Have you ever found yourself saying “I’ll start tomorrow,” “it’s not a priority”, or thinking “it’s too hard,” when it comes to instilling a new habit into your lifestyle? Or maybe you’ve come up with a great intention and listed all the reasons why you should practice yoga daily, start eating better, or put away your phone before bed. Yet the good habits that you desperately think will help you feel better never seem to stick.
You are not alone. Even the most advanced yogis who have strong minds have struggled with the question many have on their minds daily, “how do I build good habits and break bad ones?”
If you think motivation and discipline are the only ways to build good habits but worry because they’ve failed you in the past, then have no fear. There is a yoga skill that when put into practice, can help you not only make yoga a habit but make any habit you want stick.
The skill? It’s called Tapas.
What is Tapas in Yoga?
Tapas in yoga, unlike the food, is not quite as delicious to enjoy. I most commonly hear Tapas translated as discipline, effort, or heat. All of these accurately represent what this skill encompasses, but I encourage you to think of Tapas as less forceful and more like a shift. One of my teachers defines Tapas as cultivating the opposite. But I like to think of it as doing something different than you’ve done before. And yes, this takes effort and discipline! But also trial and error.
This Sanskrit term is found in the Yoga Sutras, which is like the bible of yoga. The Sutras lay out a framework for yogis to reach enlightenment (Samadhi), that blissful state where everything seems easy and you’ve transcended all of your worries. Tapas is a part of the 8 limbs of yoga which are like steps to follow towards enlightenment. The second limb is called Niyamas, which Tantra of the Yoga Sutras defines as “reprogramming the mind to live in homeostasis.” There are 5 Niyamas, Tapas, being one, that help you find your true self and a state of easeful relaxation where the mind is calm and in control, aka homeostasis.
Practice Tapas on the Mat
When it comes to building good habits and practicing Tapas on the mat, it’s different for each individual. Making a shift or cultivating the opposite is not the same for me as it is for you. If you have trouble getting up in the morning, feel lethargic through most of your day, or crave yoga practices that are on the ground or slow like yin or restorative, your Tapas practice may be to do a more active style class such as Vinyasa or Kundalini or sun salutations.
But if you’re someone who clocks in your early morning yoga practice daily, is constantly do-do-do, and has trouble slowing down then the best practice for you may be a yin-style class or even just laying in Savasana.
This is not to say that the habits that are working for you need to change, but if you find yourself consistently running into the same problems, like nearing burnout, or never getting things done, then something has to shift. Your yoga practice on the mat can help make that shift energetically so it becomes easier to practice off of the mat in your daily activities.
This practice is amazing if you have trouble stepping away from work, feel like your to-do list is never ending and you can’t rest until it’s done, or you only practice strong or energetic style classes.
This class is ideal for you if you have trouble getting going with your tasks, feel tired often, or typically tend to do more chilled or zen classes.
A tip for creating a consistent yoga practice is to pick 3 classes that you like but vary. Pick one class for when you need a boost of energy, one for when you need to mellow out, and one that you just love to practice. Having only 3 classes to choose from can make it easier to avoid overwhelm and decide on the spot what to practice.
Following a set yoga plan or calendar works well too! I’ve created a 30-day yoga plan that helps yogis who love personal development infuse their practice with more self-awareness that translates into maximizing benefits off of the mat.
READ MORE: How to Start a Daily Yoga Practice >>>
Practice Tapas Off the Mat
If changing up your yoga practice feels hard…trying to do it off of the mat can feel even more difficult! I don’t say this to scare you, but to acknowledge that the level of self-awareness and dedication using the skills of Tapas requires is a lot. But you’re here because you’re ready for something to change, and if nothing changes…then nothing changes.
Tapas off the mat is how to make yoga a habit. If you’re someone who struggles with even getting to your mat, then you must focus on the effort that’s required in this area of your life first. Practicing yoga physically is like a life hack that helps you energetically shift your state of mind by directing your energy. Yoga is not just stretching. The subtle part of yoga that makes it feel so good is learning how to control or direct your energy.
When you get on your mat then you can do a practice that serves you to either help you boost energy when you need it or slow it down when your thoughts are racing. This hack is what will then make it easier to help you shift or cultivate the opposite when doing other tasks or habits throughout your day.
The mat is certainly not the only place to practice Tapas. You can also do so with your breath (Pranayama) and self-awareness (Svadhyaya). Shifting your breath from fast to slow will help you come back to the present in a difficult moment. Speeding up your breath, think breath of fire, will help you feel more energetic. Svadhyaya, or self-awareness, is what is required for you to notice your thoughts and patterns, which is the essential first step to practicing Tapas.
Great, so how do you apply this to real life?! By beginning to combine the skills of yoga that can actually be applied to modern-day yogis! Find out how next.
How to Practice Tapas in Daily Life
How to Break Unhealthy Habits
I think the easiest way to start implementing lasting changes is by looking at your morning routine and setting yourself up for success first thing. I know, eye roll, but you’ve heard it so many times, by a crazy amount of experts and gurus because it’s true!
