The Purifying Power of Heat

Practicing Tapas proves that making an effort generates energy.

- By Rina Deshpande

WHEN I SAT DOWN to draft this article, I found myself with a case of writer’s block. I was stuck between conflicting ideas, encroaching deadlines, style decisions, rabbit holes of research, and my own inner critic. The core of the piece was buried somewhere in the mix. I tried clearing my schedule to focus. I sat at my desk. Nothing.

Feeling frustrated, I noticed that a heat-building asana class was being offered by one of my teachers online. Though the clock was ticking on this project, I decided to sign up. For an hour, I held postures, breathed deeply, and sweated. Knots melted out of my physical body and thinking mind. When I sat back down to write after practice, ideas flowed more freely than they had in weeks.

The effort I made on my mat is an example of Tapah or Tapas—the productive heat that helps to clean your conscience, bring you clarity in body and mind, and move you forward toward your goals. For me, Tapas illuminates yoga as true union: The purifying heat bridges my willingness and unwillingness, reopens limitless flow through finite challenges, and reminds me that serenity can exist within effort and with practice.

Heat as Purification

Using high heat for purification is an ancient practice. Since the Middle Ages, molten gold has been refined over a hot flame, a process known as cupellation. Impurities in the ore are burned out by the high temperatures, yielding a noble metal—one that is pure, strong, and impervious to corrosion.