Focus on Your Intentions in Yoga

To Realize Your Dreams, Focus on Your Sankalpa in Yoga

There is a Sanskrit word in the yoga world; sankalpa. It has been translated as intention, determination, or heartfelt desire. Setting an intention at any point in your life can have powerful effects, such as achieving your goals, staying true to your values, and making an impact in the world.

Sankalpa is a statement that will remind you of your true nature and guide your choices. Discovering your sankalpa is a process of listening. Your inner desire is already present, waiting to be seen, heard, and felt. It's not something you need to invent, and your mind doesn't have to search for it frantically.

Resolution and Sankalpa:

Sankalpa is slightly different from determination. Mostly, on New Year's Eve, we make decisions, using our willpower to promise ourselves what we want to change in our lives, and it starts with 'I will do.' For example, quitting smoking, doing yoga every day, or setting another goal you want. Most New Year's resolutions come from the ego's, senses', and conditions' misguided desires. They almost always fail because they assume you're not good enough as you are.

The yoga tradition offers a refreshing alternative to the New Year's resolution: the practice of sankalpa. A sankalpa practice begins from the moment you understand your true nature and values and the actions needed to fulfill them. All you need to do is focus your mind, connect with your deepest desires, and the divine energy withinis to channelize. Sankalpa is a vow and commitment we make to reach and support our highest reality. A sankalpa must honor the deepest meaning of our life.

There is all divine power within us.

Iccha shakti: The power of will and energy,
Kriya shakti: The power of action,
Jnana shakti: The power of intellect or wisdom.
When a true sankalpa enters within, we awaken these three qualities of divine power. The energy and will are already there. Sankalpa informs us about the action we are willing to create in the world.

Here you need to understand the very subtle differences between decision and sankalpa. A decision is based on what you want, your desire, and sankalpa focuses on your true self, your true nature that you want to realize. Sankalpa goes beyond decisions.

Set and go:

A sankalpa can be in two ways. The first is an 'inner desire', an expression that reflects your true nature. It is literally and simply an expression of who you are. For example, 'I am already whole and healed' or 'I am peaceful inside.' It doesn't come from the intellectual mind. It comes from the depths of our inner self, directly from the sense of who we ultimately are. Then it informs our mind and energy about a specific direction we are taking or are in the process of taking in our life.

A sankalpa can also take a second form; a specific intention or goal form. 'When you discover your purpose or mission of your soul, you need to reach the milestones.' Setting specific intentions helps you align your choices moment by moment with your inner desire.can. Your special sankalpa will reveal what you need to do to progress in your greater life goals and where to direct your energy.

How Will You Discover Your Sankalpa?

Discovering your sankalpa is a process of listening. Your inner desire is already present, waiting to be seen, heard, and felt. This is not something you need to make up, nor does your mind need to frantically search for it.

The listening process, as defined in the Vedanta tradition, has three stages:

1. Sravana: the first step is to be willing to hear the message of the heart's desire. Listening to the heart may require courage and a quiet mind. The person who has been trained and educated through meditation will be able to hear this innermost call.
2. Manana: the second step is the act of turning towards and embracing the messenger. When you hear the call, you must be willing to sit with it, feel it, and think deeply about it.
3. Nididhyasana: the final step is to be willing to take the actions required by the heart's desire. "You must be willing to be moved, to respond."

Here are the three steps: listening to the inner call, reflecting on it, and taking the appropriate actions to make it happen. Sankalpa is not just about achieving a desire, true sankalpa is the power that drives you to fulfill it.

What do you hear from within? The endless desires of your ego, senses, and conditioned mind or the wisdom of your heart?

What do you really want? OnlyStart from where you are. A new car? A better job or a good relationship? Or your condition? Any goal can be a starting point. To reach a deeper understanding, work with the goal that emerges and ask yourself what is connected to it.

For example, "you want to be fit" or "you want to lose weight". Imagine how your life will be and how you will feel when you lose weight and get in shape. Is it self-love, physical well-being, or a sense of freedom? What is the feeling you expect? What is the longing in your heart that directs you to this direction?

Any desire can take you to the desire of your heart. It may come from conditioning, but if you trust this practice and continue to follow the desire of your heart, it will take you to the essence of your being.

For example, you want to quit smoking or eating meat. To explore the inner desire behind such an intention, ask yourself what desire you are trying to satisfy now. Are you looking for peace, relief from pain, or health? "See if you can find a deeper hunger, a desire that wants to feed you." This hunger can show you what your heart really wants. If someone starts by saying "I want to quit smoking", when working with them, they will start to feel a deeper desire, such as "I want to take care of my body". Further down the road, the sankalpa may become "I love my body", or even "I am love itself". This is an evolution, but it still has the feeling of the initial intention to quit smoking. Even a small desire can take you to the desire of your heart. It may be born out of conditioning, but it can take you to the essence of your being.will take you there. All you need to do is listen, reflect on it, and keep taking action towards it. Even a small different step will take you to your goal.

It's natural to define a desire as "I want" and an intention as "I will" or "I won't". However, you need to explore your inner desire, how your wants and intentions are connected to it. Sankalpa is not a prayer, it's an expression of a deep truth, and a vow that is true right now.

