Tapas, one of the Niyamas in yoga philosophy, invites us to choose discipline over comfort — to stay with the heat of transformation rather than running from it. It’s the moment you resist the phone to stay focused on your task. It’s being honest when honesty feels uncomfortable. It’s the willingness to sit with what is, knowing that through the burning comes growth.
Tapas teaches us to willingly burn away laziness, distraction, and resistance so that our higher selves can emerge. It asks: What are we practicing for? Through sādhanā — disciplined practice — we strengthen our inner resolve and learn to meet discomfort with awareness.
I’ve often found myself in the fire, holding faith that there is something more on the other side. Each time, I’ve come away a bit stronger — calloused, perhaps, but in a way that protects and prepares me. These callouses aren’t hardness; they’re wisdom, boundaries, and the resilience that allow us to move forward with grace.
Through the fire comes clarity. Tapas asks us to surrender — to stay long enough to hear what the soul is trying to say. There is always clarity within the burn if we allow it.
Sometimes Tapas shows up as the boundaries that protect our sacred space. Sometimes it’s the heat that burns away confusion and makes us clear. Either way, the practice prepares us — for the inevitable fires of life — so that when they come, we don’t run. We breathe. We stay. And we trust that what remains after the fire is the truest version of ourselves.
author: Dana Bear