Tapasya Otherwise known as:

Catharsis, austerities, self-discipline, spiritual effort, change, tolerance, and transformation have all been words associated with this practice. I’m sure you’ve all come across many versions of this, but heres a beauty..The spiritual renunciate
There is a particular brand of spiritual renunciate who still to this day practice austerities which really do blow our “I’m cutting out sugar this week” kind of austerities out of the water..
So the overview is; In the winter they take themselves off to a cold cave and rig up a container with a leak which will drip cold water over their heads for at least 3 hours at a time, they do this in a loin cloth for up to 45 days in a row.
In the summer they build 5 small fires around themselves and one rigged up on their head in the heat of summer, again for 3 hours at a time, for 45 days.
Now, I’m not saying that our modern western yoga encourages or indeed promotes this kind of practice, I’m just giving an example of extreme versions of “hardening oneself up” in the frame of mind of the Tapasya practitioner.
Slightly less daunting prospects should really be with the considerations of what is possible, what is safe, and what is timely for our current life context. Don’t chuck out the cheese..
In real time, with the ordinariness of life going on, there might be a more gentler version of this, something to squeeze into a lunch break for example.
A really simple version could be fasting, but before you chuck out the cheese, there are ways to do this sensibly.
Dr.Michael Mosley RIP discusses intermittent fasting in this BBC horizons programme.
Ayurvedic medicine promotes many kinds of purification rituals as discussed in the blog on Saucha- Cleansing which also are deeply linked to the sense of self discipline involved with this “Heat” -the burning away of impurities and the un-useful things, habits and actions in ones life. Physical fitness
Hot yoga, although its author is almost as unmentionable as Voldemort, has definitely got a flavour of austerity to it. So has hard line Ashtanga, and one of the interesting things to notice when you really start to look at Ashtanga in particular is that when done in the spirit of care and spiritual heat ie; with transformation at its core, this can be actually quite a soothing practice. I’m not going as far as saying “easy”, that would be naive and misleading, but when you learn anything by heart and enjoy the rhythm of its time with you, don’t consider it a chore, and also can appreciate the gift of each of the very distinctly asanas and give them each the moment they deserve whilst you are with them, and not just thinking about the next pose, then Ashtanga has got you by the scruff of the neck and is quietly guiding you to a greater place of being. What springs to mind is the mental image of a lioness holding its cub tenderly in its deadly jaws. Trust is at the core of these “Heat” practices.

Lunch break quotes

Not many of you will recall the time when my friend Sara and I decided to do 100 days of the 26-2 “Bikram/hot yoga series for charity. I used this as my final project for yoga teacher training. It was occasionally excruciatingly difficult, (particularly the toe stand) and sometimes that summer I felt like giving up, but I wrote a journal during the 100 days, and had various quotes around the house to help encourage me and keep me going, and those quotes are still about..
All these little things are “lunch break things” that could help any of us with self discipline, with a tapasya practice. Moulding
When life presents obstacles and keeps producing them, it can feel totally overwhelming. I am a firm believer that we are given what we can deal with. Yes that can mean being a multi tasking superhero, it can also require some delegation, a skill I think is superior and shows maturity and a willingness to share the load which is part of our social wiring! How conditions and upbringing mould us can be un moulded, and it is in the fires that the heaviest of metals are re-shaped. “…It is these times that shape and mould us into someone of depth”

D.Adele.Yamas & Niyamas.The black run
When I spent a few months in the Alps in my 20’s, I learned to ski, this was a great leap for confidence and physical fitness, however once I had completed all of the blue, green and red runs over the months (increasingly difficult slopes) I decided to try a black run. So, one beautiful sunny day, I was up there on the top of the mountain feeling great, once I had left the safety of the lift, I was on my own.. faced with mostly sky in front of me. I literally couldn’t see anything else in front of me. My inner voice said “You actually can’t go back, and now you have to jump off a cliff with 2 metal strips strapped to your feet“, and It felt like I had forgotten everything. But as I strained every inch of my body to safely deliver myself to the bottom of the slope, with a huge puff of relief, I looked back up the “wall” of white and felt like I’d been taught a lesson. This is the energy of Tapasya. All that arrogance wiped out of my system- Humbled. I haven’t been on another black slope since, I don’t need to.