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In my yoga training, the yamas + niyamas were pared down to single (or hyphenated) word definitions. This is great for starting to understand the 8 Limbed Yoga Path, but for more fully comprehending this journey, it's important to dive deeper. For me, finding ways in which to apply these concepts into my daily life is most helpful.
I'll be jumping around over the next few months between the yamas + niyamas, and this week I'm starting with the niyama: tapas. Comely whittled down to be defined as the observance of self-discipline and, in many yoga classes I've taken, teachers tend to focus on building heat and persevering through a physically challenging series of yoga poses and transitions.
I was reading through an article about tapas last week and I came across a quote from Nicolai Bachman discussing this niyama:
Tapas is not always literally about sweating or managing self-control. It can be about "tolerating the heat of friction in mental discomfort. The times when ingrained habits rub against a new, more beneficial practice or habit."
Thinking more deeply about this, I'm challenged to reflect and turn the mirror on myself. What habits or manners of being/existing conflict with who I want to be as a human moving through the world? How is it that I want to exist and what friction might arise during my transition into new habits and life patterns?
Follow my tapas virtual yoga sesh ondemand - COMING SOON!
