Sankalpa | a call to awakening
You are already whole and complete
The most fundamental teaching of yoga.
Real mastery is about locating the part of you that resonates with the universe, and acting from that connection.
This doesn’t need that we don’t have needs, wants or desires, as we are ever evolving beings, that grow and mature. As a flower turns toward the sun or water makes it way from the top of the mountain back to the sea, so do you need to have movement, yearning and aspirations. The difference in this perspective is recognising that you have everything you need to fulfil your spiritual and worldly promise.
This does seem unjustifiable in a world of extreme privilege and hardship, in the face of world catastrophe, separations of class, race and sex, and this has to be placed in context. Accessing this place in ourselves, no matter who we are, is available, and is an intimately personal experience of the mind and will.
Karl Blossfeldt
Sankalpa practice is a way of refining and defining what it is, in a particular period of time, what is guiding your from that deepest place that needs you to remember your wholeness.
As soon as you say you want something, a part of you will recognise that you don’t have it. Simply repeating what we want, you reinforce the belief that you don’t have it. When the unconscious mind operates from a place of lack or perceived inadequacy, the energy that supports your sankalpa, this law for your life at this point in time of the highest order, is weakened. This highlights the importance of a strong quality of mind.
Meditation is the most fertile ground for sankalpa practice. It returns the mind to a state of present moment wholeness. The longer we are able to effortlessly rest in that place of oneness, the more rapidly we are able to fulfill our sankalpa.
Practice
A meditation to prepare your state of mind
Create your sankalpa
Set a timer for 4 mins and start writing. Write anything and everything that is going through your head - do not take your pen off the page - even if its 'blah blah blah' or a repetitive thought. ANYTHING. This is just a dump of your brain onto the page to clear some space for your intention.
As the timer goes off, don't even finish the word you're on - just put the pen down, turn the page over or move it out of your sight. You don't have to look at it again! Let it go.
Whats Underneath
Put the fresh page in front of you, close your eyes and sit for a few moments and take some time to tune in to the prompt for the New Moon;
I Want….
Write anything. Let it be messy, honest, fleeting. Anything that flows out with the New Moon prod stirring up the question from your innermost wanting. Don’t edit or cross out, your ‘mistakes’ might actually lead you to something worth listening to.
You may come with simple things, material things, desires that you have never put into words or perhaps have even felt ashamed of wanting. Let it all come up and out and as you keep writing non stop let it keep revealing to you what’s underneath. Whats the essence underneath all these desires?
Let the process relieve you of self-judgment and dig in to the qualities within yourself that you want this process to fortify and strengthen.
Then,
Look over what you’ve written and start to identify themes, or a deeper message. Use this to start to formulate your sankalpa.
A present tense affirmative statement, "I am ..."
A Call to Awakening
Repeat your sankalpa when you first wake up. Stick it on your fridge or above your desk. Find ways to remind yourself of your hearts deepest desires in your every-day moments.
