Yoga Nidra Sankalpa (or intention) • Yoga Philosophy Explained

Transcript

january is the time of year associated with new year's resolutions and setting goals for the year ahead and as i film this video it is the beginning of 2022 and i've already been bombarded with adverts for fitness platforms weight loss apps and everything else related to the idea of new year and new you it can be exhausting the constant quest for self-improvement can be overwhelming and in a capitalist society the emphasis is always on growth so we should always be striving for more having more being more and doing more the concept of sankalpa or intention setting in the yoga tradition and especially in the practice of yoga nidra offers you an alternative path so i offer you the invitation to perhaps take a little bit more of a self-compassionate approach and take the approach of setting an intention or a sankalpa to begin your day or begin your yoga nidra yoga or meditation practice so for this video i will be explaining to you what asan kalpa or an intention is i'll be showing you how you can create your own sanchalpa which is unique and personal to you and i'll be showing you when you can use your sankalpa [Music] so what is a sanchalpa sanchalta is the sanskrit word for intention or intention setting sanchalpa means an intention formed by the heart and mind a solemn vow a determination or will a one-pointed resolve to focus psychologically and philosophically on a specific theme in every yoga nidra and sometimes at the beginning of a yoga class you might be invited to set a sankalpa or an intention this intention is intended to remind you as to why you practice yoga yoga nidra or meditation and it's also to act as a tool to remind you to come back to the present moment and to come back into your practice intentions aim to create focus determination motivation patience and perseverance so where goals and resolutions stem from the idea that you're not good enough and that you need to change and also prescribe the notion that happiness depends on acquiring what you want an intention or a sanchalpa recognizes that this heartfelt desire this quality this intention is already held inside of you is already there all you need to do is acknowledge cultivate and recognize this quality in order to cultivate more of it in your life the practice of setting an intention to begin your yoga meditation or yoga nature practice can offer profound transformational effects on both your internal landscape and your external world setting an intention offers you the opportunity to every time you practice or every time you begin your day you allow yourself to greet yourself with kindness compassion and gentleness and you allow yourself to greet yourself in a non-judgmental way so in summary a sanchalpa or an intention is a determination of our one pointed resolve to focus your attention both psychologically and physiologically on a specific theme that is important to you and that you want to cultivate in your life so how do you create your own sanchalpa or intention so there's two things to remember when setting an intention or a san kalpa the first thing is you state your intention in the present tense and the second it is in a positive way so i'll explain in more detail what that means for your intention or your sanchalpa you always state your sanchalpa in the present tense and this is so that your intention helps you to recognize this quality this heartfelt desire and or specific goal and to recognize that it's already held within you again you just need to acknowledge reinforce and recognize this quality so that you can cultivate it in your life all you need to do is focus your attention and your energy on this focus point this intention so by expressing your intention in the present tense you allow your subconscious mind to acknowledge your intentions as actualities so instead of possibilities and therefore by acknowledging them as actualities this gives your intention greater power to materialize for you your sanchalpa is also said in a positive way so this creates a simple psychological shift that means the change you are making isn't coming from a place of what is wrong with you and rather it comes from a more empowering and positive place so here is an example to help you if your new year's resolution is to stop smoking then if you're going to take the approach of setting an intention or a sanchalpa you would look at why you want to stop smoking it might be because you want to take better care of your body and it might be because you want to love your body more so if that's the reason why then rather than saying you want to stop smoking your intention or your sanchalpa would be i love and take care of my body i love and take care of my body so you'll hear that's in the present tense and it's said in a positive way the two factors for setting your intention so the focus shifts from something that you're doing wrong or that you need to change about yourself and instead it recognizes that you hold this quality already and you just need to cultivate it you already care and love your body so you can explore a range of themes when creating your own intention or sanchalpa so these themes might be relationships health well-being family friends work money home emotions memories past experiences feelings beliefs values and many more so examples of assigned calper to get you started are i am at ease and open to insight i am compassionate to myself and others i speak and act from love kindness and truth i eat for a health and energy my meditation practice enriches every aspect of my life i practice yoga consistently with kindness and gentleness i receive and accept help when i need it i am confident and self-assured i feel the anger that is present and i am open to what it has to show me i am okay as i am no intention is too frivolous or quixotic you can set an intention just for one practice or you can work with the same intention for a long period of time you can work with emotions or beliefs or you can focus on qualities that you would like to cultivate more of in your life so be gentle with yourself as you navigate the creation of your own personal and unique sankalpa that's special for you and allow fluidity for this sanchalpa to change and evolve over time so you can begin your practice with a very broad sanchalpa to get started so the one that i mentioned earlier i am at ease and open to insight and then you can allow yourself to discover your own personal intention at your own pace the idea is that your sanchalpa is bespoke and personal for you so when do you use your sanchalpa or intention so in a yoga need your practice you're invited to affirm your intention at the beginning and the end of the practice and you might be encouraged to return to your sanchalpa throughout the practice so that's how you practice it with yoga nidra and it's in a similar way with a yoga class you might be invited to set an intention at the beginning of the practice and if you want you can remind or affirm yourself or your of your intention at the end of the practice so it's in a similar way that you use your intention for meditation yoga and yoga nidra you can even work with your intention at a particular time of the day so when you wake up you might have a morning drink and when you have that drink you might affirm your intention having that constant reminder of your intention the idea is that you return to your intention again and again and therefore that seed of growth in your life that intention has your full attention so i hope you enjoyed learning about sankalpa or intention setting and i hope that i've inspired you to perhaps use this as part of your yoga meditation or yoga practice so in summary you can use your intention at the beginning of your practice and to close your practice you can even come back to it again and again you can also use it at the same time each day as a way to affirm your intention and you create this intention in the present tense and in a positive way so feel free to go back in the video to look at the examples i offer you and feel free to look at the themes i shared with you to help you come up with an intention and just take your time and allow yourself to move at your own pace allow that intention to perhaps evolve and change over time so thank you so much for watching if you enjoy my videos then please feel free to consider subscribing to my youtube channel you'll find a link just below this video to and it's absolutely free i upload videos like this about yoga philosophy and the bigger questions about life i also share lots of yoga nidra meditation and yoga classes as well i'd love it if you became part of the community and when you it means that my videos appear in your subscription feed which means that you can keep track of every video that i share on youtube so now i would love to hear from you so i'd love to hear what theme you would like to explore for your intention so you don't have to share your intention that's really personal to you and you can keep that for yourself and for your practice but i'd love to hear what theme that you would like to and explore as i said no theme is too frivolous and no theme it is too quixotic so just to summarize those themes they are relationships health well-being family friends work money home emotions memories past experiences feelings beliefs values and many more and i'll leave the theme that i'm currently exploring in my intention in a pinned comment below this video so feel free to have a read of that and feel free to share the theme that you would like to explore as you create your own sanchalpa or intention or perhaps you're already working with your own sanchalta or intention so as always thank you so much for watching and thank you for practicing with me [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] you