What is a Sankalpa & Why do I need one?

          2021 is around the corner and I bet after the year we had, you’re already all over creating a new year’s resolution list. Here’s how my list goes, I get excited in December for the new year to come. I sit down and look at my past year and ask mySelf what I want to bring into the new year. The list usually consists of eating healthier, exercising more, and making more money. I write them down on a piece of paper, go to a new year’s party, and January 1st hits and I’m hungover. I take my hangover into my week and right off the bat my list has gone to crap. A few weeks into January, I still haven’t really committed to my resolutions, and do you want to know why, because there was no inspired action behind the how. Sound familiar? Last year I tried it a little differently. I was overwriting this big long list and feel shame when it didn’t happen so I decided to choose a word instead. I brought the word TRUST into my year and allowed that to fuel everything after. This word eventually morphed into a Sankalpa. I was first introduced to Sankalpa in my yoga training and really never thought I would go back to it but here I am today, bringing it back and loving it, and here’s why … 

          Sankalpa is a fancy Sanskrit word for intention. The definition means “an intention formed by the heart and mind -- a solemn vow, determination, or will. In practical terms, a Sankalpa means a one-pointed resolve to focus both psychologically and philosophically on a specific goal. A Sankalpa is a tool meant to refine the will, and to focus and harmonize mind and body.” See how already this brings more depth to what you desire to bring into your new year. This is something that can come with you for more than one year. It’s an intention that can grow and shift as you do throughout your year and it is here to support your year not make you feel bad one week in that you haven’t eaten all your greens. A Sankalpa almost acts as an overarching theme and the little details like the inspired action you take are the minor details. It helps us zoom out of the everyday things and really see our year as a whole and full of time and abundance to embody our intention. A Sankalpa is something simple that you can write on a piece of paper and put in your wallet, you could sticky note it to your mirror but its simplicity can travel everywhere with you. This alone creates more consistency for the smaller details to moving towards your intention. Sounds pretty magical, doesn’t it? 

So here’s how to start to think and create your own Sankalpa … 

The intention always needs to be about you. It is your vision after all.  This will encompass your highest vision for yourSelf, the sky is the limit so dream big here. This is how you begin to actually call in what you want in your year.  Don’t rush this process. Allow yourSelf to play with different intentions and see how it feels. It should resonate with you and have a deeper personal meaning for your overall vision.  The goal here is to help remove some of the lower vibrational energy of your intentions and fill it with positivity. For example, if you’d like to feel less anxious instead of setting your Sankalpa as ‘I desire to be less anxious’ you could word it as ‘ I am at peace’. Try saying those both out loud and experience the difference of vibration.  When you finally get to writing and phrasing your intention, word it positively and in the present tense. When we word intentions in the present tense it brings more power and energy to our words. It should resemble a statement of truth. Don’t worry, you don’t need to believe it right now but that’s the whole point. This phrase is here to elevate you to your next life level. Lastly, keep it sweet and simple. If right off the bat your Sankalpa comes out a bit wordy, allow yourSelf time to refine and continue to as you get more comfortable with this way of intention setting. 

          Now it’s time to actually get down and dirty and begin to create your kick-ass Sankalpa to carry you through your next year. You have your pen and paper in front of you and you are still drawing a blank. This happens to me too. It seems when we actually go to ask for what we want all of a sudden we get stuck. So here are some journal or reflection questions to get you going -

 

How do you desire to feel this upcoming year?  What do you want to invite into this precious life?  What lights you right up?  Who, what, and where bring you the most joy?  Who do I desire to be?  What do I want to be when I grow up ;)  Where may I be holding mySelf back from my own evolution? 

 

        If this still isn’t floating your boat. Go ahead and set new year’s resolutions like you normally do and see if there is a common theme. For example, if you look at my list above, they all revolved around my health. So what I could do is mix that all into a beautiful Sankalpa that is ‘I achieve total health’. See how that brings it all together? Here are other examples from Swami Satyananda Saraswati in his book ‘Yoga Nidra’ 

 

 I  awaken my spiritual potential  I  am a positive force for the evolution of others I  am successful in all that I undertake I  am more aware and efficient

 

          A vision for your life starts with an intention. An intention sparks into inspired action and from inspired action, your dreams manifest in your reality. Creating a Sankalpa removes the stress of holding yourSelf to an unrealistic New Year’s Resolution hype. It allows more space for long-term growth and it really invites more possibilities into our lives. I found this year way more refreshing than years past. I felt more energized when the year ended because I was able to either shift my Sankalpa all together or offer mySelf more time moving into the next year. It almost brought this feeling of timelessness into my intention setting. There’s no need to rush, there’s no need to force or push. A Sankalpa encourages more ease and flows for us in our daily lives … and who doesn’t want that? 

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