Sankalpa & Yoga Nidra Overview

This audio touches on the importance of incorporating a Sankalpa in your Yoga Nidra practice. It describes what a sankalpa is and how it elevates your experience. It is about 16-18 minutes long. Let me know if this is something you want to know more about!!

Bonnie Rhea Tomeoni, RYT

Transcript

Welcome to Yoga Nidra and discrete sleep with trace awareness.

It is a state of mind in between wakefulness and dream.

When you practice Yoga Nidra,

You are opening the deeper phases of your mind.

At this moment,

Your intellectual mind is operating.

But when you are able to relax,

The subconscious and unconscious levels of the mind open.

A very important part of Yoga Nidra is setting an intention for yourself.

Your heartfelt resolution.

In Yoga Nidra,

At the very beginning of practice,

We set an intention.

A short affirmation in present tense.

Something as simple as I am whole or I am enough is a very,

Very powerful sankalpa.

An intellectual conviction is one aspect of human life.

We are all intellectually convinced about good and bad,

But we also have to be emotionally receptive to everything that we need to assimilate.

This is only possible when the distractions are withdrawn and the mind is calm and flowing in one smooth level.

Then whatever is impressed upon the mind becomes the corrective,

The destiny,

The directive.

During this peak,

This period of receptivity,

The mind will listen to you.

The illogical restless mind can be disobedient.

But the Yoga Nidra mind is absolutely obedient.

So at the beginning of our Yoga Nidra practice.

When we are relaxed.

We set a sankalpa.

It's a Sanskrit word which can be translated as resolve a resolution.

It is an important stage of Yoga Nidra and a powerful method of reshaping your personality and direction in life along positive lines.

You must first have a direction that you want your life.

To travel.

Sometimes we go the right direction that we're supposed to,

But most often we're pushed and shoved in different directions.

By the tempest of life.

Using the technique of Yoga Nidra,

However,

We have a choice in life,

And that choice is created by sankalpa or resolve.

The sankalpa takes the form of a short mental statement which is impressed on the subconscious mind.

When it is receptive and sensitive to auto suggestion during Yoga Nidra.

The sankalpa has to be made when you are intellectually active,

But when your mind is calm and quiet.

Before and after the practice of Yoga Nidra,

There is a short period dedicated to sankalpa.

The resolve you make at the beginning of the practice is like sowing a seed.

And the resolve at the end is like irrigating it.

Sankalpa is a determination to become something or to do something in your life.

Everyone has many desires and ambitions,

However,

Most of them get lost,

Exhausted or destroyed.

Just as when you scatter seeds in different places,

Some may grow,

But most will not.

Sankalpa is a seed which you create and then so in the bed of your mind.

When the mind is clear,

The sankalpa grows very well.

If you first prepare the bed with fertilizer and manure.

Remove the weeds and grass and then sow the seed,

The plant will grow better.

In the same way,

You have your mind and you have an idea.

If you prepare the mind and sow the seed properly.

Then it will grow in your life and become a powerful directive.

Many people make intellectual resolves,

Which rarely bring results.

This is because the result is either not planted deeply enough.

Made when the mind is disturbed or when the mind is not ready to receive it.

For success,

Sankalpa needs to be planted with strong willpower and feeling.

It should be planted when the mind is relaxed and ready to accept and absorb it.

Such a state occurs during yoga nidra.

Once the seed of sankalpa is planted deep in the subconscious,

It gathers the vast force of the mind in order to bring about its fruition.

The deep and powerful seed,

The deep and powerful seed will eventually manifest itself again and again at a conscious level and bring about changes in your personality and your life.

Each of us has the power to remold our own mental structure.

No personality is beyond reformation and no fear or obsession is so deep rooted that it cannot be changed.

The seed of change is found in the resolve made in yoga nidra.

The resolution must be backed by deeply ingrained willpower in order to be carried through.

Sankalpa is a powerful technique and it should be used intelligently.

Although you can use the result for therapeutic purposes,

It should rather be used for a greater purpose,

Such as achieving self realization or state of samadhi.

If you want to transform your life pattern that can be done by the power of sankalpa made during yoga nidra.

If there is a negative tendency or habit in your life and you want to correct it,

That can also be done through a positive sankalpa.

Sankalpa is a very powerful instrument in the hands of the right person.

It is not to fulfill desires,

But to create strength in the structure of the mind.

You can even say that sankalpa is the force of will.

Sankalpa can create a direction for your whole life.

If you use it wisely.

But if you utilize it only for the eradication of bad habits,

Such as smoking or drinking,

Then you are misusing it.

The purpose of sankalpa is to influence and transform the whole life pattern,

Not only physically,

But mentally,

Emotionally and spiritually.

Then if you are a heavy smoker or drinker,

You will automatically give it up.

It is for this reason we don't recommend the use of sankalpa for eliminating bad habits.

It is better to choose a sankalpa that will change your whole personality so that you can become more balanced,

Happy and fulfilled.

When sankalpa becomes the directing force,

Everything you do in life becomes successful.

So just some things to think about while you're preparing for yoga nidra practice today.

