As part of the Yoga NRG Yama Niyama 10 Day Challenge which is now in its 15th year of running, I’ve been reflecting with the Yoga NRG Teacher Trainees & others around the world (even Canada, UK). We use social media to Teach Yoga (that is more than just the poses) TAPAS is the 3rd of the Niyamas in Yoga. “Tap” means to burn or shine & austerity. (Despite most thinking it is food😉)
This way of practicing yoga can relate to discipline. Sometimes we need to have the discipline to forgo or give up one thing for something more meaningful or useful to nourish our ability to shine.
Reflecting on everything you have given up in order to get where you are can help us respect ourselves for the hard yakka and at the same time have so much gratitude for sticking at something that we know will be good for us, our family & community.
My desire to learn how to surf took discipline, getting out there regularly even if the conditions were Crap. (Metaphor for life😉) Going against the odds of you are too old to learn.
Also the discipline of realizing for every choice there is a payoff. For example, a late night out partying meant I couldn’t enjoy the surf as much the next day if at all.
Tapas is about consistent effort over time & beginning to understand cause & effect (the law of Karma, for every action there’s a reaction).
It became a no-brainer the energy & joy I got from surfing far outweighed late nights & red bull.
Another example well before I learned an actual yoga pose was giving up social life not because I wanted to but because I had to if I wanted to do my nursing degree….making a conscious choice to put myself through Uni. This meant realizing at the time I couldn’t always have both the social life and afford uni.
Working nights & weekends at nursing homes & hospitals to be able to study may have been tough at the time. The consistent effort over time meant a lot more in the long run.
Learning about life, health & healing also came with the privilege of living life fully with traveling & nursing anywhere. And little did I know at the time it was my lifeline not only to earning a living but understanding the mind. You never know where your discipline & effort will take you.
For me so far anywhere I dream of but yes it’s been fucking hard work.
But ALWAYS worth it. (Thanks to Mum & my family teaching me “tapas” work hard head down bum up” Thankfully it’s just one of the Niyamas & it’s not ALL about hard work 😅
It is however about deeper listening & a bigger picture & perspective.
For me nursing all those years & being tumbled ie humbled in the surf has helped me remember both the fragility of human life, lessons of nature, and the endless possibilities and rewards of turning shit into gold. I’m not talking about money either I’m talking about the gold of lifelong learning, human connection, and the long term joy of sacrifice & perspective
#yamaniyamachallenge #goodmemories #yoganrg #hardwork #sacrifice #surfing #maldives