Release

This week of 40 Days is focused on Tapas. This is the heat you build that melts away resistance. The idea is that Tapas helps to detox, rinse away, reset. Stripping away layers that get in the way of possibility and transformation. I can't say enough about how yoga does this for me. It's my reset. Beyond good sex, I haven't found a better release for anxiety or stress.

When I first started practicing at a studio (instead of the random class at a gym, or a dvd) I was in the most toxic work environment I have ever experienced. Whether I found yoga, or yoga found me, it became a regular commitment in my routine. I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but nobody seemed to mind (they were in their own flow, oblivious, as I now understand). And the poses were SO HARD, I was utterly exhausted, dripping sweat and feeling absolutely wrung out after every class. In Savasana I was a puddle of tears, finding total emotional release. All the toxic draining out through my pores, through my tear ducts.

Now that I am stronger (much stronger) and more confident in my practice, I keep wondering if it will get old. If the effect will wear off. But I'm going almost daily for the 40 Days program right now, and the release keeps me coming back for more.

So much of what our brain is doing gets etched into our body. The wiring. The messaging. Twisting and tightening. The physical work, deep into the muscle tissue, extended along the entire spine, this is the work that has to be done to release the mind.

And when we are released? We can feel possibility. We can transform out of old thought patterns, old behavior patterns. We can tap into our inner genius. We can truly bloom.