In life there are times when we want to walk away from something. It's either too hard, too painful, or it brings up something inside of us that we may not wish to see. In my yoga study right now, we are learning about the 8 limbs of yoga and within those limbs are many parts of yoga. One being the Yamas, which are the 5 moral restraints, and the other being the Niyamas which are the 5 observances. While I was reading about these 10 things, I realized that you could almost equate them to the 10 Commandments for yogis. Within these 10 moral codes, lies a lot of wisdom, but one that has really been resonating within me is the third one in the list of Niyamas, which is Tapas. Tapas is the word referring to "Austerity." The word "tapas" comes from the Sanskrit verb "tap" which means to "burn." The traditional interpretation of tapas is "fiery discipline." I was thinking about this in my own life last night as we were all sitting around, sweating after a good yoga practice. I think I actually sweat more than most people, but either way, I was dripping. As I sat there, I felt so rinsed, so cleansed, almost as if everything-- every toxin, every discouraging thought, everything that I tell myself that might be of disservice to me seemed to have literally "burned" out of me. In my life, there have been many instances when I have quit something because I felt it had gotten too hard, the pressure was too great, or I thought I just couldn't do it. I made up all these stories in my head, and before I could allow myself to really get through the hard part and melt away my doubt, I quit. In my yoga practice, it shows up when I get scared about teaching, or think I can't do a pose or get shaky and don't want to dig deeper, but when I let all of those surface feelings and doubts melt away, I can get to the other side through consistency, practice and allowing myself to melt into the process of something new, instead of fighting it. My mom read a quote to me over the weekend and I have no idea where it was from, but it talked about doubt and how when you doubt yourself then you know you must be on the verge of something great because usually, doubt comes from a place of fear-- Fear of not succeeding. If I find the actual quote, I will definitely let you all know. It was good!
But, I just wanted to share my thoughts on this... I think sometimes moving through the fire, allowing yourself to melt and be renewed can be one of the best things in life. It opens us up to something new, and burns away old patterns of thinking, only leaving us with what is real and the reality is, that we are all capable of getting what we want, receiving, awakening and really becoming our true selves and living from our core. Sometimes we just have to go through things that hurt, that are painful and really aren't all that pleasant to get there, but that's okay. Learning to stay in the fire and to keep going when all you want to do is quit, is far better than never learning that you can reach your goal.
I hope all of you have a great evening!
And this week... keep working towards your goal to what you want most in your life- reach for it!
P.S. If you want to read a great article on the Niyamas, check it out here: Yoga Journal
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