300. Tapas: Who's Running the Show?
Your phone buzzes. Someone cuts you off in traffic. Something triggers you!?
... Who's running the show?
In this second episode on tapas, we return to Yoga Sutra 2.43 and focus on one important word:
indriya — the senses.
kāyendriya-siddhir aśuddhi-kṣayāt tapasaḥ
Through tapas, impurities are diminished, bringing greater mastery of the body and the senses.
The senses take something in.
The body responds.
A feeling arises.
And then we have a choice.
Tapas is not about suppressing what we see, hear, taste, touch, or feel.
It's about cultivating enough awareness to notice what is happening before automatically reacting.
Notice the trigger.
Feel the response.
Create the pause.
Choose the next step.
For me this week, the practice is simple:
Choose joy.
Not because everything is perfect.
Not because difficult feelings disappear.
But because I don't have to let every sensation, impulse, or reaction run the show.
The practice is to become aware of what we are consuming, what we are focusing on, and how quickly the senses can pull us into an automatic response.
Then we create a pause.
And in that pause, we get to choose.
So today, ask yourself:
Are my senses running me — or am I becoming more capable of choosing my response?
Yoga Sutra 2.43
kāyendriya-siddhir aśuddhi-kṣayāt tapasaḥ
Om, Peace, Out!
