapas doesn’t really care about your (or my) excuses; it uses excuses as kindling.

TAPAS IN ACTION

Moreover, while we often think of ayurvedic cleanses as food-oriented, the ridding our minds and lives of toxins is important. Below are some ideas to ignite tapas in your life:

1) Get up 30 minutes earlier to meditate and write in a gratitude journal. Defy your snooze button and awaken with the sun.

2) Arrive to your yoga mat early enough to settle in and not feel rushed before practice. Once on your mat, be mindful of your thoughts during practice. Balance between challenging yourself in tree pose and allowing yourself to be exactly as you are without judgment.

3) Stay in a tough yoga pose five breaths after you want to leave it (I’m looking at you again, pigeon pose).

4) Value right effort higher than more effort. Acknowledge that some days the fire of tapas requires us to know when to use the wall to help support our dancer pose. The important thing remains to dance.

5) For one day, change every “I can’t” into a resounding “I can!”

YOU ARE MADE OF HEAT

As BKS Iyengar stated, “Life without tapas is like a heart without love.” Stop and ponder this statement for one full minute.

Your true self depends on the heated passion and discipline of tapas to show up every day in your life as a verb in action. You have complete control of feeding this fire, and you have the power to squelch it. Which sounds like a better way to live?

Don’t be deterred if squelching your enthusiasm today sounds good. You’re human. This is allowed. I didn’t want to write my morning pages this morning, either. I wanted to watch the rest of a reality TV show that does absolutely nothing for me. I denied that want for subpar entertainment, however, and wrote anyway, feeling intense joy after a mere fifteen minutes of pen to paper because I was me in those moments – I was truly embodying who I am.

Tapas beckons us to do the hard things routinely – whether it’s mastering crow pose, finding balance, or lying still in savasana for five extra minutes. It’s sticking with a seasonal ayurvedic cleanse practice because you made a commitment to yourself to complete it.

For me most days, tapas means allowing myself to be fully human and then rolling out my literal or figurative mat even when I don’t feel like it because it’s what I do – even when the little nagging voice still complains, “Why?”

I answer, as you can, too: Because my best life matters. I matter. Showing up in the discomfort of growth matters.

Watch how extraordinary each of us re-becomes when we walk with the fire of discipline and allow it to transform us on our path. Can we each handle getting a little sweaty in order to establish patterns and routines for which our true selves will thank us?

I commit to a resounding yes.

Do you?

The light flickers in honor of who I am capable of being

and who I already am —

a soul beyond description.

I carry a knowing that, if I challenge

complacency,

I have no choice but to shed everything I am not

in order to be so much more.

Who am I?

The answer is vaster than the sky.

Who are we?

The answer is just beyond a faithful try.

Laura is a yoga teacher as well as a freelance writer. Laura received her 200-hour training from Green Lotus Yoga and Healing Center and is currently working on her 300-hour training certification, focused on a therapeutic approach to the yoga practice. She teaches several classes a week in a variety of formats at Green Lotus. Her own practice began thirteen years ago as a way to connect breath to body after dealing with a stress-borne illness.

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