In my last post we focused on the second Niyama of Santosha, or contentment. Today, I invite you to practice the third Niyama of Tapas, or self-discipline.

All true progress, all excellence, and all accomplishment have one thing in common: sustained effort. We cannot change our lives without exerting the effort to make those changes and to keep at it until we have created new, positive habits to replace our negative tendencies.

Yoga insists that each of us possesses an incredible inner power through which we can transform our lives and manifest our fullest potential. To ignite this power, we need Tapas… we must dig down deeply and commit to doing the necessary work of spiritual practice, and then stay with it despite our stumbles, setbacks and disappointments. The key to this is Sadhana, or daily practice. Committing to our Sadhana with great Tapas is at the very heart of the yogic journey.

 We invite you to practice the Yoga of Tapas throughout the week in these ways:

• If you already have a daily practice, recommit to it and embrace it with both vigor and joy.
• If you do not have a daily practice, start one this week!  Get up 15 minutes earlier each morning and do a few Yoga poses, some deep breathing and contemplation.
• Choose one negative habit you have long wanted to overcome and work on it all week long.
• Remind yourself each day that you can do it!