Sankalpa: A Meditation To Listen To Your Calling

Welcome to this short guided meditation and embodiment practice to create space for intention.

This 30-minute practice is a perfect way to connect with your heartfelt intention,

In alignment with your Dharma,

Your purpose,

As you enter into the new year.

Please note that if any distress arises for you during this meditative practice,

You can pause or discontinue the recording at any point and return once you feel ready.

You may like to have a pencil and paper next to you in case you would like to express,

Write or draw your journey towards intention.

Before we begin this meditation,

I would like to first acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land,

The Camaregal people of the Eora Nation.

I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity to be able to sit,

Reflect and meditate on this beautiful sacred land that is holding my stories and experiences.

Begin the practice by finding a still,

Silent and safe space,

And by coming into a comfortable seated position.

You are welcome to sit in a chair for back support,

In Sukhasana easy seat,

Or in another position that feels restful for your body.

Remember you can change your positioning throughout and use as many props as you need to support and uphold the body.

Place one palm on your heart center and one on your belly to connect within.

Or here I offer you the chance to practice Sankalpa Mudra,

A mudra used to harness energy and power behind your intention.

We will revisit the meaning of mudra a little later in the practice during our intention setting.

However,

To enter Sankalpa Mudra,

You can place your left hand on your left knee,

Facing your palm open to the sky.

Your right palm will land on the left palm.

Wrap your fingers around the edges of your hands and interlace your thumbs.

Feel the unification and connection of your palms.

Softly close down your eyes or gently gaze ahead using your drishti.

Begin to notice what parts of your body are grounding into the earth and are being upheld by your supports.

Soften your forehead,

Your cheeks,

Your jaw and your tongue.

Release the weight and load you've been carrying on your shoulders.

And roll your shoulder blades back and down along your spine.

Observe the anchoring of your sit bones and extend the crown of your head up towards the sky to feel growth and length.

Acknowledge without judgment any tension you can sense within the body and send warmth and acceptance to those parts of your body with your breath.

You might find that it is physically a struggle to sit in stillness.

Give yourself grace and patience so that the body can unfold in its natural timing without force.

I now invite you to bring attention to the front of your body and witness the natural rhythm of your breathing.

You may feel your belly and chest rise with the inhale and deflate with the exhale.

What is the texture,

Sound and pace of your breath?

What parts of the body are feeling lightness,

Spaciousness and receptivity?

Your inhalation may add to this sense of spaciousness as you send your breath to the front,

Side and back body.

To cultivate intention,

We can first create space and stillness within.

To listen to the inner wisdom of our body and mind.

Creating space for integrity and authenticity.

Take a deep breath in through your nose and into the body and a releasing exhalation out through your mouth.

At your own pace,

Repeat this round of breath two more times.

Inhale to bring new energy,

Prana and life force into the body and exhale to let go of anything no longer serving you.

Come back to the natural rhythm of your breathing.

Over time you may lengthen your exhale to slow down your breath and nervous system.

Immerse yourself in the expansive and contracting qualities of the breath.

Our breath reflects the nature of impermanence and change.

The death of our old selves and the rebirth of the new.

Just like the pathway towards our purpose is often non-linear,

The breath ebbs and flows at different rhythms but always brings us back to the path of ourselves.

I invite you to travel inwards,

To go beyond the physical structure of your body.

Beyond the layers of the bones,

Breath and skin.

What is the body,

Mind and spirit sharing with you?

Listen to the emotions,

Thoughts,

Desires and perceptions that are arising.

Within lies an array of possibilities,

Beliefs and pathways to your calling.

Discomfort or irritability may also occur,

Providing you with an opportunity to cultivate patience and resilience.

It is a good time here to remind yourself that you are already who you need to be to arrive at your Dharma,

Your purpose.

You are filled with an abundance of knowledge,

Resourcefulness,

Lived experiences and greater wisdom.

The ability to listen inwards to our inner wisdom is the first layer toward our intention setting,

Known as Shravana.

What if your intention wasn't something to externally grasp for but instead a truth to awaken to?

What do you experience when you lean into this inner knowing and align your actions with your universal truth?

In Shravana you could visualise that you are nurturing the soil beneath you and planting seeds to allow for your intention to bloom within.

Now that you have created a nourishing,

Safe and explorative space internally,

I invite you to embrace your inner knowing and shape it into a heartfelt intention,

Asankalpa,

San meaning connection to your highest truth and Kalpa meaning vow.

Rather than a materialistic or external goal,

Your Asankalpa is a way of being and a way of living your highest truth in alignment with your Dharma.

Rather than an object to strive for or achieve,

Asankalpa is a form of guidance,

A process that ignites and channels your inner strengths,

Wisdom,

Consciousness and insight to support others and to contribute to collective liberation and peace.

To reduce feeling overwhelmed you could start with the present moment of where you are right now in this practice.

What can I offer myself and others today?

How would I like to show up during my meditation practice?

And what qualities will I embody?

What is my purpose for arriving at my meditation practice today?

Your intention within this moment could be as simple as showing compassion for yourself and others around you during your meditation or sustaining a smooth and steady pace of breath.

I now invite you to expand your intention outside of the boundaries of your meditative practice.

Your intention can be individual or it may be grounded in moral and ethical foundations involving community union,

Collective action and social justice.

What would I like to invite into my life?

And what would I like to let go of?

What qualities do I admire within myself that I could share with others to reduce suffering and to contribute to the world positively?

What are my strengths and how could I utilize these strengths to serve others and the environment?

Observe any limiting beliefs,

Mental or emotional obstacles or I shoulds that come to the surface and that may prevent you from authentically being in this moment.

You might ask yourself,

Are these intentions really mine?

Take a moment here to visualize and connect with your third eye,

Ajna Chakra to carve your intention from a place of intuition rather than intellect.

With your exhalation,

Remove the layers of social conditioning,

Desires and expectations that aren't yours.

Let go of the layers of ego and attachment.

Our sankalpa can't be easily influenced by our external environment but rather it is driven by our truth and values so that we consistently act intentionally despite the circumstances.

Embody your intention through your inhalation and allow it to integrate.

If your hands are still in sankalpa mudra,

Feel the connection of your palms to seal your intention.

In order to express our intention,

We must act on our calling.

This is your moment to take your deepest inquiries and transform your reflections from a practice into living and breathing your intention.

Speak to your intention as if it is already existing within you.

Some examples could be,

I am bringing my community together to reduce loneliness or I am taking positive climate action.

How does it feel to embody and move through the world with intention?

How do you show up for yourself and others?

What honest actions do you take?

When you meditate upon living in your intention,

How does your body respond?

Can you observe a sense of contentment and alignment?

As you evolve,

So will your intentions.

Can you practice detachment and create room for this evolution of self?

You can return to this meditation at any point within your life to rediscover and to recall your truth and sankalpa.

Take a moment here to submerge in stillness and to return to the smooth and even pace of your breath.

If you need more space and time within your practice,

Please feel free to stay where you are.

Once you're ready,

Gently open your eyes to welcome yourself back into the space.

If you are lying down,

You're welcome to roll to one side of the body.

And you can slowly bring yourself back to a comfortable seated position.

Wrap your palms together to generate some heat between your hands.

And place your palms on a part of the body that needs to receive this warmth and safety.

Bring your palms to Anjali Mudra at your heart centre.

Bow your head.

Bring appreciation to those teachers that have come before us and have passed the practice of meditation down to us.

Bring appreciation to the land and space that you are on.

And finally,

Bring gratitude and appreciation to yourself today for carving space within your life to be with your truth.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this meditation practice.