Tapas – the third Niyama – is a wonderful complement to what we looked at last week – Santosha – contentment. Tapas is all about helping us to achieve what we are meant to achieve ….. by helping us to add elements of discipline into our daily lives. Discipline and a bit of “burn” is the root to getting us on the right track and breaking down all negative thought patterns which can so often hinder us. The disciplines that we add bit by bit to our lives can be as simple as introducing a daily yoga/meditation practice, regular exercise or eating healthily. By introducing a healthy and disciplined lifestyle it helps us eradicate or “burn” through obstacles and crutches such as over-eating/drinking, negative thinking, smoking etc. This in turn makes us feel more free and energised. Just as with all the other Yamas and Niyamas we are asked to go just beyond our comfort zone, as it is only by doing so that we will grow. It can be intense in the first few days of any change we impose upon ourselves, however this burning will ignite a greater consciousness which will bring purification thus allowing us to burn brighter and give us, hopefully, more energy to continue.
The same can be said of our yoga practice … the ego can give us all the reasons not to practice ………… too tired, too unwell, next week once I have finished such and such etc etc. However, if we push ourselves through these negative thought patterns we will see ourselves literally burn away the ego …
Sometimes we have to be careful that we do not push ourselves too hard and cause injury or illness .. this is when we should observe the second Niyama of Santosha – contentment – and be accepting of what we have already managed to achieve. We should also observe the first yama – Ahimsa, non harm!! If we learn to practice Tapas in conjunction with other steps on the Eight-Fold Path and balance our effort with compassion and our discipline with benevolence, we can then work tirelessly towards our dreams and goals, whilst still keeping our eyes open to the beauty that we find along the way!
To achieve something worthwhile it is usually necessary to burn a little ……. to raise the stakes and get the energy levels up .
Some words from BKS Iyengar:
“Life without tapas is like a heart without love”