Sankalpa: A New Year's Resolution Run

I have been using sankalpa's for awhile and have found them to be immensely powerful and beneficial. Sankalpa's are frequently used before yoga practises, yoga nidras and meditations but I have been using a sankalpa before every run since the very beginning. I have been trying to differentiate between goals and sankalpas. The only way I can explain it is that sankalpas work energetically, which makes it hard to pin down into a succinct scientific explanation. I would much rather someone experience a sankalpa than explain it to them!

Looking online for an “official” definition of sankalpas has proven difficult. One site says says sankalpas are “a controlled, self willed thought, conception or intention,” but this definition seems hollow and rather aggressive, conflicting with my personal experience of sankalpas. Most simply put sankalpa means “resolve”. Which makes them perfect for New Year's Resolutions.

Having been on the move travelling a lot, it has been especially hard to keep up my daily runs for the Marcothon (this will be a future post). My body is craving to stay in one place and be still. Rather than meditating at the end of my run I have begun meditating at the beginning to help ground and centre me. At this stage I will often assume a mudra and mentally say my sankalpa. Sometimes it is the same one, or perhaps I need to focus on something in particular. But I always have one.

Sankalpas are very personal so I have never come across any steadfast “rules” when using them. But from my own practise I can share a few suggestions. Firstly, make sure that you are ready for your sankalpa to happen. Timing is indeed everything and this rings especially true for sankalpas. I few times my sankalpas have “resolved” when I was not ready and feel now it was a wasted opportunity. The old saying “be careful what you wish for” applies particularly here. I also do not choose to use them for mundane daily annoyances. I keep meditating to suss them out in my head. Sankalpas to me are sacred. I keep them short, positive and in the present tense. Say it as if whatever you wish to resolve is already resolving. This is the power of a sankalpa, by putting it out to the universe it has already begun. Happy Sankalpas!