Have you ever practiced yoga nidra and heard the word sankalpa and wondered what it actually means?
To me,
A sankalpa is like planting a seed.
It's about connecting with a quality that already exists within you.
And gently allowing it to grow.
Your sankalpa might be something like,
I trust myself,
Or I live at peace and at ease,
Or maybe my heart is open to love.
It's a quiet remembering of who you truly are.
Beneath all the noise and self-doubt.
You may notice that a sankalpa is always spoken as if it's already true.
I trust myself,
Not becoming,
But being.
If you practiced with me before,
You'll notice I always include a sankalpa in my yoga nidras.
It's one of my favorite parts of the practice.
The word first appears in the Upanishads,
Some of the oldest texts in yogic tradition.
So this isn't a modern wellness idea.
It's ancient.
San means connection with your highest truth.
Kelpa means a vow or a resolve.
And together,
A sankalpa is a resolve made in connection with who you really are.
And it's different from an operation.
An affirmation is usually spoken to a wide awake thinking mind.
Trying to convince it of something.
And a sankalpa is planted in a deeply relaxed state beneath that thinking layer.
It doesn't need convincing.
It's received.
Rather than repeated into belief.
And that's why Yoga Nidra is where Asankalpa does its deepest work.
In the practice.
We move into the space between waking and sleeping.
Your body rests,
But your awareness stays present.
In that state,
The part of your mind that usually questions and resists begins to soften.
A sankalpa planted here can settle far more deeply than an intention you simply think about during the day.
Traditionally,
It's planted early in the practice while the body is settling and the mind is still slightly active.
And it's planted again near the end,
Right before you return to waking awareness.
And that second planting matters.
It's the moment your sankalpa has its best chance of crossing over into your day rather than dissolving the second you open your eyes.
You may notice that some teachers invite you to repeat your sankalpa three times over,
And that's a common approach.
In my own recordings,
I tend to leave a little more spaciousness in the practice.
If you're practicing on your own,
Repeating it three times can be a beautiful way of helping that intention settle a little more deeply into your awareness.
It's a simple and gentle way of giving your intention your full attention.
It's worth mentioning that sometimes when you turn your attention to your sankalpa,
Nothing arises.
Your mind goes blank.
And no words come.
There's no need to worry or think that you're doing it wrong.
A sankalpa doesn't always arrive as words.
Sometimes it shows up as a feeling in the body,
A warmth,
A softening,
A sensation,
Or a felt sense.
And if this happens,
Just trust in your own heart's wisdom that already knows the way,
Even when your mind hasn't found the words for it yet.
You also don't need a new sankalpa every time you practice Yoga Nidra.
Traditionally,
The same one is kept for months,
Sometimes longer.
Letting it deepen rather than swapping it out.
And here's something I really love,
As Sankalpa doesn't only belong to Yoga Nidra.
You can begin your yoga practice with one.
You can bring one into your meditations.
And you can even repeat one before you have to have a difficult conversation.
Or simply say it quietly to yourself before your feet even touch the floor each morning.
Over time,
It becomes less about changing yourself and more about remembering the person you're choosing to be.
I'd love to know,
If you had to choose a Sankalpa today,
What would it be?
Let your sankalpa live with you today.
And if you'd like to experience a guided yoga nidra where we work with the sankalpa together,
You'll find several on my profile.
