I ran into the notion of dedication twice, in two separate religions, at the same time in my life. I happened to be, both, practicing Yoga for my third year and taking a class on Buddhism. In Buddhism, we learned about the Bodhisattva vow; dedicating the search for enlightenment to the welfare of all sentient beings, whom the Bodhisattva vows to help free from suffering. Not long after, my Yoga teacher began telling us to dedicate our practice.

Each time she said it, my mind would race. What would I dedicate my practice to? I tried to think of what I hoped to become, what I wanted for my future, or getting rid of something I didn't want in my life anymore. I knew, then, that Yoga could help with all of those things, but I didn't realize that these were not the appropriate things to dedicate my practice to. Rather, these were things I needed to work out and let go of on the mat.

Only now, a few years later, having looked deeper into this spirit of dedication, am I beginning to understand what it means to dedicate one's practice. Yoga practice is not a simple thing we do, but a continuum of thought, behaviors, and surrender, which teaches and guides us. While so much emphasis is placed on self-discovery and overcoming our own barriers, what we may tend to forget is, ultimately, it is the letting go of self, and the finding of something larger than ourselves, which is the true goal and pinnacle of Yoga.

Certainly, it is through going inward that we may travel upward and find Samadhi, or communion with the divine, but we also cannot meet the divine while we are still a self and while we still identify with the self alone. For this reason, while we may, impulsively, think of dedicating our practice to becoming a better person, ultimately, the correct form of dedication is to give the fruits of our practice over to something greater than we are. This can be God, all of humanity, or even a little child. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that it is completely sincere.

That is the hard part. It is easier to think about dedicating our practice, or say we are dedicating our practice, than to actually feel, in our hearts, that we wish to give the benefits of our practice to someone else, but only through sincere dedication can there be any true benefits at all. Only in this act of giving can we gain everything. It is a long and difficult road, but it begins with intention. It begins when we wish, wholeheartedly, to step outside of our ego-delusion and identify with the oneness that is existence.

Just like the Bodhisattva, who first wishes to gain enlightenment for the joy and peace it might bring, and who, from this, comes to the realization of universal suffering and the wish to relieve it, the Yogi who wishes for true awakening, or freedom from the cage of ego, soon learns to want the same for all sentient beings, and then realizes that the wish for her own illumination is not separate from, nor can it exist without, the relief and illumination of others. This is what it is, then, to finally, and truly dedicate our practice. It is no small step, yet, it is fundamental, beautiful, and possible the moment we are ready.

As I said before, I am only beginning to understand this for myself. Dedication isn't easy and no one should feel badly that he or she hasn't yet come to this threshold. It is enough, to begin with, to know it is there; to know it is a door awaiting us. Then, when the moment is right and we are sincere and open our hearts, we can welcome in the gentle surrender of dedicating our practice to something larger than ourselves.