Redefining the Yamas & Niyamas: Tapas

We began the study of the Yamas and the Niyamas with the commitment to study our own selves and the equipment we have been given to operate (svadhyaya). We decided this study must be done from a place of love and compassion (ahimsa) because we will most certainly be bombarded with the liking and disliking of what we find which leads to emotion and confusion. So where does this love come from? It comes from our center, from the unchanging truth of which we must learn to access within ourselves (satya).

Today we ask how. How do we access that which transcends time, space, and personality? And thus arrives tapas. Tapas are often described as discipline. The Sanskrit root of tap means to burn or to create heat. To burn is to transform, to change form, or maybe to rid ourselves of the conformity that is confining us to limited thinking and perspective. We could also consider it the invitation to reform, our attitudes, our habits, and our ignorances.

Our tapas practice is that which we decide to remove or perhaps that which we decide to create. In either circumstance this decision requires our energy. Wether we are stoking the flame of enthusiasm to participate in the presence of our existence or stoking the flame to burn away that which is poisoning us. Our consistent, intentional energy is required, and this is tapas. The quality, consistency, and integrity of the energy we put out, ironically, carves the pathway necessary to go in and through the grime of our unconscious patterns. IN my friends, is where it’s at. IN is the only place we can’t type in the GPS and be given specific directions to, so of course, it would be the one true Oz.

The yellow brick road is yours to walk, and tapas is the commitment to walking it everyday, wether it’s raining or snowing, wether we are in crisis, or in bliss, wether we are in understanding or confusion. Tapas is the tried and true to discovering the divine essence of the real YOU.

Muchas Gracias Dearest Reader,

As you reflect on what needs to be burned away, and what needs space for creation, consider the practices that are of benefit to this. These practices might be your physical asana practice, chanting, dancing, conversing regularly about spiritual topics, pranayama, swimming, rowing, hiking, just to name a few. What activities light you up and gift you space to release and expand? These are your tapas practices and their power lies in your consistency, your sincerity, and your attention while engaged. May this be of inspiration to ignite your energy and light up your world from the inside out.

Blessings,

Andrea Dawn