Goal setting has always been a valuable exercise in my life. It typically involves a process of envisioning a desired future outcome, then the application of strategic planning, discipline and hard work to achieve it.
Goals have provided direction and motivation for me and have helped me to be super productive.
Yet all of my efforts and energy have usually been focused on some point in the future rather than what is happening in the present (much to my wife’s frustration) Moreover, after achieving the goal, it seems a new one needs to replace it. And If I don’t happen achieve the goal I set, there is a tendency to get lost in disappointment and frustration.
Recently, after reading one of Jo Dispenza’s books, Breaking the Habit... I was inspired to revisit the Sanskrit concept of of sankalpa.
Sankalpa is a Sanskrit word which means an intention that is formed in the heart and is a little different to setting a goal. Where goal-setting is usually oriented toward a future outcome, establishing your sankalpa is a practice that is focused on how you are "being" in the present moment. It is based on understanding what matters most to you and making a commitment to align your worldly actions with your inner values.
So, rather than moving toward a goal that is intellectually set in the future, establishing your sankalpa is about aligning with your authenticity and allowing the desired outcomes to be attracted to you.
Essentially, sankalpa Is an alignment and congruence of both mind and heart.
The power of aligning mind and heart is something that has been demonstrated scientifically at the Heartmath Institute.
In one recent study by Dr Rein from the Heartmath Institute, it was demonstrated that the power of aligning heart and mind even had the power to change DNA.
He first studied a group of ten individuals who were well practiced in using techniques that HeartMath teaches to build heart-focused coherence. They applied the techniques to produce strong, elevated feelings such as love and appreciation, then for two minutes, they held vials containing DNA samples suspended in deionized water. When those samples were analyzed, no statistically significant changes had occurred.
A second group of trained participants did the same thing, but instead of just creating positive emotions (a feeling) of love and appreciation, they simultaneously held an intention (a thought) to either wind or unwind the strands of DNA. This group produced statistically significant changes in the conformation (shape) of the DNA samples. In some cases the DNA was wound or unwound as much as 25 percent! A third group of trained subjects held a clear intent to change the DNA, but they were instructed not to enter into a positive emotional state. In other words, they were only using thought (intention) to affect matter. The result? No changes to the DNA samples. The positive emotional state that the first group entered did nothing by itself to the DNA. Another group’s clearly held intentional thought, unaccompanied by emotion, also had no impact. Only when subjects held both heightened emotions and clear objectives in alignment were they able to produce the intended effect.
Dr Dispenza summarised the outcome of this study by saying: “The quantum field responds not to what we want; it responds to who we are being.”
So, how do you establish your Sankalpa?
Establishing your Sankalpa is essentially a process of knowing yourself more intimately. It involves shifting your attention away from the external world, for a moment, back to the inner world. Back to your heart. It’s important during this process to allow yourself to come from an elevated state. Don’t worry about the detail.
Firstly,
Take a moment to ask yourself what is most important to you. Write down whatever comes into your head. It may be health, family, the environment. Just write everything down no matter how weird, strange, amusing or scary.
Then choose no more than 5 values from your total list. These should be the things that are the most important to you in life. Now put a number next to them of what’s most important to least important.
Next
Now, within each of your values connect with your heart's greatest desire. What makes your heart sing? What would you like to experience within this part of your life?
Now,
Identify how you are being and what you are doing in your daily life with your desired outcomes.
Think about the greatest expression of yourself and then remind yourself how you are behaving. What are you saying, how are you walking, how are you breathing, and how are you feeling as that person? The aim is to move into a “state of being” and become this ideal.
Give up trying to figure out how or when or where or with whom. Leave those details to a mind that knows so much more than you do. And know that your creation will come in a way that you will least expect, that will surprise you and leave no doubt that it came from a higher order. Trust that the events in your life will be tailored to your conscious intention and sankalpa.
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