In this third post on Tapas, let’s talk about how we can practice Tapas off our mat.
Just as Tapas can be doing yoga postures to burn off excess energy, it is also how we can burn away our negative habits and thought patterns, making more room for the things that bring us contentment and joy.
One of my negative habits is staying up too late. I’ve always been sort of a night owl. I used to stay up reading all night when I was young. These days, that has serious consequences, so I have to practice self-discipline and get to bed on time so that I can get up on time and be productive in the morning. I’ve found that if I do that, I feel batter, and have a better day. Also, as a migraine sufferer, regular sleep patterns are one of the best ways to reduce migraine frequency, so it’s good for me.
I’ve also struggled at times, as I’ve mentioned before with negative self-talk and worry over things that might happen. It takes practice and consistency to turn those negative loops off. Sometimes I have to turn them off repeatedly because they keep turning themselves back on!
Those thoughts in our head that tell us we aren’t good enough, or that something bad is going to happen, are just thoughts. They don’t have power over us unless we let them. They are persistent, though, so we may have to keep pushing them away.
Having the strength and the persistence ourselves to keep turning them off (and burning them off) is Tapas in action and helps us "get out of our head" so we can make room in our lives for positive and beneficial habits and thought patterns.
Next time, we will wrap up with some final thoughts on Tapas.
