#but i think its ok for people to adopt practical cultural elements into their daily lives
Text
Nothing Is Original (and thats ok) - Lecture Notes & Set Task
Aims for lecture: to start to think about originality, to think about the concept of what a copy is and how this might impact my practice. Also to begin to think about the terms pastiche and appropriation.
Palimpsest - a literal description of a physical object “ Paper, parchment, or other writing material designed to be reusable after any writing on it has been erased”
By the 19th century the definition had to be tightened and was then referred to ‘a manuscript in which later writing had been superimposed on earlier writing’
During the 1800’s the word also evolved into a metaphor - with it retaining traces of its earlier form.
What is Originality? - How do we define it? Should we try and purse originality? Does it even exist? If so what does it look like?
The Artist as a Conman - Wolfgang Beltracchi - in open prison, the thrill of the crime, painted exact copies of famous painters and sold them as the artists not his, shouldn't look at a painting to say this is this or that.
So why does it matter? Where are I going? And Why should you listen?
Everything is - uncanny, a hoax, theft, deja-vu, appropriation - nothing is every original - everything is re-appropriated.
To define something it can be easier to compare it to its opposites, for example to define appropriation art you can compare them to forgery to see similarities - so re-appropriation is using a piece of work again in your own style whilst forgery is right off copying.
Historical Context - This idea of copying stems from artist apprenticeships where they would be trained to be artists by copying their ‘masters’ - a necessary formation as part of artist training.
The practice can also be traced back to cubist collage - from works such as Picasso and Braque (1912)
As well as this the theme of surrealism follows ideas of copying and forgery in works done by artists such as Salvador Dali, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg
Alongside this Marchel Duchamp - presents everyday objects.
Appropriation within art practice:
The deliberate production of another artists work
Artists copying artworks for their own artistic expression
It involves adopting intellectual property from elsewhere
Borrows images, styles, forms from art history or pop culture
Evolved around the 1960’s and then peaked in the 80’s
Appropriation - or making artworks using already existing artworks
Terms around The readymade, pastiche, parody, stealing, simulation
Appropriation :
Pastiche, Parody and the Remake
Postmodernism has been characterized by new creations as well as the sense that everything that is ‘new’ has been done before.
Postmodernism asks the question, ‘can there ever be new ideas and images’ Will anything ever be any different from what has come before. However, does any creation or trend have to be new, does it really matter?
In today's day and age the world consists of a huge variety of images that are remakes or copies of each other- with pop culture, art and architecture the concept of an image being original has been thoroughly subverted.
A key term used to describe the culture of imitation, copying and parodying is pastiche. The film theorists Richard Dyer has written the way to understand pastiche is as an ‘imitation that announces itself as such and that involves combining elements from other sources.’
According to Dyer collage, montage - a style of composing that combines elements from different places - within imitating we can find different combinations and relationships to the original text
Pastiche can be a form of play
Photographers who explore re-appropriation:
John Strezkar - uses found images to create collages and montages which recreate the original narrative of the photographs.
Jeff Wall - Wall created the photograph titled ‘A Sudden Gust of Wind’ which is remarkably similar to a Japanese Painting.
Levine says ‘ the world is filled to suffocating. Man has placed his token on every stone.every word, every image, is leased mortgaged. We know that a picture is but a space in which a variety of images, none of them original, blend and clash.’
Levine's work questions the ownership of art and what originality really is. Her image our famous for being is a blatant violation of their copyright.
Originality - ‘the action of mechanical reproduction effectively diminishes the concept of originality’.
The mass, mechanical reproducibility of art has reduced its authenticity
Mass production removes what he calls the aura - a sort of unique authority - from the work.
Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: Its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.
The Death of the Author - Barthes extended this concept of ‘The Death of the Author’ to question originality and authenticity - he talked about how any text or image did not emit a fixed meaning from one person but yet a range of quotations that were references to yet other text.
Igor Stravinksy - was writing ballet - corrected scores of classic manuscript - borrowing baselines whilst adding his own harmonies - ‘how dare you do that to the classics’ - you respect but i love
Kleon loves newspapers - daily dispatch of human experience
The artist as the collector - collects selectively - collect ideas
‘Stole words from the newspaper’ blocked out words on the page that he didn’t need to create a poem.
Published a book
Thought he was ripping off government censorship - however work was said to be unoriginal
Tom Philips - uses books - paints and draws over the page leaving words floating on pages
Philips got it from William Burroughs who had a cut up writing technique
Burroughs got it from Brion Gysin who was a painter cut through newspapers - poetry
Tristin Tzara - cut up newpaper put pieces in hat them read them as a poem
Caleb Whitefoord - read across newspapers - funny combinations - published broadsheet
Kleon - idea ‘unoriginal’ - nothing is original - all creative work builds on what came before - every new idea is a remix of previous ideas
We are remix of ancestors - a genealogy ideas exists also - friends, books, music - mashup of what you let into your life
Stealing what meant something to him - expose yourself to the best things humans have done them bring them into what you're doing
Good artists copy - great artists steal
All art is theft - bad poets steal and de-face it
youtube
Set Task
For the set task I did some research into Richard Prince as well as looking at the book Appropriation to further explore theory and ideas around the topic.
Appropriation - Documents of contemporary art
‘ Pictures’ showcased artists who re photographed works
‘The death of the Author’ - ‘questions the notion of originality’
Appropriation art was justified via the ideas of Jean Baudrillard - merging reality with media's representation of reality itself
Happened around postmodernism
Influential galleries for appropriation -Metro Pictures and Sonnabend
Artists who debated postmodernism
Took place largely in the 1970’d/1980’s.
Barthes and Foucault were ‘ taken up by postmodernism to construct a critical space for works using appropriated imagery and stereotypes, largely through photography.
Jean Baudrillard
‘The simulacrum is never what hides the truth - it is the truth that hides the fact that there is none. The simulacrum is true’ - an image or representation of someone or something that is not true - links in with Richard - simulacrum is a fable - it is fake
Richard Prince never wanted to copy but create a resemblance
The technique is how you manage and reproduce the image - Prince disassociate’s from the images original intentions
A late 20th century style and concept in the arts, architecture and criticism, which represent a departure from modernism and is characterised by the self conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories.
Richard Prince
‘What Richard is doing is questionably legal, but even if something is legal and ‘starts a dialogue’ it doesn’t mean you should actually do it.’
An infamous appropriation artist
He re-photographs, scans and manipulates the works of others
Draws his subjects from subcultures and cultural cliches
Shows how we accept stereotypes and messages from marketing - how we rely on the icons that are created by marketing such as instagram. - reproduces cliches of advertising - revelling that the messages and images are fiction
Taking things from the original environment such as a screen shot - the familiar becomes unfamiliar and uncomfortable - inviting the viewer to criticize
Has had multiple lawsuits due to the ‘borrowing’ of work.
Prompts others to think about the ownership of art and question what is art
Has created a series of works appropriating peoples instagram posts - repurposing them by changing the caption then hanging them on a gallery wall - controversial due to - captions provoking thoughts around current issues
Distorts the idea of owning something
When working for time-life he used advertising images then cropped them down to create his own images - ‘it was used to create a fiction, but it had come from a truth’ - creates a different meaning for advertising photography
Known for rephotographing Marlboro cigarette advertisements then re-titled them.
links:
https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/9602/the-new-exhibition-examining-appropriation-in-art
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/18/instagram-artist-richard-prince-selfies
https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/46679/1/richard-prince-causes-controversy-instagram-appropriation-art-artwork-theft
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/arts/design/richard-prince-instagram-copyright-lawsuit.html
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/prince-richard/
0 notes
Text
Verse: Sonic with Star Wars Influence
Date: 7/8/2018
Full Name: Jerard Kal
Pronunciation: (Jeh-rahr Kah-l)
Nickname/Alias: Jerard, J
Meaning: Jerard was a name he gave himself, but his sur name, Kal, means knife, and it’s the name of his clan
Origin: I liked the way Gerard sounded but I wanted to use a different letter.
Title: Self-Proclaimed Warlord of Mandalore
Pet Name: N/A
ID Number: N/A
Signature: A bit of a messy scrawl. He doesn’t practice writing much so it’s hard to understand sometimes.
Gender: Male
Gender Role: Masculine
Orientation: Demisexual
Real Age: (Biologically 45, Mentally 82, Chronologically 15,000+ due to stasis)
Age Appearance: Older hedgehog but physically fit and healthy, albeit shorter than most.
Birthday: 41 BBY
Deathday: N/A
Birthplace: Corellia
Astrological Sign: N/A
Zodiac Sign: N/A
Immediate Family: Somrad Kal (Adoptive Father), Dux Magnum (Friend/Brother), Deix Kal (Adopted Son), Alreidz Kal (Adopted Son)
Distant Family: Nareen Magnum, H’Racca, Fate, Suzz
Parenting: In the Jedi Temple, it was rather cold and distant. When he joined his adoptive father’s family, he was a very warm, jovial person who was considerate and paid very close attention to Jerard’s needs.
Upbringing: Honor, Glory, Integrity, and Compassion were above and beyond the greatest tenants that he was raised with, putting great value in family and loyalty to his word.
Infancy: Jerard had a very basic neutral infancy, being taught basics in Jedi Daycare.
Childhood: Jerard struggled with his emotional spontaneity in an environment that preached control and discipline, making his childhood very difficult for him as he clashed with the doctrines of the Jedi.
Adolescence: It was around this time he ran away from the order to find his own place in the galaxy, finding the Mandalorian people and quickly finding his place among them as his emotions and desires matched extraordinarily well with their values and ethics. These were some of the happiest times of his life.
Adulthood: Jerard developed as a leader after his father died, taking up the mantle of leader of the clan and leading them into various wars across the decades, going through emotional highs and lows where he truly developed as a person, suffering as much loss as he did victory. He grew harder, but he never grew cold to those around him.
Coming of Age: When Order 66 was executed, the person he loved was slaughtered in front of him, forcing him to confront an even harsher galaxy than he could imagine, growing harsh, distant, and depressed for years, lashing out until being defeated by Darth Vader and realizing how foolish he’d been to dwell on his loss rather than mourn and move on.
Evolution: He grew up from a brash young boy to a cunning young man, analyzing situations with more scrutiny and approaching answers from different angles. However, he is not used to mundane life and cannot stay still for too long. Settling down is a challenge for him.
Species: Formerly Human, now Mobian Hedgehog
Ethnicity: Corellian, Mandalorian
Blood Type: O+
Preferred Hand: Ambidextrous
Facial Type: Rectangular formerly, now round
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Blonde
Hairstyle: Plain short brush back
Skin Tone: Fair peach
Complexion: Pale and rough
Makeup: N/A
Body Type: Mesomorph
Build: Well-toned muscular arms and legs, not focused on weight training.
