In yoga nidra, perhaps the most effective means of training the mind is found in the sankalpa, which you make for yourself during each practice. Anything in life can fail you, but not the sankalpa made during yoga nidra.
What is Sankalpa?
Sankalpa is a Sanskrit word which can be translated as resolve or resolution. It is an important stage of yoga nidra and a powerful method of reshaping your personality and direction in life along positive lines. If you know what it is that you wish to achieve in life, sankalpa can be the creator of your destiny. Whether you want to become a painter, writer, orator or spiritual leader, you can train yourself through this simple technique. But first you must have a direction.
Most of us are floundering in the darkness, like ships without rudders, sails without sheet anchors. We don’t know which way we are headed because we are being led, forced and pushed by the tempest of life. Sometimes we go the right way too, but that is usually because we are pushed into it; we have no choice. In yoga nidra, however, we have a choice, and that choice is created by the 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 autosuggestion during yoga nidra. The sankalpa has to be made, not 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 sow in the bed of your mind. When the mind is clear, the san kalpa 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 the mind and you have an idea. If you prepare the mind and sow the seed idea properly, then it will grow in your life and become a powerful directive.
Sankalpa and people
Many people make intellectual resolves, but they rarely bring results. The reason is because the resolve is not planted deeply enough. Often the resolve is made when the mind is disturbed or at a time when the mind is not ready to receive it. For success, the 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 together the vast forces of the mind in order to bring about its fruition. This 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. This resolution must be backed by deeply ingrained willpower in order to be carried through. San kalpa is a powerful technique and it should be used intelligently. Although you can use the resolve for therapeutic purposes, it should rather be used for a greater purpose, such as achieving self-realization or the state of samadhi. If you want to transform your life pattern, that can be done by the power of the 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 man. The purpose of sankalpa is not to fulfil desires, but to create strength in the structure of the mind. You can even say that sankalpa is the force of will. A san kalpa should only be made when one understands its real purpose and meaning. In the beginning most peo ple do not know what sankalpa is or which sankalpa they should make. Therefore it is better to wait until understanding develops.
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 also mentally, emotionally and spir itually. Then if you are a heavy smoker or drinker, you will automatically give it up. It is for this reason that 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 become more balanced, happy and fulfilled. When sankalpa becomes the directing force, everything you do in life becomes successful.