Your morning and nighttime routines are the simplest places to practice Tapas because they are what you do consistently already, and attaching a new habit to an old habit is a tried and true method when it comes to introducing something new into your life.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, explains the concept of habit stacking as pairing a new habit with an old one as more effective than basing a new habit on a time or location. What makes this easier is what scientists call synaptic pruning. Researchers found, Clear explains, that newborns have more neurons than adults do. As we age we leave or “prune” away connections between neurons that we don’t use often or at all. For babies, the possibilities are endless for forming new habits but for adults, it can become more difficult to form a habit when the brain has decided and gotten comfortable with remembering the neural pathways that are consistently firing. Have you ever heard the saying “Neurons that fire together, wire together?”
It’s the same concept. You’ve gotten so good at doing certain habits that it makes it more difficult to change a habit. Instead, habit stack and reduce some of the friction that arises when completely trying to change a habit and starting over from scratch.
When I used to say hurtful things to myself about my body I wanted to start saying kinder words instead. But I’d only ever catch myself after the fact that I said something painful in my mind, quite sometime after the moment passed. I tried putting up sticky notes on my mirror so that when I brushed my teeth I could say affirmations in my head. Instead of completely changing the habit, I introduced it to a habit that I already had ingrained, which then in turn made it easier to remember the kind words even when the negative voice popped up in my head.
Another example to change bad habits is when I wanted to stop drinking coffee. I replaced it with a new habit of drinking matcha instead. It was easier to switch or shift the habit than completely give it up.
How to Build Good Habits
Habit stacking comes once you’re aware what you want to change your new habits to. But what do you do when you have no idea what new habits to instill into your routine and daily life? It all starts with an intention. The purpose behind a habit.
Do you want to practice yoga for an hour a day because that’s what you’ve been told? Or is it because you believe that’s what you need in order for a “full” yoga practice? I’ll let you in on a little secret…yoga can be any length of time!
Instead of “I practice yoga for an hour a day because that’s a full-length class.” Change it to “I practice yoga for an hour a day because a full hour is deeply nourishing for my body.” Or, “I practice yoga daily because movement and breath set me up for a calmer day.”
Your reasoning behind why you practice or why you change any habit is the driving force that will keep you showing up. Someone telling you that it’s a good habit isn’t good enough. Plenty of experts say that getting up at 5AM is beneficial. Robin Sharma, author of The 5AM Club, is rigid in his teachings of how to conduct your day to get the most out of it. Even the Kundalini yoga tradition encourages practicing a Sadhana (tools to work on yourself, including your yoga practice) between 3:30-5:30AM. This is believed to be the most beneficial time to practice because it is when your life force energy is said to be the strongest.
But if you’re someone who is a night owl then these tips from gurus and experts simply won’t work for you. This makes me think of my boyfriend who had to get up earlier for work for a while and he suffered sleep exhaustion because getting up earlier didn’t work for his body.
All of this to say, intention is everything.
Setting an intention allows for trial and error without changing the goal of the habit itself. If your intention is to dedicate time to yourself before you start working, then that intention can be served in a number of ways. It could be practicing yoga Asana, it could be meditation, reading, walking, or drinking a tea while contemplating.
If your intention is built off of what someone else suggests, that is fine. But it must also resonate and have meaning for you.
These yoga habits may give you some inspiration for what habits you’d like to add to your life.
How to Change Habits Permanently
Parent Yourself
Sometimes it’s a necessity to treat yourself like a child. Set up a tracker for yourself so you can tick off when you’ve done a new habit. Keep it up for anywhere from a week to a month, or as long as needed for you to instill the habit permanently.
If you get off track, speak to yourself like you’re a child. Be kind, encourage yourself to keep going, or ask “is this habit fulfilling what I want it to?”
One Habit at a Time
Ever tell yourself that you need to overhaul your whole life and you’ll start on Monday? Me too! Only I’ve epically failed every time!
Focus on one area of your life, such as yoga or exercise, one specific habit, or a specific time of day. Your life is changed in small increments, not major pivots. When I was a workaholic I didn’t go from reaching for my phone first thing to having a lengthy morning routine where I didn’t touch my phone.
I started by keeping my phone charging on a dresser away from my bed so I didn’t touch it until I got out of bed. Then I added in having a tea and reading before I started scrolling. Then I added in journalling, then I added in practicing yoga first thing. It has taken me years to find a routine that works for me and it changes during different seasons of my life. Sometimes it’s stricter, other times it’s more flexible.
Practice Self-Care
Tapas isn’t the only yogic skill that helps you change your habits. The foundational yoga skill that will keep you consistently showing up to change your undesired habit is Svadhyaya, aka self-awareness that leads to self-care. Tapas and Svadhyaya work hand-in-hand, fueling each other so that you have the energy, motivation, and awareness of what you’re changing, how you’re showing up, and making sure your basic needs and beyond are met.
Not getting enough sleep? That will affect your ability to follow through on fulfilling your desired outcome. Too busy of a schedule leaving you stressed? That’s not an easy place to instill a new habit from. Svadhyaya helps you care for yourself so that you can make the changes you’re craving.
What’s next?
- Putting new habits into practice is hard! Get the support and butt kick you crave in my 1-on-1 yoga & coaching, Sacred Exploration. Go from beating yourself up about never changing to confidently trying new habits that impact your mood, productivity, and enjoyment of life. Sign up here.
- Want to focus on making yoga a habit? Try my yoga program for personal development lovers that teaches you radical self-awareness for less than a month at a yoga studio! Join Journey Home here.
- This understanding of Tapas was taught to me by my teacher, Brett Larkin. She has an amazing course on yogic skills for a self-paced look at yoga off of the mat.