Height: Formerly 5′2″, now 3′0″
Weight: Formerly 194lbs., now 82lbs.
Cup Size: N/A
Facial Hair: N/A
Shoe Size: 10
Birthmarks/scars: Scars littering his torso from body blows during training, duels, and desperate battles for survival.
Distinguishing Features: His hair has two grey stripes going from his forehead to the neck, becoming more prominent as he grew older.
Health: Very Healthy
Energy: High Energy
Memory: Excellent Memory focused on friends, family, and war stories.
Senses: Better sense of hearing than any other senses naturally.
Allergies: N/A
Handicaps: No normal handicaps. Muted Force Sensitivity due to experimentation. Not as strong as it used to be.
Medication: N/A
Phobias: Loss of Family, Organic Weaponry, Cults and Zealous Religions, Feeling Helpless.
Addictions: Alcohol
Mental Disorders: N/A
Style: Simple casual, leather jacket.
Mode of Dress: Tucked in but loose
Grooming: Messy and dirty
Posture: Proud and straight
Gait: Even pace and proud normally. Can fake other gaits if needed.
Coordination: Athletic and quick, good reflexes.
Habits and Mannerisms: Crosses arms often whenever thinking, tilts head forward and to the right slightly. Raises eyebrow whenever he hears something interesting or concerning.
Scent: Slight smell of soot and sweat. Usually a weak scent.
Mood: Jovial
Attitude: Cocky and open, normally friendly
Stability: Low stability. Fakes good stability to assure others he is ok despite not being ok.
Expressiveness: Expresses Joy openly. Anger and sadness are hidden.
When Happy: Boisterous laughter
When Depressed: Isolates himself and stay away from others.
When Angry: Grits teeth, some glares, possibly isolates self or, if very angry, attacks the aggressor.
Note: These are generalizations. Different situations will create different reactions.
Current Residence: Small two bedroom domed home.
Community: Kind and open community. Very friendly.
Family: Volt (Brother), Speedy (Brother-in-Law), Harmony (Niece), Atlas (Nephew) @projectlightfox @needf0rspeed
Friends: Zapper (Astromech and Friend)
Enemies: Ultimate (Archnemesis), Ixis Serena (Witch)
Bosses: King Elias
Followers: Geoffrey St. John
Heroes: His father
Rivals: N/A
Relates to: Volt @projectlightfox, Hark @keepinganimmortalworld
Pets/Familiars: N/A
Wardrobe: White shirts, khaki shorts, and a leather jacket, or his armor (temperature suit, armor plates, gauntlets, sports shoes, and helmet)
Equipment: Disintegrator Pistol, lightsaber, specially forged iron sword, explosives, emp grenades, medical supplies, maps, communicator, and food stuffs.
Accessories: N/A
Trinkets: Holoprojector with images of his family
Funds: 900,000 Rings
Home: Simple round domed house with a living room that is open to the kitchen, messy sectional with a wooden coffee table and two windows. Kitchen has marble tops and wooden cabinets with steel sink, oven, stove, and refrigerator. Rooms are simple with wooden nightstands and basic cotton bedsheets. Both have a single window.
Neighborhood: Passive friendly people, very open and calm with newcomers.
Transportation: Walking for the most part, speeder bike, or jetpack
License Plate Number: N/A
Collections: N/A
Most valuable possession: His armor, not only is it sentimental, it’s impervious to most weaponry on the planet, skyrocketing its value.
Prized Possession: His Armor. It’s as important to him culturally as it is sentimental.
Lovers: Skalaya (Human Crush/First Love, Now deceased)
Marital Status: Single
Sex Life: Low to N/A
Type: Storge/Agape
Turn-Ons: He’s not sure himself, but he appreciates someone who cares for him and he cares for them. Nothing physical. All based on an emotional connection.
Turn Offs: Signs of toxicity, disloyalty, infidelity.
Position: Switch
Plays: N/A
Fetishes: N/A
Virginity: N/A
Element: Earth
Occupation: Private Contractor, Blacksmith
Work Ethnic: Very Strong Work Ethic. Works hard to get job done well and fast.
Rank: N/A
Income: Varies depending on work. Usually 10,000 Rings per job.
Wealth Status: Upper but lives Middle/Low
Experience: Mercenary Work, Blacksmithing, Farming
Organizations/Affiliations: Republic of Acorn/Freedom Fighters
IQ: 115
Education: Strong Education in various technical fields, such as mechanics, combat, mathematics, tactical skills, and history and culture.
School: Formerly Boarding School-like, then Homeschooled
Grade: N/A, Pass/Fail System
Special Education: Often Fell behind in early school due to lack of understanding of concepts.
Social Stereotype: Punk
Degrees: N/A
Intelligence: Intrapersonal, Linguistic, and Logical
Extracurricular Activities: Hunting
Religion: None/Mandalorian Culture (Not sure if it should be called Religion or not)
Morals: Values Honor, Glory, Integrity, and Family above all else. Killing is ok so long as it is not done in violation of your word. Most crimes are not considered morally wrong in and of themselves as long as the end goal is nobel.
Crime Record: If the law exists outside of Mandalorian Culture, it was probably broken in one way or another. Amnesty granted due to previous war record in favor of the New Republic.
Motivation: Love, Family, and Glory
Priorities: Family First above all else.
Philosophy: Justice must triumph over evil and tyranny by any means necessary.
Political Party: Liberal-Moderate
Etiquette: Normally informal, but will act properly in formal settings due to experience.
Culture: Mandalorian culture has many different aspects that value practicality over ceremony. Marriage can be done in a private setting between two people when they speak a specific phrase to each other, and adoption is equally simple. Family is given priority and therefore, the formation of family is streamlined. Funerals are also short and simple, normally consisting of a daily remembrance of the dead rather than a formal ceremony.
Influences: It takes a very powerful and respectable person or a grand event to cause Jerard to change in some way or another.
Relates to: He relates to Volt due to their shared history of being experimented on.
Traditions: Jerard carries all of his Mandalorian traditions with him, from the food to the way he conducts himself and his work ethic.
Superstitions: N/A
Main Goal: To live a good life with family and to find his place in the world.
Minor Goals/Ambitions: Getting rid of Ultimate and doing a good job as a Freedom Fighter.
Career: Mercenary
Desires: Family, love, and to explore this new galaxy.
Wishlist: Some more beskar to forge. (Likely impossible, so he’ll settle for gems.)
Accomplishments: He got a family and he’s a mercenary.
Greatest Achievement: Helping to win the Yuuzhan Vong War, and going Super to beat down Dark Gaia.
Biggest Failure: Failing to save Skalaya.
Secrets: Most of the more unsavory things he’s done in the past. He doesn’t let others know what he’s done.
Regrets: Accepting jobs that led to the death of innocent people.
Worries: He worries about losing who he is, so he holds on even tighter to his past.
Best Dream: Being able to have both his families live together happily.
Worst Nightmare: Losing everything (Has happened)
Best Memories: Teaching and training his kids and the next generation.
Worst Memories: Losing control of himself in his emotions, nearly hurting those around him in his rampages.
Hobbies/Interests: Hunting and smithing
Skills/Talents: Swordsman, Marksman, Tactician
Likes: Food, partying, playing, camping, fighting
Dislikes: Liars, cowards, awkward silences, zealots
Sense of Humor: Gallows and Dad humour
Pet Peeves: When someone stutters too often.
Superstitions/Beliefs: No Superstitious beliefs. If you live like a good Mandalorian, when you die, your spirit goes to the Mandokarla.
Dreams/Nightmares: More nightmares than anything, regarding loss and death.
Quirks: He likes to put his feet on furniture. Always seems to have a wry smile at some point.
Savvy: Mechanically savvy.
Can't understand: Taking away someone’s ability to choose.
Closet Hobby: Carving
Guilty Pleasure: Those fun little cartoon shows they show on the TV.
Strengths: Calm under pressure, determined
Flaws: Too Proud, Stubborn, Blunt
Perception: It can be cold but there’s always something worth finding.
Conflicts: He’s alone in the world, and his culture clashes with everyone else’s on the planet, making it difficult for him to fit in.
Instincts: Exploration and action.
Lures: Fighting
Soft Spot: Kids
Cruel Streak: When someone hurts kids, friends, or family. He gets very violent when these happen.
Powers/Abilities: Enhanced senses and reflexes, minor electrical prowess, empathic abilities, minor telekinesis.
Origin: Born with them
Source: Considering the nature of the power, all he needs to do is focus, but it requires more focus for more intensive powers.
Ability: He’s trained to improve specific powers more than learning many, so he is more adept at the powers he does normally use, but is very poor at trying new ones.
Weaknesses: Using these powers require a certain amount of focus, so breaking his focus will keep him at a normal individual’s level.
Immunities: N/A
Restrictions: Must Train to maintain or improve these powers.
Alternate Forms: Nothing he can do on his own.
Extra Anatomy: N/A
Favorite Colors: Gold
Favorite Animals: Strill
Favorite Mythological Creatures: Hydra
Favorite Places: Mandalore
Favorite Landmarks: Mt. Stormtop
Favorite Flavors: Pineapple
Favorite Foods: Pizza
Favorite Drinks: Ti’haar
Favorite Characters: He’s liking that Duo Maxwell character from the TV.
Favorite Genre: Action-Adventure
Favorite Books: Detective/Mystery
Favorite Movies: Action Blockbusters
Favorite Games: Character Action Games
Favorite Shows: Action or Comedy
Favorite Music: Rock, all the Rocks of all kinds.
Favorite Bands: Queen, Iron Maiden, Guns and Roses
Favorite Songs: His World by Zebrahead, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns and Roses, Enter Sandman by Metallica
Favorite Sports: Football Soccer, Rugby, Hockey, Wrestling, Boxing, MMA, Judo, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Baseball
Favorite Stores: BEARS (Mobian Sears)
Favorite Subjects: History, Science, Math
Favorite Numbers: 4
Favorite Websites: N/A
Favorite Words: Osik, Shebs, Dikut
Favorite Quotations: Ke Nu Jurkadir shaa Mando’ade. (Don’t mess with Mandalorians)
Least Favorite Colors: Lavender
Least Favorite Animals: Ants
Least Favorite Mythological Creatures: Cyclops
Least Favorite Places: Senates
Least Favorite Landmarks: Statues to fake heroes
Least Favorite Flavors: Tobacco
Least Favorite Foods: Black Licorice
Least Favorite Drinks: Sambuca
Least Favorite Characters: Trieze Marquis
Least Favorite Genre: Romantic Drama
Least Favorite Books: Romance Novels
Least Favorite Movies: Chick Flicks
Least Favorite Games: Bad games
Least Favorite Shows: Reality TV
Least Favorite Music: Reggaeton
Least Favorite Bands: Justin Beaver
Least Favorite Songs: Baby by Justin Beaver
Least Favorite Sports: Tennis
Least Favorite Stores: Victorian’s Secret
Least Favorite Subjects: Home Ec
Least Favorite Numbers: 3
Least Favorite Websites: N/A
Least Favorite Words: Eggman
Least Favorite Quotations: “You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelete.”
