Who wants Tapas?

Does anyone else really love a good Tapas? Ill bet you think I’m talking about those tiny flavorful appetizer dishes you can get at your favorite restaurant. And while yes they are delicious the Tapas I’m speaking of doesn’t always leave a great taste in your mouth but can still be just as delicious. How is that so?  Tapas as one of the Niyamas in the 8 limbs of yoga is a practice that promotes accepting the heat or annoyances and discomfort that may come when new better serving habits are being created or reaching a higher level mentally or spiritually. Its kind of like the proverbial crossroad. Where you can go one way or the other but only one road will lead you to the freedom you seek. Some yogi’s may know it as spiritual austerity. Severe discipline that gives way to change, beneficial growth and beautiful fruits. if you’re not a spiritual seeker( but I assume if you’re reading this blog you’re at least curious) this might sound a bit scary to you, way too “severe”. In the western world we think of  Tapas as walking over hot coals or laying on a bed of needles for hours but believe it or not we practice tapas in our daily lives all the time. Ever slaved over a hot stove for hours to end up with a delicious meal? Tapas. Ever damn near killed yourself at the gym to hop on the scale at the end of the week and see 2 pounds less of you standing there? Tapas. Ever listened to a client or customer at work yell at you and call you stupid for something that you have zero control over but instead of engaging you remembered you need money to survive so you just smiled and said “I’m sorry”? Expert level Tapas!

In actuality the universe is constantly setting up situations like this and putting people in our lives to help promote the growth we need to get to our higher selves. The examples I presented earlier are still heat inducers but very mild sometimes the universe sends us Tapas that’s slightly more bitter in the form of a health issue, job loss or the death of a loved one. The true test is not only in the Tapas itself but also in recognizing when we are being met with an opportunity to practice Tapas. I notice these opportunities everywhere now. Sometimes when I feel that internal heat rising from an undesirable exchange before I let myself explode I literally say to myself “this is tapas” and it reminds me to simmer down, pay attention and react skillfully because there are lessons to learn here, there is growth to be obtained. It wouldn’t be happening if there weren’t.

 Meditation in my opinion is actually the simplest form of Tapas we can participate in compared to what we can be presented with on a daily basis off the mat (yet another reason why we call it a yoga practice). I say this because I see this displayed firsthand almost every time I meditate. I’m seated comfortably deep in my pranayama and a fly swirls next to my ear, then my nose, then my hand and totally messes up my breath pattern. I remember “this is tapas” and refocus on my goal feeling the breath. I’m quietly focusing on the infinite energy that is the universe, the great cosmic intelligence and my boyfriend loudly takes a call in the other room. “This is tapas.” And I let the heat rise and fall. If I can’t handle these annoyances while on the mat then the old lady in front of me in the grocery line who will inevitably pay with a check and take a century to do it will always send me into extreme annoyance, lots of huffing and puffing because my time is important. “This is also Tapas.” To me keeping my cool in a situation like that is a much harder feat to endure than a 5-minute meditation. But in yoga we start to  see how much the small actions we practice on the mat and learn to breathe through even when its super uncomfortable perhaps even undesirable to do so can have such big returns. But the returns aren’t monetary, they are much more valuable than that. The returns are rewarded to us throughout life in the form of unshakeable peace. But that’s only if you’re willing to withstand the heat. I mean think about it, how are diamonds made?

So I’ll ask again, “Who wants Tapas?”