Dedication & Discipline
On Dedication:
The word dedication can be traced back to the 14th century where it was referred to as the solemn act of dedicating something, such as a calendar day or a church, to a deity or to a sacred use. Centuries later, it came to be used for the act of devoting time and energy to a particular purpose. Nowadays, dedication commonly indicates the quality of being loyal or devoted to a cause, ideal, or purpose.
Some inspiring definitions found:
“Hard work or effort that someone puts into a particular activity because they care about it a lot”
- Longman Dictionary
“The willingness to give a lot of time and energy to something because it is important”:
She applied herself to the task with enormous energy and dedication.
With a certain amount of dedication and determination, you can achieve a great deal.
-Cambridge University
“A devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose” - Merriam Webster
“Complete and wholehearted fidelity”, “The act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action”
- Vocabulary
On Discipline:
Within the yogic philosophy there is a Sanskrit word for discipline Tapas or Tapah. Tapas is defined as the action of burning, the fire generated by dedication action that burns away the impurities. Tapah is self control, austerity, or discipline. In the Bhagavada Gita, Krishna defines three groups of austerities: physical, verbal, mental. In the Yoga Sutras Patanjali outlines the difference between control and suppression. Discipline is not the action of suppressing that which we consider not pure (something we don’t like, a habit that does not serve us, something we are trying to change, a character default) but rather use the practice of yoga - pranayama, Japa, meditation and asana - to crowd out all that is not pure. Eventually the fire of the practice - made up of dedication, discipline, devotion - burns away that which ties us to ‘not pure’ action. Once the impurities are removed we begin to see the truth.
For me Yoga has been a journey of observing the mind, hearing it through practice and learning to be a steady unattached observer, instead of an attached embodier. This take a lot of dedicated practice. The beauty of this practice (in the lineage of Ashtanga Yoga) is that we have a safe space to come to daily. The asanas serve as a platform for self exploration. Every day we get a glimpse of how our mind reacts to what is here, the challenge of the asana enables to see the process of who we are in the face of adversity: if something is challenging how do I show up? if something is easy how do I show up? what kind of attitude do I have towards myself? What happens when I fail? What happens when I succeed? This is all just on the mat, but we then begin to take out into our interactions in the world. That’s the real beauty of the practice of Yoga.
The physical challenge pulls us back into the present, we have no choice, and in that we see how we are able to separate ourselves from what is happening in the thought process and choose to be here now. We journey from being thrown off balance by the thought process/content to receiving it as something that is there but is not all we can be present for. The inner steadiness is essential for this. Take for example when you earn to balance in utthita hasta padangustasana or warrior 3 or headstand for the first time. It take great repetition and practice. We build the steadiness over time.
Every time we show up we build a little more inner steadiness, rooting. It's not about not having the demons or the thoughts but having the tools to see them for what they are, allow them to have their place without being thrown off the path.
In my own practice journey I notice the difference when I don't practice, after many years of practice however it is so installed inside it only take a sun salutation with full attention and intention to come back. This has taken attending to the practice for a long time with full dedication and devotion. Then the practice moves inside and you can access it with the most minimal action.
In Krishna Das’s words: “There is no button. You are the button. Practice is planting seeds. So plant some seeds: take care of your body, breathe with awareness, chant, sit…but don't stand over the seeds waiting for them to sprout. Just do your practice with inte toon, dedication, discipline and the seeds will grow.”
Join Bibi Lorenzetti for class on Tuesdays - Saturdays