Languages: Basic(English), Mandalorian, Corellian, Huttese, German
Accent: American
Voice: Even Pitched, errs towards lower pitch sometimes
Speech Impediments: N/A
Greetings and Farewells: “Su’Cuy Gar!”
State of Mind: "I’m doin’ Fine.”
Compliment: "Lookin healthy as ever.”
Insult: “Your face looks like an ass.”
Expletive: “OSIK!”
Laughter: A Loud boisterous laugh.
Tag Line: “Well-”
Signature Quote: “Today’s a good day for someone else to die.”
Reputation: Not much, he’s not really in the public eye.
First Impressions: Odd, quirky, insane.
Stranger Impressions: An absolute nutcase.
Friendly Impressions: A Friendly nutcase.
Enemy Impressions: Don’t fuck with this nutcase.
Familiar Impressions: We love him, but he’s a nutcase.
Compliments: He’s a heroic nutcase.
Insults: He’s an ass, and a nut.
Self-Impression: I’mma boss.
MBTI Personality Type: ENFP-A
Temperament: Sanguine
Enneagram: The Challenger
Ego/Superego/Id: Id
The Self: The Warrior
The Shadow: Selfishness
The Anima/Animus: Sophia
Persona/Mask: Fortune
Role: Rival
Fulfillment: Well
Significance: He’s had a great impact on current world events.
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Comparison: Spartan/Viking
Symbol: Knife
Song: Bad Luck Charm
Vice: Pride
Virtue: Diligence
Defining Moment: When he made the choice to join the Rebel Alliance and become part of something far bigger than just his clan leader.
Tropes: He can be stereotypically hot-headed more often than not, getting into fights or confrontations with ease.
Originality: His value on family and fatherhood sets him apart from most mercenaries, warlords, or bounty hunters. He is not a lone wolf and hates to be alone too long.
One Word: Determined
Character Sheet © Character-Resource
0 notes
Text
Yogi Assignment: Tap Into the Benefits of Tapas
Learn more: http://www.trainerprofiles.com
Sticking to something you set out to do-especially when it challenges your go-to habits-takes discipline. Here are four ways to strengthen your determination by the end of this week.
Learn four ways to strengthen your discipline this week.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m., more than two hours before sunrise. Before 6 a.m. I was meditating, and before the sun peaked over the clouds I was already in Downward Facing Dog.
Considering this typical morning ritual of mine, it may surprise you to hear that I'm not a morning person. Over 20 years of yoga practice and I still find it challenging to wake up before the sun. My natural body clock wants to sleep in for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the sun has risen. But, years of practice and a good dose of discipline have taught me about the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone, both in practice and in life.
How Your Samskaras Can Hold You Back
Traditionally yoga practice is a spiritual journey that aims to cleanse the body and mind of old and destructive habit patterns. These patterns are called samskaras in Sanskrit, and we all have them. Since samskaras are the most manifested embodiments of our thoughts and personality, we are very identified with them-and it often causes us great emotional turmoil to change them.
There is a powerful inertia that drives the samskara cycle and, if left unchecked, the pattern will continue largely driven by unconscious motivating forces. Some samskaras are said to be benign, meaning that they do not generate further suffering. But the majority of the ones that govern our lives are not beneficial to our liberation and will ultimately lead to more suffering. Working with the samskaras is like performing a deep operation of the mind; it isn't something that can be undertaken in a haphazard manner. In fact, restructuring the habit pattern of the mind and laying the foundation for a life of inner peace is a devoted, disciplined practice that will require your full undivided attention.
See also 13 Poses to Help You Break Bad Habits
This is Where Tapas Comes In …
Calls for discipline can be unpopular, and even sometimes thought of as negative. In our free-thinking, self-invented culture, many people hate the idea of following the rules.
Well, in the yoga practice, there is a long history of the need for a disciplined approach to spiritual practice. Called Tapas in Sanskrit, discipline is discussed in all traditional forms of yoga practice. Sometimes Tapas can be translated as austerities, which can be even more intimidating. A softer translation comes from Swami Satchidananda, where Tapas is defined as the acceptance of those pains that lead to purification.
I love this definition because some overzealous students hear discipline and use it as an excuse to practice with harshness and severity, and even turn the practice into a kind of penance. But, yoga is rooted in the path of balance, and extreme hardship is simply not recommended. Discipline in the yoga practice actually comes from love.
See also Fuel Your Willpower to Transform with Tapas
Here's a real-world way that discipline works in the yoga practice to achieve spiritual results:
My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and the “old” me (inspired by that old samskara!) wants to stay in bed and snuggle. The “new” me has to force myself a little to roll out of bed. There is so much momentum around the pattern of staying in bed. My entire inner dialogue speaks a seductive language that entices me to sleep in: “You deserve rest,” it says. “Just hit snooze for 5 minutes,” it continues. “It's way too early-the sun isn't even out yet,” it nudges some more.
I can choose to listen to that inner voice of my old patterning-or I can choose to get out of bed and start my spiritual practice. It isn't easy to chart a new course. It requires effort, willpower, and determination. But, as I sit on my meditation cushion and my mind quiets in those pre-dawn hours, I feel a sense of peace and awareness. This dawn, the awakening of inner light, fills me up so much so that it makes it all worth the effort.
“Every Practice Should Contain Some Element of Difficulty”
My teacher, R. Sharath Jois, likes to say that every practice should contain at least some element of difficulty. If practice is too easy, the idea is that it won't be able to teach you about the depths of yourself. The mountain of yoga is the truly the highest peak of human consciousness. In some sense, it should be a little hard and present challenges that mirror the challenges of life.
The yogi is a seeker of truth and the journey to the deepest truth demands strength, commitment, and resolution from would-be aspirants. Tapas is there to tell you that it is OK that your first attempt at a difficult arm balance is not a success. Tapas encourages you to try again, one more time or 1,000 more times, to build the strength and learn the lesson your practice is trying to teach you. If you normally back away from hardship, Tapas is there to encourage you to rise up and meet hardship with a fierce love. Tapas is one of the most important tests along the spiritual path of yoga. Tapas teaches you a spiritual paradigm that changes your response to adversity and struggle. By learning how to face those pains that lead to purification (not injury!), you will learn how to lean in to the scary places in your life.
See also How Sangha Drew Kino MacGregor Away from the “Spiritual Desperation” of a Drug-Fueled Party Scene
Kino MacGregor tapped into tapas with the discipline of her yoga practice.
How Kino MacGregor Has Tapped Into Tapas
The Tapas of my yoga practice has changed nearly every aspect of my life.
You already know that yoga changed the time I wake up in the morning. While I still play hooky sometimes and sleep in (I'm human after all), I generally wake up much earlier than I did before I started practicing yoga. That means that I go to bed much earlier as well. Like a domino-effect, going to bed early and rising early puts a serious dent in what types of parties and social interactions happen in the late evenings (read: no more late-night parties for me).
Tapas has also changed my daily rituals. Before I started practicing yoga, the only thing I did every day was brush my teeth. Then, I accepted the six-day-a-week demand of Ashtanga Yoga and I haven't wavered for 20 years. Sure, there are days when my practice isn't the full two hour sweat fest that Ashtanga Yoga is known for. Some days my practice is just five minutes and comprised of only the Sun Salutations. But, my Tapas means that I get on my mat with great frequency. This daily discipline has become my spiritual ritual of mental and physical purification.
Once I learned how to build discipline on the mat, I learned to be disciplined off the mat as well. I adopted a strictly plant-based diet. I've written four books and am working on my fifth. I co-founded a yoga center, Miami Life Center, and founded an online channel for yoga, Omstars. I travel and teach yoga all over the world. While surely I have been both blessed, privileged, and lucky, I've also applied the same disciplined approach to life that I applied to my body when learning to jump through, jump back, and lift up in inversions and other asanas. If I failed, I did not waver. I picked myself back up and tried again. Now, there are some dreams (and poses!) that I'm still working on. Yet with the power of Tapas, I am faithful that all is coming in its due course of time.
See also Kino MacGregor's 7-Pose Yoga Break for Stress Relief
Kino MacGregor embraces the benefits of discipline.
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Discipline This Week
This week's Yogi Assignment is Tapas. I'd like you to introduce just one challenging aspect to your spiritual practice this week and as you do, be sure that your Tapas is rooted in love-not punishment. With the same kind heart that you would feel as you discipline your child, speak to yourself about the benefits of discipline.
Below are some options for how you might apply Tapas to your practice this week. Of course, you're welcome to explore other areas of discipline. If you feel inspired to share your progress on this week's #YogiAssignment on social media, I'd love to see how it's going. But also, feel free to make this a private, introspective journey. You might find that journaling about your experience of Tapas helps you process your relationship to discipline.
1. Begin an early a.m. practice.
Commit to waking up before dawn and getting on your mat as soon as possible. Avoid sending emails or logging on to social media before you practice. The early morning practice capitalizes on the relatively quiet state of mind that is predominant directly after waking up. By starting your practice in this calm space, you'll be able to work very deeply in the mind. Plus, if you get your practice in before “life” starts, then you will be set up for the whole day in the paradigm of spiritually-oriented thinking. Your day will flow from a place of peace and you won't ever get “too busy” to practice.
2. Eat like a yogi.
Changing food habits is never fun. You often meet cultural and social resistance, not to mention desire for past pleasure. Just for this week, try giving up a food item that you feel particularly attached to and is an impediment to your practice. For example, if you always have a glass or two of wine in the evenings, challenge yourself to give that up for a week. See who you are without your samskara of wine. It won't be easy. In fact, it will probably confront you with “stuff” you'll need to look at. But, just try it out for one week and see how you react in both positive and negative ways.
3. Roll out your mat everyday.
Commit to getting on your mat for at least five minutes every day this week. It will be easier if you practice around the same time. Just as we brush our teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night, practice is best done when you make a ritual out of it and do it at the same time every day.
4. Change your thinking.
Your yoga practice gives you a view into your inner world. There, in the space between your breaths, you will often find your repetitive thoughts. Once you see those thoughts on your yoga mat, you will probably also see them show up in your life.
