Week Three - Tapas, A Steady Flame
Hello everyone,
I write to you from a very cosy couch under many, many colourful blankets. What a wet and snoozy day!
We are nearly half-way through our new yoga term already - big thank yous to everyone who has made it out for a class :) We will be practicing this Sunday at Thrive as always, with a Hatha flow at 5pm and a stretchy Yin at 6:30pm, let me know if you are around and would like to drop in :)
Since it is a bank holiday weekend, for fun I am offering a bring your friend half price special this Sunday! This means that if you and a friend want to come along for a drop in to either class on the 26th of October the total price for two people would be just €25.50! If you are booked in for the term already, you can still offer a friend a half price drop in to come and join you (they would pay only €8.50!)
Our philosophy theme this week will be TAPAS - a powerful niyama that's all about cultivating inner strength and discipline. The Hatha flow will be focused on awakening an inner fire (agni) in your centre and building mindful strength from the inside out, with guided meditation and pranayama practice to begin and end. In the Yin yoga we will flow slowly through nourishing supported stretches that may stimulate the stomach and spleen meridian lines, helping to alleviate indigestion, worry, and lethargy. Keep reading to learn more about the yogic concept of following the niyamas and cultivating tapas.
The niyamas are a list of five personal duties and observations that can awaken a positive relationship within and help to alleviate suffering, a key element to understanding the traditional path of yoga. This third niyama of tapas that we are looking at this week is often translated as 'austerity' - which means to be stern in your attitude and/or to go without excess. The English word 'austerity' feels cold, hard, difficult. However, the root of the sanskrit word tapas is: tap, which actually means to burn or to heat. The concept of tapas as a practice of personal alignment is therefore to burn away physical and psychological impurities via self-discipline. Choosing discipline over comfort, as a way to cultivate life and prana within.
My mind immediately goes to the offerings of spiritual practitioners like Wim Hof - aka The IceMan - when I think of principles like tapas. Dunk your body into this ice-cold water as a way to teach your mind that your fire, your power, is alive inside you. It is a concept of willpower - the thought that if you can overcome physical challenges via the dedication and focus of your mind, then perhaps you can overcome your own suffering. Perhaps you can stop feeling like a victim to your mind. This belief is a powerful catalyst for change.
However, no one is asking you to swim in sub-zero temperatures or dive 50 metres underwater and hold your breath for eight minutes! These extreme practices are, perhaps, egoic exaggerations of what is in essence a fairly simple teaching. Tapas. Dedication. Discipline. Commitment. It's about showing up even when you don't want to. It's about being present even when things are uncomfortable. About not running away. Not giving up. Having integrity...and riding the waves of your energy and all the things you cannot control with a sharp and certain focus on what you can control. Your breath. Your attention. How you show up. How you react.
For me, honestly, tapas is about coming back to my yoga mat to practice each day. Again and again. It doesn't matter if I'm busy. It doesn't matter if I'm tired. It doesn't matter if I'm sick or not in the mood or if I have better things to do. Yoga is a place for me to re-align. A place to accept what is. A place to move through emotion, search for relief, and begin anew. The beauty of an at-home-yoga practice is that there are very few excuses; you can make it work for you. But it's not always easy! At home, or anywhere. So here's to you, for showing up to practice whenever you do. Whether it's in your bed, on your yoga mat, on the beach, or in a gorgeous yoga studio with friends on a Sunday evening :) Here's to you for practicing the things that help you to feel better, and for filling up your cup with such grace that it often overflows effortlessly into others, to help others. Cheers.
I hope you have a lovely week! See you Sunday xx
“Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.
Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” ― Rumi
Le grá,
Macha
