Intention is not about achieving a required result.

It’s about connecting with your chosen path.

Sankalpa in Sanskrit translates as ‘solemn vow’ and in the Vedic traditions refers to the harmonisation of of Mind and Heart to one’s dharma, that is to say, life’s purpose or chosen path.

In order to do this, two aspects of the seemingly contradictory nature of sankalpa needs to be accepted and understood. Each of us is both Being and Becoming. After identifying what it is that you want the only way to realise it without suffering, or coming from a place of lack or less than, is to acknowledge you already have it, that you already are that which you desire to become. Para Atman refers to our transcendant, inherent Oneness that is already perfect and whole. Jiva Atman is that part of us that comes to life with a purpose and destiny is always a working towards realising one’s potential.

It’s vital for happiness to walk both paths simultaneously - to direct your energy with intention but be mindful that your nature is unchanged whether you achieve your goals or not. Live as contentedly as possible in between achieving your goal and the goal itself, in the space between making effort to align to your heartfelt desires and at the same time being unattached to outcomes.

Writing down our thoughts and feelings is a way to process, clarify and determine where we are at in ourselves and identify the actual patterns at play. In this way it can lift mood, ease mental strain and help us see the path ahead.

*Write down all the words associated with how you have been feeling lately. Positive and negative thoughts, emotions.

*Write down what you really want at this time. What would create the most change?

*How will I feel when this change is made?

Come to one word, or a few words, to form your sankalpa in the present tense.

To experience our sankalpa as truth we must set it positively in the present.

I am …

Discovering your sankalpa is a process of listening. Your heartfelt desire is already present, waiting to be seen, heard, and felt. It’s not something you need to make up, and the mind doesn’t have to go wildly searching for it. As you listen into your being in a enhanced state of awareness, sravana, will appear : the willingness, the openness, to hear the message of your heart’s desire. It can take a quiet, settled mind and courage to be able to hear this innermost call. And it’s best culitvated through meditation.

When we hear the call, be willing to sit with it, feel it, and deeply reflect on it. The is manana. The act of turning to and welcoming the messenger in. Deeply feel into your body, and sit with what arises, embrace the the vulnerability.

The final stage, nididhyasana, is the willingness to do what the heartfelt desire requires of you. It will call you into action, into the world. You must be willing to respond. To call up Sankalpa shakti - the energy to carry out your intention.

What if the answers you hear—new car, new job, better relationship—sound more like the endless desires of your ego, senses, and conditioned mind than like the wisdom of your heart?

Even a desire that might be interpreted as simple or shallow can lead you to the heart’s desire. It might arise out of conditioning, but if you trust the practice and keep following the heart’s desire, it will take you to the essence of your being.

The quality of the mind reciting the sankalpa determines its effect. To fully realize our resolve, we shift from dualistic thinking to unity awareness. This is why meditation is the most fertile ground for sankalpa practice.

We are returned to a state of present moment wholeness. The longer we are able to effortlessly rest in that place of oneness, the more powerful the mind becomes mind becomes to help us fulfill our intentions.

The most supportive state of mind for remembering your sankalpa is the direct experience that you are already and always, open, timeless, and perfect—what nondualism describes as the state of pure being.

(If that’s not in place, ego gets involved, and we come at the intention from a place of ‘there’s something wrong with me that I need to fix.’)

Connect to the quality of being that is already complete and whole.

One of the most powerful practices for finding this state and planting the seed of sankalpa is yoga nidra. While nidra means “sleep,” it is actually a process of awakening to your true nature. Systematically relaxing the body and mind to guides you into deep awareness. You are aware and awake, but calm and nonattached.

Disidentify from the body and mind. In this way, the confusion between prakriti and purusha dissolves, and you come to rest in the peace, wisdom, and love of your true nature. Purusha - consciousness, the unknowable. Pakriti - the primordial, matter, the knowable

In yoga nidra, we discover a profound level of openness. Our self-imposed limitations dissolve, and we are pure being.” When you recall your sankalpa in the waking state, it might trigger doubts or the ego’s striving. When you recall your sankalpa in yoga nidra, the heartfelt desire arrives as a felt sense in the body-mind. It is absolutely alive and true in that moment.