As an act of Tapas this week, be watchful over your thoughts both on and off the mat. If you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I feel fat” “I'm too old” “I'm ugly”, see if you can turn the thought around. Using your spiritual strength, see if you can find a positive thought to think about yourself instead. This type of work is the hardest and requires the most discipline. But if you succeed at the other aspects of Tapas you will develop the grit it takes to retrain the habit pattern of the mind. Eventually, your mind and heart will be filled with kind, peaceful, loving thoughts about yourself-and your whole world.
See also Kino MacGregor's 4-Step Get-Your-Handstand Plan
0 notes
Text
Yogi Assignment: Tap Into the Benefits of Tapas
Learn more: http://www.trainerprofiles.com
Sticking to something you set out to do-especially when it challenges your go-to habits-takes discipline. Here are four ways to strengthen your determination by the end of this week.
Learn four ways to strengthen your discipline this week.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m., more than two hours before sunrise. Before 6 a.m. I was meditating, and before the sun peaked over the clouds I was already in Downward Facing Dog.
Considering this typical morning ritual of mine, it may surprise you to hear that I'm not a morning person. Over 20 years of yoga practice and I still find it challenging to wake up before the sun. My natural body clock wants to sleep in for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the sun has risen. But, years of practice and a good dose of discipline have taught me about the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone, both in practice and in life.
How Your Samskaras Can Hold You Back
Traditionally yoga practice is a spiritual journey that aims to cleanse the body and mind of old and destructive habit patterns. These patterns are called samskaras in Sanskrit, and we all have them. Since samskaras are the most manifested embodiments of our thoughts and personality, we are very identified with them-and it often causes us great emotional turmoil to change them.
There is a powerful inertia that drives the samskara cycle and, if left unchecked, the pattern will continue largely driven by unconscious motivating forces. Some samskaras are said to be benign, meaning that they do not generate further suffering. But the majority of the ones that govern our lives are not beneficial to our liberation and will ultimately lead to more suffering. Working with the samskaras is like performing a deep operation of the mind; it isn't something that can be undertaken in a haphazard manner. In fact, restructuring the habit pattern of the mind and laying the foundation for a life of inner peace is a devoted, disciplined practice that will require your full undivided attention.
See also 13 Poses to Help You Break Bad Habits
This is Where Tapas Comes In …
Calls for discipline can be unpopular, and even sometimes thought of as negative. In our free-thinking, self-invented culture, many people hate the idea of following the rules.
Well, in the yoga practice, there is a long history of the need for a disciplined approach to spiritual practice. Called Tapas in Sanskrit, discipline is discussed in all traditional forms of yoga practice. Sometimes Tapas can be translated as austerities, which can be even more intimidating. A softer translation comes from Swami Satchidananda, where Tapas is defined as the acceptance of those pains that lead to purification.
I love this definition because some overzealous students hear discipline and use it as an excuse to practice with harshness and severity, and even turn the practice into a kind of penance. But, yoga is rooted in the path of balance, and extreme hardship is simply not recommended. Discipline in the yoga practice actually comes from love.
See also Fuel Your Willpower to Transform with Tapas
Here's a real-world way that discipline works in the yoga practice to achieve spiritual results:
My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and the “old” me (inspired by that old samskara!) wants to stay in bed and snuggle. The “new” me has to force myself a little to roll out of bed. There is so much momentum around the pattern of staying in bed. My entire inner dialogue speaks a seductive language that entices me to sleep in: “You deserve rest,” it says. “Just hit snooze for 5 minutes,” it continues. “It's way too early-the sun isn't even out yet,” it nudges some more.
I can choose to listen to that inner voice of my old patterning-or I can choose to get out of bed and start my spiritual practice. It isn't easy to chart a new course. It requires effort, willpower, and determination. But, as I sit on my meditation cushion and my mind quiets in those pre-dawn hours, I feel a sense of peace and awareness. This dawn, the awakening of inner light, fills me up so much so that it makes it all worth the effort.
“Every Practice Should Contain Some Element of Difficulty”
My teacher, R. Sharath Jois, likes to say that every practice should contain at least some element of difficulty. If practice is too easy, the idea is that it won't be able to teach you about the depths of yourself. The mountain of yoga is the truly the highest peak of human consciousness. In some sense, it should be a little hard and present challenges that mirror the challenges of life.
The yogi is a seeker of truth and the journey to the deepest truth demands strength, commitment, and resolution from would-be aspirants. Tapas is there to tell you that it is OK that your first attempt at a difficult arm balance is not a success. Tapas encourages you to try again, one more time or 1,000 more times, to build the strength and learn the lesson your practice is trying to teach you. If you normally back away from hardship, Tapas is there to encourage you to rise up and meet hardship with a fierce love. Tapas is one of the most important tests along the spiritual path of yoga. Tapas teaches you a spiritual paradigm that changes your response to adversity and struggle. By learning how to face those pains that lead to purification (not injury!), you will learn how to lean in to the scary places in your life.
See also How Sangha Drew Kino MacGregor Away from the “Spiritual Desperation” of a Drug-Fueled Party Scene
Kino MacGregor tapped into tapas with the discipline of her yoga practice.
How Kino MacGregor Has Tapped Into Tapas
The Tapas of my yoga practice has changed nearly every aspect of my life.
You already know that yoga changed the time I wake up in the morning. While I still play hooky sometimes and sleep in (I'm human after all), I generally wake up much earlier than I did before I started practicing yoga. That means that I go to bed much earlier as well. Like a domino-effect, going to bed early and rising early puts a serious dent in what types of parties and social interactions happen in the late evenings (read: no more late-night parties for me).
Tapas has also changed my daily rituals. Before I started practicing yoga, the only thing I did every day was brush my teeth. Then, I accepted the six-day-a-week demand of Ashtanga Yoga and I haven't wavered for 20 years. Sure, there are days when my practice isn't the full two hour sweat fest that Ashtanga Yoga is known for. Some days my practice is just five minutes and comprised of only the Sun Salutations. But, my Tapas means that I get on my mat with great frequency. This daily discipline has become my spiritual ritual of mental and physical purification.
Once I learned how to build discipline on the mat, I learned to be disciplined off the mat as well. I adopted a strictly plant-based diet. I've written four books and am working on my fifth. I co-founded a yoga center, Miami Life Center, and founded an online channel for yoga, Omstars. I travel and teach yoga all over the world. While surely I have been both blessed, privileged, and lucky, I've also applied the same disciplined approach to life that I applied to my body when learning to jump through, jump back, and lift up in inversions and other asanas. If I failed, I did not waver. I picked myself back up and tried again. Now, there are some dreams (and poses!) that I'm still working on. Yet with the power of Tapas, I am faithful that all is coming in its due course of time.
See also Kino MacGregor's 7-Pose Yoga Break for Stress Relief
Kino MacGregor embraces the benefits of discipline.
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Discipline This Week
This week's Yogi Assignment is Tapas. I'd like you to introduce just one challenging aspect to your spiritual practice this week and as you do, be sure that your Tapas is rooted in love-not punishment. With the same kind heart that you would feel as you discipline your child, speak to yourself about the benefits of discipline.
Below are some options for how you might apply Tapas to your practice this week. Of course, you're welcome to explore other areas of discipline. If you feel inspired to share your progress on this week's #YogiAssignment on social media, I'd love to see how it's going. But also, feel free to make this a private, introspective journey. You might find that journaling about your experience of Tapas helps you process your relationship to discipline.
1. Begin an early a.m. practice.
Commit to waking up before dawn and getting on your mat as soon as possible. Avoid sending emails or logging on to social media before you practice. The early morning practice capitalizes on the relatively quiet state of mind that is predominant directly after waking up. By starting your practice in this calm space, you'll be able to work very deeply in the mind. Plus, if you get your practice in before “life” starts, then you will be set up for the whole day in the paradigm of spiritually-oriented thinking. Your day will flow from a place of peace and you won't ever get “too busy” to practice.
2. Eat like a yogi.
Changing food habits is never fun. You often meet cultural and social resistance, not to mention desire for past pleasure. Just for this week, try giving up a food item that you feel particularly attached to and is an impediment to your practice. For example, if you always have a glass or two of wine in the evenings, challenge yourself to give that up for a week. See who you are without your samskara of wine. It won't be easy. In fact, it will probably confront you with “stuff” you'll need to look at. But, just try it out for one week and see how you react in both positive and negative ways.
3. Roll out your mat everyday.
Commit to getting on your mat for at least five minutes every day this week. It will be easier if you practice around the same time. Just as we brush our teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night, practice is best done when you make a ritual out of it and do it at the same time every day.
4. Change your thinking.
Your yoga practice gives you a view into your inner world. There, in the space between your breaths, you will often find your repetitive thoughts. Once you see those thoughts on your yoga mat, you will probably also see them show up in your life.
As an act of Tapas this week, be watchful over your thoughts both on and off the mat. If you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I feel fat” “I'm too old” “I'm ugly”, see if you can turn the thought around. Using your spiritual strength, see if you can find a positive thought to think about yourself instead. This type of work is the hardest and requires the most discipline. But if you succeed at the other aspects of Tapas you will develop the grit it takes to retrain the habit pattern of the mind. Eventually, your mind and heart will be filled with kind, peaceful, loving thoughts about yourself-and your whole world.
See also Kino MacGregor's 4-Step Get-Your-Handstand Plan
0 notes
Text
Yogi Assignment: Tap Into the Benefits of Tapas
Learn more: http://www.trainerprofiles.com
Sticking to something you set out to do-especially when it challenges your go-to habits-takes discipline. Here are four ways to strengthen your determination by the end of this week.
Learn four ways to strengthen your discipline this week.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m., more than two hours before sunrise. Before 6 a.m. I was meditating, and before the sun peaked over the clouds I was already in Downward Facing Dog.
Considering this typical morning ritual of mine, it may surprise you to hear that I'm not a morning person. Over 20 years of yoga practice and I still find it challenging to wake up before the sun. My natural body clock wants to sleep in for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the sun has risen. But, years of practice and a good dose of discipline have taught me about the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone, both in practice and in life.
How Your Samskaras Can Hold You Back
Traditionally yoga practice is a spiritual journey that aims to cleanse the body and mind of old and destructive habit patterns. These patterns are called samskaras in Sanskrit, and we all have them. Since samskaras are the most manifested embodiments of our thoughts and personality, we are very identified with them-and it often causes us great emotional turmoil to change them.
There is a powerful inertia that drives the samskara cycle and, if left unchecked, the pattern will continue largely driven by unconscious motivating forces. Some samskaras are said to be benign, meaning that they do not generate further suffering. But the majority of the ones that govern our lives are not beneficial to our liberation and will ultimately lead to more suffering. Working with the samskaras is like performing a deep operation of the mind; it isn't something that can be undertaken in a haphazard manner. In fact, restructuring the habit pattern of the mind and laying the foundation for a life of inner peace is a devoted, disciplined practice that will require your full undivided attention.