Finding a place for yourself where you are comfortable taking your time,

Getting your set up,

Perhaps two blankets underneath you.

Maybe a little something extra under your sacrum area,

Under your head.

Something maybe to support your shoulders up.

Maybe a little comfort.

Under your hands.

Maybe a light blanket if the room is cold.

You want to find yourself a comfortable position so that you can sink in and float your awareness down from that conscious level right before dream state.

So taking your time,

Allowing yourself to find a comfortable position for your body.

If you wear glasses,

It's a good idea to take your glasses off.

If you have contacts,

It's a good idea to remove your contact lenses.

If you need to use the bathroom,

It's a good idea to use the bathroom before you get settled in.

Make sure there's nothing that's going to disturb you,

That's going to float you back,

Jolt you back rather to the surface.

There are eight steps of yoga nidra.

The preparation phase,

Which affects the anamaya kosha,

The physical body.

So finding that comfortable position for yourself.

The relaxation stage.

Setting of the sankalpa,

The heartfelt resolve.

There's the focus on the systematic energy points,

Which is awareness of our energy body,

The prana maya kosha.

As well as the mental phase,

Which could be the reverse counting,

Something to hook your mind onto,

Which is the mana maya kosha.

There's sometimes the concentration on symbols is introduced that affects your higher mind.

Vinyana maya kosha.

And then there's the yogic sleep,

Which is the ananda maya kosha,

The bliss sheath.

And then the reiteration of the sankalpa is part of the completion phase,

Bringing your awareness out after that point.

So the mind is totally relaxed.

The soil of the mind is perfect for planting,

Irrigating your seeds of intention.

If at any time during yoga nidra,

You are at all uncomfortable,

Feel free to open your eyes.

It will bring you right back to that level of consciousness.

In yoga nidra,

Only two doors of perception are open.

The sense of hearing as well as the sense of feeling.

So sometimes a little something light over your eyes that's going to block out any lightness.

If you're in a in a room where there is light,

Maybe closing the blinds and scarf is all that you would need.

So making sure a scarf is available to you so that after you get all comfortable in your little nest,

You don't have to get up and try to find something for your eyes.

Bring something closer to you.

If you're not comfortable laying on your back,

There are positions that can aid.

Perhaps Queen's pose where your torso is lifted a little off the ground that might prevent you from sinking into a deep sleek.

Sometimes if it's not comfortable on your back,

Another position that could be an alternative is sideline position,

Maybe with your leg over a bolster on either side.

But you want to find a position that's comfortable for you.

So perhaps a little movement before you rest into yoga nidra,

Maybe some gentle stretching,

Maybe some holding of some of the positions is a nice way to allow that relaxation state to occur.

Sometimes the gentle stretching or the holding of the stretches can release that fascia,

That connective tissue that sometimes is so tight around all of our ligaments and bones and muscles that we really can't get relaxed.

So there may be different things that we introduced prior to the yoga nidra session that can aid in our relaxation during the session.

Sometimes the introduction of symbols or the reverse counting or the polarities,

Perhaps a cold or hot.

Sometimes those things can trigger things to a surface.

Things that occurred,

Samskaras that settle deep into your recesses,

Deep into your body,

When those things are sometimes float up and are brought back to a level of awareness where you remember something that occurred in your life.

If you can find a way to be a witness to the content that's rising,

Acknowledging the content and recognizing that,

Yes,

That did happen,

But it is not the core of who you are.

Little by little yoga nidra can be a very freeing practice,

Leaving us feel a little bit lighter,

Almost as though something has shifted within us.

Perhaps a meridian,

A nadi,

Or channel has opened and you feel a bit more of your chi,

Your energy flowing,

Feeling a little bit lighter,

A little bit freer.

This is a scenario that can add layers to your life that may have been closed for a while due to a sometimes event that can cause trauma.

But allow yourself to feel safe,

Knowing that you're in a practice that is thousands of years old,

It's an ancient practice,

And I welcome any support I can provide for you during this practice.

And if you have any questions or concerns,

Please don't hesitate to let me know and I will do my best to perhaps shed some light on a door that you have some concern about opening.

I'm here to assist you.

I am your guide.

My name is Bonnie Ray Tamioni,

And I'm happy to be able to bring this practice to your world.

Starting out by just breathing,

Finding that comfortable nest for your body,

Something you can sink into and floating your awareness to your breath.

Comfortable,

Relaxed inhalation and exhalation,

Maybe even laying a hand over your abdomen and a hand over your heart space.

On your inhalation,

Feeling your hands expand toward the sky.

Feeling that lowering on your exhalation.

Notice everything slowing down a little bit more.

Finding your rhythm,

Your breath.

Perhaps noticing your nostril breathing.

In yoga we say breath through the left nostril is Ida,

Our feminine moon cooler sign.

And breath through the right nostril is Pingala,

The muscular solar warming side.

So perhaps noticing the different temperatures of the breath as we have the ability to slow everything down.

Feeling everything become a little more quiet.

Allowing outside noises to fade into the distance.

Floating your awareness to your internal breath.

Allowing yourself some time to become calm and steady before we begin.