Small Task, Big Insight – Getting Started

Of course, upon sitting down in the Tapas Group, I had no idea what I was going to pick to observe and experiment upon myself.  What is there to share about myself that I want to change, work on, and have others know about me so up close and personal?  I chose my specific yama, Tapas, to work on refraining from eating sugar.  I immediately judged myself for picking such a surface topic, “Why would one be embarrassed to share that?  Who cares?  Everyone else is picking a thing to better themselves or observe something hidden within.”  I pretty much committed to it, told myself that it will be alright, and that based off of our guest speakers’ insight, I just might discover something from even the simplest of topics…

Practicing the Eight Kriyas every morning was how the experiment was launched.  It took me a couple times to figure out where, when and how I was going to accomplish this new ritual.  With a boyfriend that sometimes works from home and a dog that thinks my lap is his fair game – tapping into even the dawn of the experiment already required patience and creativity!  I caught myself embarrassed of letting my boyfriend know what I was doing.  Finally, after being tired of looking for places to hide or having him interrupt me during my exercise, I told him what was up.  From there my morning cup of Eight Kriyas was born.