See also 13 Poses to Help You Break Bad Habits
This is Where Tapas Comes In …
Calls for discipline can be unpopular, and even sometimes thought of as negative. In our free-thinking, self-invented culture, many people hate the idea of following the rules.
Well, in the yoga practice, there is a long history of the need for a disciplined approach to spiritual practice. Called Tapas in Sanskrit, discipline is discussed in all traditional forms of yoga practice. Sometimes Tapas can be translated as austerities, which can be even more intimidating. A softer translation comes from Swami Satchidananda, where Tapas is defined as the acceptance of those pains that lead to purification.
I love this definition because some overzealous students hear discipline and use it as an excuse to practice with harshness and severity, and even turn the practice into a kind of penance. But, yoga is rooted in the path of balance, and extreme hardship is simply not recommended. Discipline in the yoga practice actually comes from love.
See also Fuel Your Willpower to Transform with Tapas
Here's a real-world way that discipline works in the yoga practice to achieve spiritual results:
My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and the “old” me (inspired by that old samskara!) wants to stay in bed and snuggle. The “new” me has to force myself a little to roll out of bed. There is so much momentum around the pattern of staying in bed. My entire inner dialogue speaks a seductive language that entices me to sleep in: “You deserve rest,” it says. “Just hit snooze for 5 minutes,” it continues. “It's way too early-the sun isn't even out yet,” it nudges some more.
I can choose to listen to that inner voice of my old patterning-or I can choose to get out of bed and start my spiritual practice. It isn't easy to chart a new course. It requires effort, willpower, and determination. But, as I sit on my meditation cushion and my mind quiets in those pre-dawn hours, I feel a sense of peace and awareness. This dawn, the awakening of inner light, fills me up so much so that it makes it all worth the effort.
“Every Practice Should Contain Some Element of Difficulty”
My teacher, R. Sharath Jois, likes to say that every practice should contain at least some element of difficulty. If practice is too easy, the idea is that it won't be able to teach you about the depths of yourself. The mountain of yoga is the truly the highest peak of human consciousness. In some sense, it should be a little hard and present challenges that mirror the challenges of life.
The yogi is a seeker of truth and the journey to the deepest truth demands strength, commitment, and resolution from would-be aspirants. Tapas is there to tell you that it is OK that your first attempt at a difficult arm balance is not a success. Tapas encourages you to try again, one more time or 1,000 more times, to build the strength and learn the lesson your practice is trying to teach you. If you normally back away from hardship, Tapas is there to encourage you to rise up and meet hardship with a fierce love. Tapas is one of the most important tests along the spiritual path of yoga. Tapas teaches you a spiritual paradigm that changes your response to adversity and struggle. By learning how to face those pains that lead to purification (not injury!), you will learn how to lean in to the scary places in your life.
See also How Sangha Drew Kino MacGregor Away from the “Spiritual Desperation” of a Drug-Fueled Party Scene
Kino MacGregor tapped into tapas with the discipline of her yoga practice.
How Kino MacGregor Has Tapped Into Tapas
The Tapas of my yoga practice has changed nearly every aspect of my life.
You already know that yoga changed the time I wake up in the morning. While I still play hooky sometimes and sleep in (I'm human after all), I generally wake up much earlier than I did before I started practicing yoga. That means that I go to bed much earlier as well. Like a domino-effect, going to bed early and rising early puts a serious dent in what types of parties and social interactions happen in the late evenings (read: no more late-night parties for me).
Tapas has also changed my daily rituals. Before I started practicing yoga, the only thing I did every day was brush my teeth. Then, I accepted the six-day-a-week demand of Ashtanga Yoga and I haven't wavered for 20 years. Sure, there are days when my practice isn't the full two hour sweat fest that Ashtanga Yoga is known for. Some days my practice is just five minutes and comprised of only the Sun Salutations. But, my Tapas means that I get on my mat with great frequency. This daily discipline has become my spiritual ritual of mental and physical purification.
Once I learned how to build discipline on the mat, I learned to be disciplined off the mat as well. I adopted a strictly plant-based diet. I've written four books and am working on my fifth. I co-founded a yoga center, Miami Life Center, and founded an online channel for yoga, Omstars. I travel and teach yoga all over the world. While surely I have been both blessed, privileged, and lucky, I've also applied the same disciplined approach to life that I applied to my body when learning to jump through, jump back, and lift up in inversions and other asanas. If I failed, I did not waver. I picked myself back up and tried again. Now, there are some dreams (and poses!) that I'm still working on. Yet with the power of Tapas, I am faithful that all is coming in its due course of time.
See also Kino MacGregor's 7-Pose Yoga Break for Stress Relief
Kino MacGregor embraces the benefits of discipline.
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Discipline This Week
This week's Yogi Assignment is Tapas. I'd like you to introduce just one challenging aspect to your spiritual practice this week and as you do, be sure that your Tapas is rooted in love-not punishment. With the same kind heart that you would feel as you discipline your child, speak to yourself about the benefits of discipline.
Below are some options for how you might apply Tapas to your practice this week. Of course, you're welcome to explore other areas of discipline. If you feel inspired to share your progress on this week's #YogiAssignment on social media, I'd love to see how it's going. But also, feel free to make this a private, introspective journey. You might find that journaling about your experience of Tapas helps you process your relationship to discipline.
1. Begin an early a.m. practice.
Commit to waking up before dawn and getting on your mat as soon as possible. Avoid sending emails or logging on to social media before you practice. The early morning practice capitalizes on the relatively quiet state of mind that is predominant directly after waking up. By starting your practice in this calm space, you'll be able to work very deeply in the mind. Plus, if you get your practice in before “life” starts, then you will be set up for the whole day in the paradigm of spiritually-oriented thinking. Your day will flow from a place of peace and you won't ever get “too busy” to practice.
2. Eat like a yogi.
Changing food habits is never fun. You often meet cultural and social resistance, not to mention desire for past pleasure. Just for this week, try giving up a food item that you feel particularly attached to and is an impediment to your practice. For example, if you always have a glass or two of wine in the evenings, challenge yourself to give that up for a week. See who you are without your samskara of wine. It won't be easy. In fact, it will probably confront you with “stuff” you'll need to look at. But, just try it out for one week and see how you react in both positive and negative ways.
3. Roll out your mat everyday.
Commit to getting on your mat for at least five minutes every day this week. It will be easier if you practice around the same time. Just as we brush our teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night, practice is best done when you make a ritual out of it and do it at the same time every day.
4. Change your thinking.
Your yoga practice gives you a view into your inner world. There, in the space between your breaths, you will often find your repetitive thoughts. Once you see those thoughts on your yoga mat, you will probably also see them show up in your life.
As an act of Tapas this week, be watchful over your thoughts both on and off the mat. If you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I feel fat” “I'm too old” “I'm ugly”, see if you can turn the thought around. Using your spiritual strength, see if you can find a positive thought to think about yourself instead. This type of work is the hardest and requires the most discipline. But if you succeed at the other aspects of Tapas you will develop the grit it takes to retrain the habit pattern of the mind. Eventually, your mind and heart will be filled with kind, peaceful, loving thoughts about yourself-and your whole world.
See also Kino MacGregor's 4-Step Get-Your-Handstand Plan
0 notes
Link
Sticking to something you set out to do—especially when it challenges your go-to habits—takes discipline. Here are four ways to strengthen your determination by the end of this week.
Learn four ways to strengthen your discipline this week.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m., more than two hours before sunrise. Before 6 a.m. I was meditating, and before the sun peaked over the clouds I was already in Downward Facing Dog.
Considering this typical morning ritual of mine, it may surprise you to hear that I’m not a morning person. Over 20 years of yoga practice and I still find it challenging to wake up before the sun. My natural body clock wants to sleep in for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the sun has risen. But, years of practice and a good dose of discipline have taught me about the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone, both in practice and in life.
How Your Samskaras Can Hold You Back
Traditionally yoga practice is a spiritual journey that aims to cleanse the body and mind of old and destructive habit patterns. These patterns are called samskaras in Sanskrit, and we all have them. Since samskaras are the most manifested embodiments of our thoughts and personality, we are very identified with them—and it often causes us great emotional turmoil to change them.
There is a powerful inertia that drives the samskara cycle and, if left unchecked, the pattern will continue largely driven by unconscious motivating forces. Some samskaras are said to be benign, meaning that they do not generate further suffering. But the majority of the ones that govern our lives are not beneficial to our liberation and will ultimately lead to more suffering. Working with the samskaras is like performing a deep operation of the mind; it isn’t something that can be undertaken in a haphazard manner. In fact, restructuring the habit pattern of the mind and laying the foundation for a life of inner peace is a devoted, disciplined practice that will require your full undivided attention.
See also 13 Poses to Help You Break Bad Habits
This is Where Tapas Comes In …
Calls for discipline can be unpopular, and even sometimes thought of as negative. In our free-thinking, self-invented culture, many people hate the idea of following the rules.
Well, in the yoga practice, there is a long history of the need for a disciplined approach to spiritual practice. Called Tapas in Sanskrit, discipline is discussed in all traditional forms of yoga practice. Sometimes Tapas can be translated as austerities, which can be even more intimidating. A softer translation comes from Swami Satchidananda, where Tapas is defined as the acceptance of those pains that lead to purification.
I love this definition because some overzealous students hear discipline and use it as an excuse to practice with harshness and severity, and even turn the practice into a kind of penance. But, yoga is rooted in the path of balance, and extreme hardship is simply not recommended. Discipline in the yoga practice actually comes from love.
See also Fuel Your Willpower to Transform with Tapas
Here’s a real-world way that discipline works in the yoga practice to achieve spiritual results:
My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and the “old” me (inspired by that old samskara!) wants to stay in bed and snuggle. The “new” me has to force myself a little to roll out of bed. There is so much momentum around the pattern of staying in bed. My entire inner dialogue speaks a seductive language that entices me to sleep in: “You deserve rest,” it says. “Just hit snooze for 5 minutes,” it continues. “It’s way too early—the sun isn’t even out yet,” it nudges some more.
I can choose to listen to that inner voice of my old patterning—or I can choose to get out of bed and start my spiritual practice. It isn’t easy to chart a new course. It requires effort, willpower, and determination. But, as I sit on my meditation cushion and my mind quiets in those pre-dawn hours, I feel a sense of peace and awareness. This dawn, the awakening of inner light, fills me up so much so that it makes it all worth the effort.
