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Welcome home! Take a moment right now to sink in & ground yourself, with a long, deep breath, & perhaps an inner OM if that calls to you…
Thank you so much for honoring my blog with your presence & attention. For my very first post, I would like to share with you a concept that has become very meaningful to me recently: the Sanskrit word sankalpa. Translated simply, sankalpa can mean “intention” or “resolution,” but the root of its meaning goes far beyond wishful thinking. San essentially means “connection to highest truth,” while kalpa is a vow or commitment met with deep resolve. In setting a sankalpa, you are pairing the intention with action, the heart’s desire with the volition to bring it to fruition. This term relates to yoga in a striking way. Yoga, as you may know, means “to unite,” or “to yoke.” The fact that you are even reading these words right now means that you have some interest in being a yogi, in uniting yourself with the source of your highest good! Engaging in sankalpa-setting can bring a new level of depth & meaning to your practice, as well as to your life. It enables you to harness and focus the energy of your pure desires to manifest them into reality. It is also a centering reminder to drive you to keep pushing forward when circumstances become difficult or you find your motivation lagging. I personally find my yoga practices – asana, meditation, pranayama, all of it - much more fulfilling when I have set an intention & given myself a sense of clarity about what I am bringing to the practice, and / or what I am seeking there. Lately, I have even been experimenting with setting a personal sankalpa at the start of my day as part of my morning routine. If this is something that speaks to your heart, you are probably wondering at this point: How do I go about doing so? Some people approach it as an affirmation, a present-tense statement that embraces a quality that already exists within themselves, such as “I am love” or “I am strong.” Meanwhile, others use it in a more specific, goal-oriented sense. If you recognize that a bad habit is stealing your peace, a sankalpa framing your vow in a positive, already-existent reality can assist you in bringing about change. For instance, if you often stay up too late at night and find yourself suffering in the daytime as a result, you may say, “I want to honor my body and get enough rest to restore it every day.” Here are two resources that have helped me experiment: https://yogainternational.com/article/view/how-to-create-a-sankalpa, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTH7ZfBfVnw. In beginning this blog, my personal sankalpa is to spread awareness of these beautiful practices that have transformed my own life, in the hope that my words bring healing to yours. May you be happy, healthy, & free, ever in connection with your highest truth. Om Shanti, Jai Bhagwan! Namaste yogis…
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