It's recommended to express your Sankalpa - both the inner desire and the special intention - in the present tense. For example, instead of saying "I want to be more compassionate", your Sankalpa could be "Compassion is my true nature". Instead of setting the intention "I won't eat meat", your special Sankalpa could be "I'm following a vegetarian diet with compassion for my body and other beings". Expressing your Sankalpa in the present tense acknowledges tremendous willpower and energy, and also eliminates the gap between "I will" and "I am". It also reminds you that everything you need is already within you.

Sankalpa provides you with an energy or power to increase your faith and confidence in yourself. All the power is already within you, you just need to believe in it and let it move and become even stronger.

"Life is easy" is an illusion, and "life is hard" is also an illusion. It depends on you, the illusion you believe in the most becomes your life. Sankalpa makes your life and how you look at it satisfying and positiveYou plant the seed of the flower.

How do you plant a flower in the garden? You prepare the soil, then you open a hole and put the seed in it. Then you water it and take care of it with the thought of a 'beautiful flower'. You just try to provide the right environment for the plants to grow. But if you think your garden will not give you a colorful flower, you will not feel enough motivation to feed and take care of these plants. You just remove many small plants that you think are unnecessary and disturb the main plants you want to grow. To grow the desired flower, you need not only the right nutrition but also positive thoughts and the removal of unnecessary disturbances.

Now we need to understand how to plant the seed of sankalpa. They need appropriate conditions, environment, and nutrition. To plant the seed of sankalpa, we need a quality mind or a suitable mental state and effort to nourish it properly. The mind must pass from dual thinking to non-dual (pure being state). It is awareness. That's why meditation is the most fertile ground for sankalpa practice. It brings the mind back to the state of present moment wholeness. The longer we can stay effortlessly in that state of unity, the faster we can fulfill our sankalpa. Our mind becomes a more powerful agent to help us fulfill our intentions.

After planting the seed of the flower, it needs proper nutrition. Similarly, after planting the seed of sankalpa, it needs proper nutrition as much as remembering.You need to recall this phrase to your mind, strengthening your determination and honoring your inner desire. However, simply remembering the sankalpa is not enough. The moment you say you want something, you realize you don't have it. By repeating what you want, you reinforce the belief that you don't have it. When the subconscious mind operates from a place of lack or absence, the energy that supports your determination weakens.

You need a supportive state of mind to remember that your sankalpa is the experience of being perfect, meaning you need a state of pure being. If you're not in this place, then the ego kicks in, and you proceed with your intention from a place of 'I have something wrong that I need to fix.' However, you must connect with the quality of being that you already are.

One of the most powerful practices to find this state and plant the seed of sankalpa is yoga nidra. It's a process of awakening to your true nature. Yoga nidra systematically relaxes the body and mind, guiding you to a deep state of awareness. You're aware and awake, entering a state of peace, wisdom, and love that is your true nature. In yoga nidra, we discover a deep level of openness. The limitations we impose on ourselves dissolve, and we become pure being. When you invoke your sankalpa in a weak state, it can trigger doubts or the ego. When you invoke your sankalpa in yoga nidra, the heartfelt desire comes as a sensation felt in the body-mind. It's absolutely alive and real in that moment.

After you've determined and planted the seed of your sankalpa, you can begin the process of empowering the sankalpa shakti. You may experience challenges, but think of it as...To get a tomato plant, we need to start with a small dry seed. That seed does not look like a tomato plant. The taste of that seed is not like a tomato, but let's say you planted that seed in fertile soil, watered it, and exposed it to sunlight. Over time, if you continue to water and provide plenty of sunlight, and remove weeds, you can have a tomato plant that gives over a hundred sweet tomatoes. Yet, everything started with a small seed. In mindfulness practice, the soil you plant is your subconscious, the seed is your intention, water is affirmations, and sunlight is positive thoughts.

Be aware of thoughts and habits that empower what is contrary to your Sankalpa Shakti. Consciously removing habits and negative thoughts indirectly empowers your Sankalpa Shakti.

Yoga practice is especially useful for Sankalpa, as the holistic practice that includes physical postures, conscious breathing, and mindful meditation provides a way to remove obstacles and unlock. Daily, weekly, or occasional yoga practice invites the practitioner to experience life with an open heart, open mind, and open spirit. By practicing opening and connecting in these ways, even for a short time, possibilities are endless.

Setting an intention before your yoga practice is like planting a seed. Then, with your breath, movement, and mental focus, you nourish your tiny seed during practice. Since yoga practice is specifically designed to remove blockages in your body, mind, and spirit, focusing on a Sankalpa at the end or after practice can be very powerful.

Especially in the world of healthy living, it may be tempting to leave it in intention and vision, love and light, but the experience is much more complex. Intentions are necessary to create the life you envision for yourself and the world, but they must be followed by action. You can intend to learn to play the guitar (Go for it! Go for it!) but if you don't buy a guitar, practice every day, take lessons, make chords, and try again, you will definitely not learn to play the guitar. Prayers are nice but not enough

Without your intentions, no matter how big or small, you will not have a clear direction for your actions; without your actions, your intentions will be a wisp of cloud in the sky. May your intentions and actions be in harmony with the greatest good for yourself and the world.