“Every Practice Should Contain Some Element of Difficulty”
My teacher, R. Sharath Jois, likes to say that every practice should contain at least some element of difficulty. If practice is too easy, the idea is that it won’t be able to teach you about the depths of yourself. The mountain of yoga is the truly the highest peak of human consciousness. In some sense, it should be a little hard and present challenges that mirror the challenges of life.
The yogi is a seeker of truth and the journey to the deepest truth demands strength, commitment, and resolution from would-be aspirants. Tapas is there to tell you that it is OK that your first attempt at a difficult arm balance is not a success. Tapas encourages you to try again, one more time or 1,000 more times, to build the strength and learn the lesson your practice is trying to teach you. If you normally back away from hardship, Tapas is there to encourage you to rise up and meet hardship with a fierce love. Tapas is one of the most important tests along the spiritual path of yoga. Tapas teaches you a spiritual paradigm that changes your response to adversity and struggle. By learning how to face those pains that lead to purification (not injury!), you will learn how to lean in to the scary places in your life.
See also How Sangha Drew Kino MacGregor Away from the “Spiritual Desperation” of a Drug-Fueled Party Scene
Kino MacGregor tapped into tapas with the discipline of her yoga practice.
How Kino MacGregor Has Tapped Into Tapas
The Tapas of my yoga practice has changed nearly every aspect of my life.
You already know that yoga changed the time I wake up in the morning. While I still play hooky sometimes and sleep in (I’m human after all), I generally wake up much earlier than I did before I started practicing yoga. That means that I go to bed much earlier as well. Like a domino-effect, going to bed early and rising early puts a serious dent in what types of parties and social interactions happen in the late evenings (read: no more late-night parties for me).
Tapas has also changed my daily rituals. Before I started practicing yoga, the only thing I did every day was brush my teeth. Then, I accepted the six-day-a-week demand of Ashtanga Yoga and I haven’t wavered for 20 years. Sure, there are days when my practice isn’t the full two hour sweat fest that Ashtanga Yoga is known for. Some days my practice is just five minutes and comprised of only the Sun Salutations. But, my Tapas means that I get on my mat with great frequency. This daily discipline has become my spiritual ritual of mental and physical purification.
Once I learned how to build discipline on the mat, I learned to be disciplined off the mat as well. I adopted a strictly plant-based diet. I’ve written four books and am working on my fifth. I co-founded a yoga center, Miami Life Center, and founded an online channel for yoga, Omstars. I travel and teach yoga all over the world. While surely I have been both blessed, privileged, and lucky, I’ve also applied the same disciplined approach to life that I applied to my body when learning to jump through, jump back, and lift up in inversions and other asanas. If I failed, I did not waver. I picked myself back up and tried again. Now, there are some dreams (and poses!) that I’m still working on. Yet with the power of Tapas, I am faithful that all is coming in its due course of time.
See also Kino MacGregor's 7-Pose Yoga Break for Stress Relief
Kino MacGregor embraces the benefits of discipline.
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Discipline This Week
This week’s Yogi Assignment is Tapas. I’d like you to introduce just one challenging aspect to your spiritual practice this week and as you do, be sure that your Tapas is rooted in love—not punishment. With the same kind heart that you would feel as you discipline your child, speak to yourself about the benefits of discipline.
Below are some options for how you might apply Tapas to your practice this week. Of course, you’re welcome to explore other areas of discipline. If you feel inspired to share your progress on this week’s #YogiAssignment on social media, I’d love to see how it’s going. But also, feel free to make this a private, introspective journey. You might find that journaling about your experience of Tapas helps you process your relationship to discipline.
1. Begin an early a.m. practice.
Commit to waking up before dawn and getting on your mat as soon as possible. Avoid sending emails or logging on to social media before you practice. The early morning practice capitalizes on the relatively quiet state of mind that is predominant directly after waking up. By starting your practice in this calm space, you’ll be able to work very deeply in the mind. Plus, if you get your practice in before “life” starts, then you will be set up for the whole day in the paradigm of spiritually-oriented thinking. Your day will flow from a place of peace and you won’t ever get “too busy” to practice.
2. Eat like a yogi.
Changing food habits is never fun. You often meet cultural and social resistance, not to mention desire for past pleasure. Just for this week, try giving up a food item that you feel particularly attached to and is an impediment to your practice. For example, if you always have a glass or two of wine in the evenings, challenge yourself to give that up for a week. See who you are without your samskara of wine. It won’t be easy. In fact, it will probably confront you with “stuff” you’ll need to look at. But, just try it out for one week and see how you react in both positive and negative ways.
3. Roll out your mat everyday.
Commit to getting on your mat for at least five minutes every day this week. It will be easier if you practice around the same time. Just as we brush our teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night, practice is best done when you make a ritual out of it and do it at the same time every day.
4. Change your thinking.
Your yoga practice gives you a view into your inner world. There, in the space between your breaths, you will often find your repetitive thoughts. Once you see those thoughts on your yoga mat, you will probably also see them show up in your life.
As an act of Tapas this week, be watchful over your thoughts both on and off the mat. If you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I feel fat” “I’m too old” “I’m ugly”, see if you can turn the thought around. Using your spiritual strength, see if you can find a positive thought to think about yourself instead. This type of work is the hardest and requires the most discipline. But if you succeed at the other aspects of Tapas you will develop the grit it takes to retrain the habit pattern of the mind. Eventually, your mind and heart will be filled with kind, peaceful, loving thoughts about yourself—and your whole world.
See also Kino MacGregor's 4-Step Get-Your-Handstand Plan
0 notes
Link
Sticking to something you set out to do—especially when it challenges your go-to habits—takes discipline. Here are four ways to strengthen your determination by the end of this week.
Learn four ways to strengthen your discipline this week.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m., more than two hours before sunrise. Before 6 a.m. I was meditating, and before the sun peaked over the clouds I was already in Downward Facing Dog.
Considering this typical morning ritual of mine, it may surprise you to hear that I’m not a morning person. Over 20 years of yoga practice and I still find it challenging to wake up before the sun. My natural body clock wants to sleep in for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the sun has risen. But, years of practice and a good dose of discipline have taught me about the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone, both in practice and in life.
How Your Samskaras Can Hold You Back
Traditionally yoga practice is a spiritual journey that aims to cleanse the body and mind of old and destructive habit patterns. These patterns are called samskaras in Sanskrit, and we all have them. Since samskaras are the most manifested embodiments of our thoughts and personality, we are very identified with them—and it often causes us great emotional turmoil to change them.
There is a powerful inertia that drives the samskara cycle and, if left unchecked, the pattern will continue largely driven by unconscious motivating forces. Some samskaras are said to be benign, meaning that they do not generate further suffering. But the majority of the ones that govern our lives are not beneficial to our liberation and will ultimately lead to more suffering. Working with the samskaras is like performing a deep operation of the mind; it isn’t something that can be undertaken in a haphazard manner. In fact, restructuring the habit pattern of the mind and laying the foundation for a life of inner peace is a devoted, disciplined practice that will require your full undivided attention.
See also 13 Poses to Help You Break Bad Habits
This is Where Tapas Comes In …
Calls for discipline can be unpopular, and even sometimes thought of as negative. In our free-thinking, self-invented culture, many people hate the idea of following the rules.
Well, in the yoga practice, there is a long history of the need for a disciplined approach to spiritual practice. Called Tapas in Sanskrit, discipline is discussed in all traditional forms of yoga practice. Sometimes Tapas can be translated as austerities, which can be even more intimidating. A softer translation comes from Swami Satchidananda, where Tapas is defined as the acceptance of those pains that lead to purification.
I love this definition because some overzealous students hear discipline and use it as an excuse to practice with harshness and severity, and even turn the practice into a kind of penance. But, yoga is rooted in the path of balance, and extreme hardship is simply not recommended. Discipline in the yoga practice actually comes from love.
See also Fuel Your Willpower to Transform with Tapas
Here’s a real-world way that discipline works in the yoga practice to achieve spiritual results:
My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and the “old” me (inspired by that old samskara!) wants to stay in bed and snuggle. The “new” me has to force myself a little to roll out of bed. There is so much momentum around the pattern of staying in bed. My entire inner dialogue speaks a seductive language that entices me to sleep in: “You deserve rest,” it says. “Just hit snooze for 5 minutes,” it continues. “It’s way too early—the sun isn’t even out yet,” it nudges some more.
I can choose to listen to that inner voice of my old patterning—or I can choose to get out of bed and start my spiritual practice. It isn’t easy to chart a new course. It requires effort, willpower, and determination. But, as I sit on my meditation cushion and my mind quiets in those pre-dawn hours, I feel a sense of peace and awareness. This dawn, the awakening of inner light, fills me up so much so that it makes it all worth the effort.
“Every Practice Should Contain Some Element of Difficulty”
My teacher, R. Sharath Jois, likes to say that every practice should contain at least some element of difficulty. If practice is too easy, the idea is that it won’t be able to teach you about the depths of yourself. The mountain of yoga is the truly the highest peak of human consciousness. In some sense, it should be a little hard and present challenges that mirror the challenges of life.
The yogi is a seeker of truth and the journey to the deepest truth demands strength, commitment, and resolution from would-be aspirants. Tapas is there to tell you that it is OK that your first attempt at a difficult arm balance is not a success. Tapas encourages you to try again, one more time or 1,000 more times, to build the strength and learn the lesson your practice is trying to teach you. If you normally back away from hardship, Tapas is there to encourage you to rise up and meet hardship with a fierce love. Tapas is one of the most important tests along the spiritual path of yoga. Tapas teaches you a spiritual paradigm that changes your response to adversity and struggle. By learning how to face those pains that lead to purification (not injury!), you will learn how to lean in to the scary places in your life.
See also How Sangha Drew Kino MacGregor Away from the “Spiritual Desperation” of a Drug-Fueled Party Scene
Kino MacGregor tapped into tapas with the discipline of her yoga practice.
How Kino MacGregor Has Tapped Into Tapas
The Tapas of my yoga practice has changed nearly every aspect of my life.
You already know that yoga changed the time I wake up in the morning. While I still play hooky sometimes and sleep in (I’m human after all), I generally wake up much earlier than I did before I started practicing yoga. That means that I go to bed much earlier as well. Like a domino-effect, going to bed early and rising early puts a serious dent in what types of parties and social interactions happen in the late evenings (read: no more late-night parties for me).
Tapas has also changed my daily rituals. Before I started practicing yoga, the only thing I did every day was brush my teeth. Then, I accepted the six-day-a-week demand of Ashtanga Yoga and I haven’t wavered for 20 years. Sure, there are days when my practice isn’t the full two hour sweat fest that Ashtanga Yoga is known for. Some days my practice is just five minutes and comprised of only the Sun Salutations. But, my Tapas means that I get on my mat with great frequency. This daily discipline has become my spiritual ritual of mental and physical purification.
