What is the simplest way to observe penance in our daily lives?

Tapas (penance) does not mean positioning oneself upside down, head on the ground and feet held up like a bat. Nor is it the renunciation of possessions and properties, wife and children, emaciating one’s body or holding the nose to regulate one’s breath. Physical actions, oral assertions and mental resolves—all three have to be in unison. The thought, the speech and the act, all have to be pure. This is the real Tapas. And they have to be co-ordinated not by the compulsion of duty. The effort must be undertaken for satisfying one’s inner yearnings, for the contentment of the Self. This struggle is the essence of Tapas.