What is a Sankalpa? The power of intention

Do you remember all the September resolutions? Why are they never fulfilled? Because we almost always do them from the intellect, we reason about what we lack and express a desire, looking at the problem as if it were foreign to us. The Yoga tradition offers us a formula for understand the deepest desires of our Being, without having to change what we essentially are. This formula is the setting of the Sankalpa tradition, the practice of resolution. Based on principles of Neuroscience, by entering the Alpha or Nidra mental state - dream state with full lucidity - we can access our subconscious or inner world, our deepest mental state and cleanse the conditioning of the mind that makes us see the world. according to our beliefs and not as it is in reality.

What is a Sankalpa?

Sankalpa means a conception, idea or notion formed in the heart or mind, a solemn vow or determination to carry something out, the desire, the definite intention, or the will. It is a term composed of two roots, St.: referring to the connection with the highest truth; and kalpas: which means vote, or "the rule to follow, above all others." Sankalpa in a nutshell is the vow, or the commitment we make to support the highest truth. By definition, sankalpa must honor the deeper meaning of our lives. The sankalpa is also an element that appears in the practice of Yoga Nidra. It is a resolution or purpose, which we repeat thrice at the beginning and end of practice. It is like a seed that we plant in the mind and that we regularly water.

¿Cóhow to use a sankalpa?

Yoga Nidra gradually leads us into a state of deep relaxation and it is at this time when the mind is still and calm, that we are most sensitive, open and receptive. It is there where the sankalpa does its work and where we plant our seed. the sankalpa it is a message that our conscious part sends to our subconscious part. By leaving this message imprinted in the subconscious mind and repeating it regularly, it will gradually manifest itself on a more conscious level, attracting our target and causing changes in our personality and in our lives. It is important to repeat it with determination and feeling. Bring full awareness while repeating. We can even visualize ourselves, in a situation of our daily life, putting our sankalpa into practice.

¿CóHow to create our Sankalpa?

Each person builds their own sankalpa based on their needs. Before we start, we have to look at what we have and what we want to achieve. Let's look at our life, what we want from it, where we want to take it and what we expect from it.

Take your time, until you are very clear about what you want to change. Think about whether you have any tendencies or habits that you want to correct, or what aspect of your personality you want to enhance. It can be general, encompassing several things, or it can be something very specific.

The sankalpa is in the form of an affirmative sentence, short and concise. It is important that the sentence does not include the word “no”, or words like “I want” or “I need”. Why? Well, because the moment you say, "I want", or "I need" you are telling yourself that you lack it, and that is not true. We seek to enhance something that is already in us. You are already all those qualities, that potential is in you, only that due to circumstances, which we may or may not know, they need to be manifested to a greater extent.

Examples of Sankalpa

Now, YogaYe gives you some examples of sankalpa so you can get inspired:

"I am peace and harmony" or "peace is my true nature" instead of "I want peace in my life."
"I am security and confidence in my being, in others and in life".
"I am responsible for my life."
"I am a loved and blessed being."
"I am joy and happiness."
"I am health and life."
"I am abundance."
"I am vision and clarity."
etc.

Our recommendations

Take your time to create your sankalpa, do not rush. There are times when we want to change many things about our personality, and yet they all come from from the same root.
The ideal is to maintain a sankalpa until it manifests. But process of generating a sankalpa that you really identify with may take a while. We don't always go to the root directly the first time we consider doing a sankalpa. You can go little by little refining it. There are people who have a very general sankalpa who can keep it all his life. Others, depending on what they are experiencing at that moment in their lives, create a sankalpa for that specific moment.
Keep your sankalpa to yourself. Is something intimate and personal.
And why not remember your sankalpa in each practice before starting the Savasana or final relaxation?
For Yoga Nidra to have its effect, regular practice is essential. Mental patterns are deeply rooted in the subconscious and emerge mechanically. Therefore it is necessary to listen. Listen to the body and the senses; to the mind and its thoughts; to emotions and feelings, because that is where the path lies to find the true desires of the heart. The soul uses each of these resources to manifest its most intimate desires. That is why it is necessary to listen to all of them.

With every opportunity to put our resolve into practice, we must first recognize that we are perfect and complete. This apparent contradiction it is the essence in the practice of sankalpa. To fulfill our dharma, we must find a way to integrate these two seemingly opposite aspects of being. Direct your energy with intention, but know that your nature has not changed, whether you achieve your goals or not.