Once I learned how to build discipline on the mat, I learned to be disciplined off the mat as well. I adopted a strictly plant-based diet. I’ve written four books and am working on my fifth. I co-founded a yoga center, Miami Life Center, and founded an online channel for yoga, Omstars. I travel and teach yoga all over the world. While surely I have been both blessed, privileged, and lucky, I’ve also applied the same disciplined approach to life that I applied to my body when learning to jump through, jump back, and lift up in inversions and other asanas. If I failed, I did not waver. I picked myself back up and tried again. Now, there are some dreams (and poses!) that I’m still working on. Yet with the power of Tapas, I am faithful that all is coming in its due course of time.
See also Kino MacGregor's 7-Pose Yoga Break for Stress Relief
Kino MacGregor embraces the benefits of discipline.
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Discipline This Week
This week’s Yogi Assignment is Tapas. I’d like you to introduce just one challenging aspect to your spiritual practice this week and as you do, be sure that your Tapas is rooted in love—not punishment. With the same kind heart that you would feel as you discipline your child, speak to yourself about the benefits of discipline.
Below are some options for how you might apply Tapas to your practice this week. Of course, you’re welcome to explore other areas of discipline. If you feel inspired to share your progress on this week’s #YogiAssignment on social media, I’d love to see how it’s going. But also, feel free to make this a private, introspective journey. You might find that journaling about your experience of Tapas helps you process your relationship to discipline.
1. Begin an early a.m. practice.
Commit to waking up before dawn and getting on your mat as soon as possible. Avoid sending emails or logging on to social media before you practice. The early morning practice capitalizes on the relatively quiet state of mind that is predominant directly after waking up. By starting your practice in this calm space, you’ll be able to work very deeply in the mind. Plus, if you get your practice in before “life” starts, then you will be set up for the whole day in the paradigm of spiritually-oriented thinking. Your day will flow from a place of peace and you won’t ever get “too busy” to practice.
2. Eat like a yogi.
Changing food habits is never fun. You often meet cultural and social resistance, not to mention desire for past pleasure. Just for this week, try giving up a food item that you feel particularly attached to and is an impediment to your practice. For example, if you always have a glass or two of wine in the evenings, challenge yourself to give that up for a week. See who you are without your samskara of wine. It won’t be easy. In fact, it will probably confront you with “stuff” you’ll need to look at. But, just try it out for one week and see how you react in both positive and negative ways.
3. Roll out your mat everyday.
Commit to getting on your mat for at least five minutes every day this week. It will be easier if you practice around the same time. Just as we brush our teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night, practice is best done when you make a ritual out of it and do it at the same time every day.
4. Change your thinking.
Your yoga practice gives you a view into your inner world. There, in the space between your breaths, you will often find your repetitive thoughts. Once you see those thoughts on your yoga mat, you will probably also see them show up in your life.
As an act of Tapas this week, be watchful over your thoughts both on and off the mat. If you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I feel fat” “I’m too old” “I’m ugly”, see if you can turn the thought around. Using your spiritual strength, see if you can find a positive thought to think about yourself instead. This type of work is the hardest and requires the most discipline. But if you succeed at the other aspects of Tapas you will develop the grit it takes to retrain the habit pattern of the mind. Eventually, your mind and heart will be filled with kind, peaceful, loving thoughts about yourself—and your whole world.
See also Kino MacGregor's 4-Step Get-Your-Handstand Plan
0 notes
Text
Yogi Assignment: Tap Into the Benefits of Tapas
Sticking to something you set out to do—especially when it challenges your go-to habits—takes discipline. Here are four ways to strengthen your determination by the end of this week.
Learn four ways to strengthen your discipline this week.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m., more than two hours before sunrise. Before 6 a.m. I was meditating, and before the sun peaked over the clouds I was already in Downward Facing Dog.
Considering this typical morning ritual of mine, it may surprise you to hear that I’m not a morning person. Over 20 years of yoga practice and I still find it challenging to wake up before the sun. My natural body clock wants to sleep in for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the sun has risen. But, years of practice and a good dose of discipline have taught me about the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone, both in practice and in life.
How Your Samskaras Can Hold You Back
Traditionally yoga practice is a spiritual journey that aims to cleanse the body and mind of old and destructive habit patterns. These patterns are called samskaras in Sanskrit, and we all have them. Since samskaras are the most manifested embodiments of our thoughts and personality, we are very identified with them—and it often causes us great emotional turmoil to change them.
There is a powerful inertia that drives the samskara cycle and, if left unchecked, the pattern will continue largely driven by unconscious motivating forces. Some samskaras are said to be benign, meaning that they do not generate further suffering. But the majority of the ones that govern our lives are not beneficial to our liberation and will ultimately lead to more suffering. Working with the samskaras is like performing a deep operation of the mind; it isn’t something that can be undertaken in a haphazard manner. In fact, restructuring the habit pattern of the mind and laying the foundation for a life of inner peace is a devoted, disciplined practice that will require your full undivided attention.
See also 13 Poses to Help You Break Bad Habits
This is Where Tapas Comes In …
Calls for discipline can be unpopular, and even sometimes thought of as negative. In our free-thinking, self-invented culture, many people hate the idea of following the rules.
Well, in the yoga practice, there is a long history of the need for a disciplined approach to spiritual practice. Called Tapas in Sanskrit, discipline is discussed in all traditional forms of yoga practice. Sometimes Tapas can be translated as austerities, which can be even more intimidating. A softer translation comes from Swami Satchidananda, where Tapas is defined as the acceptance of those pains that lead to purification.
I love this definition because some overzealous students hear discipline and use it as an excuse to practice with harshness and severity, and even turn the practice into a kind of penance. But, yoga is rooted in the path of balance, and extreme hardship is simply not recommended. Discipline in the yoga practice actually comes from love.
See also Fuel Your Willpower to Transform with Tapas
Here’s a real-world way that discipline works in the yoga practice to achieve spiritual results:
My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and the “old” me (inspired by that old samskara!) wants to stay in bed and snuggle. The “new” me has to force myself a little to roll out of bed. There is so much momentum around the pattern of staying in bed. My entire inner dialogue speaks a seductive language that entices me to sleep in: “You deserve rest,” it says. “Just hit snooze for 5 minutes,” it continues. “It’s way too early—the sun isn’t even out yet,” it nudges some more.
I can choose to listen to that inner voice of my old patterning—or I can choose to get out of bed and start my spiritual practice. It isn’t easy to chart a new course. It requires effort, willpower, and determination. But, as I sit on my meditation cushion and my mind quiets in those pre-dawn hours, I feel a sense of peace and awareness. This dawn, the awakening of inner light, fills me up so much so that it makes it all worth the effort.
“Every Practice Should Contain Some Element of Difficulty”
My teacher, R. Sharath Jois, likes to say that every practice should contain at least some element of difficulty. If practice is too easy, the idea is that it won’t be able to teach you about the depths of yourself. The mountain of yoga is the truly the highest peak of human consciousness. In some sense, it should be a little hard and present challenges that mirror the challenges of life.
The yogi is a seeker of truth and the journey to the deepest truth demands strength, commitment, and resolution from would-be aspirants. Tapas is there to tell you that it is OK that your first attempt at a difficult arm balance is not a success. Tapas encourages you to try again, one more time or 1,000 more times, to build the strength and learn the lesson your practice is trying to teach you. If you normally back away from hardship, Tapas is there to encourage you to rise up and meet hardship with a fierce love. Tapas is one of the most important tests along the spiritual path of yoga. Tapas teaches you a spiritual paradigm that changes your response to adversity and struggle. By learning how to face those pains that lead to purification (not injury!), you will learn how to lean in to the scary places in your life.
See also How Sangha Drew Kino MacGregor Away from the “Spiritual Desperation” of a Drug-Fueled Party Scene
Kino MacGregor tapped into tapas with the discipline of her yoga practice.
How Kino MacGregor Has Tapped Into Tapas
The Tapas of my yoga practice has changed nearly every aspect of my life.
You already know that yoga changed the time I wake up in the morning. While I still play hooky sometimes and sleep in (I’m human after all), I generally wake up much earlier than I did before I started practicing yoga. That means that I go to bed much earlier as well. Like a domino-effect, going to bed early and rising early puts a serious dent in what types of parties and social interactions happen in the late evenings (read: no more late-night parties for me).
Tapas has also changed my daily rituals. Before I started practicing yoga, the only thing I did every day was brush my teeth. Then, I accepted the six-day-a-week demand of Ashtanga Yoga and I haven’t wavered for 20 years. Sure, there are days when my practice isn’t the full two hour sweat fest that Ashtanga Yoga is known for. Some days my practice is just five minutes and comprised of only the Sun Salutations. But, my Tapas means that I get on my mat with great frequency. This daily discipline has become my spiritual ritual of mental and physical purification.
Once I learned how to build discipline on the mat, I learned to be disciplined off the mat as well. I adopted a strictly plant-based diet. I’ve written four books and am working on my fifth. I co-founded a yoga center, Miami Life Center, and founded an online channel for yoga, Omstars. I travel and teach yoga all over the world. While surely I have been both blessed, privileged, and lucky, I’ve also applied the same disciplined approach to life that I applied to my body when learning to jump through, jump back, and lift up in inversions and other asanas. If I failed, I did not waver. I picked myself back up and tried again. Now, there are some dreams (and poses!) that I’m still working on. Yet with the power of Tapas, I am faithful that all is coming in its due course of time.
See also Kino MacGregor's 7-Pose Yoga Break for Stress Relief
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Discipline This Week
This week’s Yogi Assignment is Tapas. I’d like you to introduce just one challenging aspect to your spiritual practice this week and as you do, be sure that your Tapas is rooted in love—not punishment. With the same kind heart that you would feel as you discipline your child, speak to yourself about the benefits of discipline.
Below are some options for how you might apply Tapas to your practice this week. Of course, you’re welcome to explore other areas of discipline. If you feel inspired to share your progress on this week’s #YogiAssignment on social media, I’d love to see how it’s going. But also, feel free to make this a private, introspective journey. You might find that journaling about your experience of Tapas helps you process your relationship to discipline.
1. Begin an early a.m. practice.
Commit to waking up before dawn and getting on your mat as soon as possible. Avoid sending emails or logging on to social media before you practice. The early morning practice capitalizes on the relatively quiet state of mind that is predominant directly after waking up. By starting your practice in this calm space, you’ll be able to work very deeply in the mind. Plus, if you get your practice in before “life” starts, then you will be set up for the whole day in the paradigm of spiritually-oriented thinking. Your day will flow from a place of peace and you won’t ever get “too busy” to practice.
2. Eat like a yogi.
Changing food habits is never fun. You often meet cultural and social resistance, not to mention desire for past pleasure. Just for this week, try giving up a food item that you feel particularly attached to and is an impediment to your practice. For example, if you always have a glass or two of wine in the evenings, challenge yourself to give that up for a week. See who you are without your samskara of wine. It won’t be easy. In fact, it will probably confront you with “stuff” you’ll need to look at. But, just try it out for one week and see how you react in both positive and negative ways.
3. Roll out your mat everyday.
Commit to getting on your mat for at least five minutes every day this week. It will be easier if you practice around the same time. Just as we brush our teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night, practice is best done when you make a ritual out of it and do it at the same time every day.
4. Change your thinking.
Your yoga practice gives you a view into your inner world. There, in the space between your breaths, you will often find your repetitive thoughts. Once you see those thoughts on your yoga mat, you will probably also see them show up in your life.
As an act of Tapas this week, be watchful over your thoughts both on and off the mat. If you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I feel fat” “I’m too old” “I’m ugly”, see if you can turn the thought around. Using your spiritual strength, see if you can find a positive thought to think about yourself instead. This type of work is the hardest and requires the most discipline. But if you succeed at the other aspects of Tapas you will develop the grit it takes to retrain the habit pattern of the mind. Eventually, your mind and heart will be filled with kind, peaceful, loving thoughts about yourself—and your whole world.
See also Kino MacGregor's 4-Step Get-Your-Handstand Plan
from Yoga Journal https://ift.tt/2Jniyqh
0 notes
Text
Yogi Assignment: Tap Into the Benefits of Tapas
Sticking to something you set out to do—especially when it challenges your go-to habits—takes discipline. Here are four ways to strengthen your determination by the end of this week.
Learn four ways to strengthen your discipline this week.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m., more than two hours before sunrise. Before 6 a.m. I was meditating, and before the sun peaked over the clouds I was already in Downward Facing Dog.
Considering this typical morning ritual of mine, it may surprise you to hear that I’m not a morning person. Over 20 years of yoga practice and I still find it challenging to wake up before the sun. My natural body clock wants to sleep in for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the sun has risen. But, years of practice and a good dose of discipline have taught me about the benefits of stretching beyond my comfort zone, both in practice and in life.
How Your Samskaras Can Hold You Back
Traditionally yoga practice is a spiritual journey that aims to cleanse the body and mind of old and destructive habit patterns. These patterns are called samskaras in Sanskrit, and we all have them. Since samskaras are the most manifested embodiments of our thoughts and personality, we are very identified with them—and it often causes us great emotional turmoil to change them.
There is a powerful inertia that drives the samskara cycle and, if left unchecked, the pattern will continue largely driven by unconscious motivating forces. Some samskaras are said to be benign, meaning that they do not generate further suffering. But the majority of the ones that govern our lives are not beneficial to our liberation and will ultimately lead to more suffering. Working with the samskaras is like performing a deep operation of the mind; it isn’t something that can be undertaken in a haphazard manner. In fact, restructuring the habit pattern of the mind and laying the foundation for a life of inner peace is a devoted, disciplined practice that will require your full undivided attention.
See also 13 Poses to Help You Break Bad Habits
This is Where Tapas Comes In …
Calls for discipline can be unpopular, and even sometimes thought of as negative. In our free-thinking, self-invented culture, many people hate the idea of following the rules.
Well, in the yoga practice, there is a long history of the need for a disciplined approach to spiritual practice. Called Tapas in Sanskrit, discipline is discussed in all traditional forms of yoga practice. Sometimes Tapas can be translated as austerities, which can be even more intimidating. A softer translation comes from Swami Satchidananda, where Tapas is defined as the acceptance of those pains that lead to purification.
I love this definition because some overzealous students hear discipline and use it as an excuse to practice with harshness and severity, and even turn the practice into a kind of penance. But, yoga is rooted in the path of balance, and extreme hardship is simply not recommended. Discipline in the yoga practice actually comes from love.
See also Fuel Your Willpower to Transform with Tapas
Here’s a real-world way that discipline works in the yoga practice to achieve spiritual results:
My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and the “old” me (inspired by that old samskara!) wants to stay in bed and snuggle. The “new” me has to force myself a little to roll out of bed. There is so much momentum around the pattern of staying in bed. My entire inner dialogue speaks a seductive language that entices me to sleep in: “You deserve rest,” it says. “Just hit snooze for 5 minutes,” it continues. “It’s way too early—the sun isn’t even out yet,” it nudges some more.
I can choose to listen to that inner voice of my old patterning—or I can choose to get out of bed and start my spiritual practice. It isn’t easy to chart a new course. It requires effort, willpower, and determination. But, as I sit on my meditation cushion and my mind quiets in those pre-dawn hours, I feel a sense of peace and awareness. This dawn, the awakening of inner light, fills me up so much so that it makes it all worth the effort.
“Every Practice Should Contain Some Element of Difficulty”
My teacher, R. Sharath Jois, likes to say that every practice should contain at least some element of difficulty. If practice is too easy, the idea is that it won’t be able to teach you about the depths of yourself. The mountain of yoga is the truly the highest peak of human consciousness. In some sense, it should be a little hard and present challenges that mirror the challenges of life.
The yogi is a seeker of truth and the journey to the deepest truth demands strength, commitment, and resolution from would-be aspirants. Tapas is there to tell you that it is OK that your first attempt at a difficult arm balance is not a success. Tapas encourages you to try again, one more time or 1,000 more times, to build the strength and learn the lesson your practice is trying to teach you. If you normally back away from hardship, Tapas is there to encourage you to rise up and meet hardship with a fierce love. Tapas is one of the most important tests along the spiritual path of yoga. Tapas teaches you a spiritual paradigm that changes your response to adversity and struggle. By learning how to face those pains that lead to purification (not injury!), you will learn how to lean in to the scary places in your life.
See also How Sangha Drew Kino MacGregor Away from the “Spiritual Desperation” of a Drug-Fueled Party Scene
Kino MacGregor tapped into tapas with the discipline of her yoga practice.
How Kino MacGregor Has Tapped Into Tapas
The Tapas of my yoga practice has changed nearly every aspect of my life.
You already know that yoga changed the time I wake up in the morning. While I still play hooky sometimes and sleep in (I’m human after all), I generally wake up much earlier than I did before I started practicing yoga. That means that I go to bed much earlier as well. Like a domino-effect, going to bed early and rising early puts a serious dent in what types of parties and social interactions happen in the late evenings (read: no more late-night parties for me).
Tapas has also changed my daily rituals. Before I started practicing yoga, the only thing I did every day was brush my teeth. Then, I accepted the six-day-a-week demand of Ashtanga Yoga and I haven’t wavered for 20 years. Sure, there are days when my practice isn’t the full two hour sweat fest that Ashtanga Yoga is known for. Some days my practice is just five minutes and comprised of only the Sun Salutations. But, my Tapas means that I get on my mat with great frequency. This daily discipline has become my spiritual ritual of mental and physical purification.
Once I learned how to build discipline on the mat, I learned to be disciplined off the mat as well. I adopted a strictly plant-based diet. I’ve written four books and am working on my fifth. I co-founded a yoga center, Miami Life Center, and founded an online channel for yoga, Omstars. I travel and teach yoga all over the world. While surely I have been both blessed, privileged, and lucky, I’ve also applied the same disciplined approach to life that I applied to my body when learning to jump through, jump back, and lift up in inversions and other asanas. If I failed, I did not waver. I picked myself back up and tried again. Now, there are some dreams (and poses!) that I’m still working on. Yet with the power of Tapas, I am faithful that all is coming in its due course of time.
See also Kino MacGregor's 7-Pose Yoga Break for Stress Relief
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Discipline This Week
This week’s Yogi Assignment is Tapas. I’d like you to introduce just one challenging aspect to your spiritual practice this week and as you do, be sure that your Tapas is rooted in love—not punishment. With the same kind heart that you would feel as you discipline your child, speak to yourself about the benefits of discipline.
Below are some options for how you might apply Tapas to your practice this week. Of course, you’re welcome to explore other areas of discipline. If you feel inspired to share your progress on this week’s #YogiAssignment on social media, I’d love to see how it’s going. But also, feel free to make this a private, introspective journey. You might find that journaling about your experience of Tapas helps you process your relationship to discipline.
1. Begin an early a.m. practice.
Commit to waking up before dawn and getting on your mat as soon as possible. Avoid sending emails or logging on to social media before you practice. The early morning practice capitalizes on the relatively quiet state of mind that is predominant directly after waking up. By starting your practice in this calm space, you’ll be able to work very deeply in the mind. Plus, if you get your practice in before “life” starts, then you will be set up for the whole day in the paradigm of spiritually-oriented thinking. Your day will flow from a place of peace and you won’t ever get “too busy” to practice.
2. Eat like a yogi.
Changing food habits is never fun. You often meet cultural and social resistance, not to mention desire for past pleasure. Just for this week, try giving up a food item that you feel particularly attached to and is an impediment to your practice. For example, if you always have a glass or two of wine in the evenings, challenge yourself to give that up for a week. See who you are without your samskara of wine. It won’t be easy. In fact, it will probably confront you with “stuff” you’ll need to look at. But, just try it out for one week and see how you react in both positive and negative ways.
3. Roll out your mat everyday.
Commit to getting on your mat for at least five minutes every day this week. It will be easier if you practice around the same time. Just as we brush our teeth first thing in the morning and last thing at night, practice is best done when you make a ritual out of it and do it at the same time every day.
4. Change your thinking.
Your yoga practice gives you a view into your inner world. There, in the space between your breaths, you will often find your repetitive thoughts. Once you see those thoughts on your yoga mat, you will probably also see them show up in your life.
As an act of Tapas this week, be watchful over your thoughts both on and off the mat. If you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I feel fat” “I’m too old” “I’m ugly”, see if you can turn the thought around. Using your spiritual strength, see if you can find a positive thought to think about yourself instead. This type of work is the hardest and requires the most discipline. But if you succeed at the other aspects of Tapas you will develop the grit it takes to retrain the habit pattern of the mind. Eventually, your mind and heart will be filled with kind, peaceful, loving thoughts about yourself—and your whole world.
See also Kino MacGregor's 4-Step Get-Your-Handstand Plan
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
finelinetattoojp
FINELINETOKYO
madbait
SLEEP EAT FISHING
assassinodafirenze
Assassino!
sharondrory
Sharon Drory - Only the truth...
nbs7890
dunnowhattonamethisone