How to Use Sankalpa to Shape Your Best Year in 2025
A step-by-step guide to crafting your own sankalpa
As I pondered the question, my heart sank. I’ve been doing annual reviews for over ten years; this year, I’ve been working through a friend’s 2025 Review My New Year workbook. The first question gave me pause.
“When I look back on the year I feel…”
As I scrolled back through my calendar, refreshing my memory about what I’ve done this year, nothing stood out as noteworthy. The more I ruminated about 2024, the more it dawned on me that I haven’t been living intentionally—I’ve been reacting to life. When I look back on 2024, I feel…meh 🫤. Uninspired.
Sankalpa practice: A different kind of New Year’s resolution
I want to feel more aligned with my purpose in 2025. That is why this year I feel inspired to set sankalpa. A sankalpa is your soul’s intention. It runs deeper than a desire to achieve a specific goal. When you recite a sankalpa you affirm you have everything you need to be who you are meant to be.
If you focus your energy on a single desire you can better respond to life’s demands. A sankalpa is a vow to stay connected to your highest truth—your purpose. The Sanskrit root san translates to “a connection to the highest truth.” Kalpa translates to vow. A sankalpa guides, motivates and inspires you to keep making aligned choices in your life.
Discovering your sankalpa
Creating your sankalpa is an intuitive process. There is nothing to “do;” instead, listen to your deepest inner voice. The first step is to make time to be with yourself in stillness and silence. Meditate. Rest.
The second step is to accept what arises. You may be surprised or confused. You might have no idea what to do with what comes up. Try not to push away, rationalize, change, or transform what your intuition gives you.
Discovering sankalpa is an evolutionary process. If your wants and needs feel superficial, keep asking why. For example, if your heart keeps professing a desire to lose weight—a common New Year’s resolution—accept this as your desire, reserve judgement, and keep asking how losing weight will make you feel. Superficial desires often pave the way toward deeper longings over time. Your first sankalpa doesn’t have to be the only sankalpa you ever have. Your desires will change as your life changes.
Finally, outline the concrete steps you can take to integrate your sankalpa into your yoga practice, daily routines, writing rituals, or planning process.
Crafting a sankalpa statement
A sankalpa statement is an affirmation you can recite to yourself as a reminder to stay connected to purpose. When crafting a sankalpa, state it in the present tense. A sankalpa reflects a truth that already exists, not something you are trying to achieve or someone you are trying to become. Through repetition you affirm you already have what you want and you already are who you desire to be. For example, if your heart speaks its desire for health, state your sankalpa as “I am healthy” instead of “I wish to be healthy.”
Frequent reflection is important ongoing maintenance for your sankalpa practice. Reflection can happen daily, weekly, at the full or new moons, or at seasonal transitions. Reviewing how you have been taking action to support your sankalpa can help you strengthen and transform it. This step will keep you committed to an aligned life path and purposeful yoga practice.
My sankalpa statement for 2025
These past couple weeks I’ve set aside time to reflect, meditate and review my own heartfelt desires. I was surprised what bubbled up in my meditations. After working through the process above, I crafted my sankalpa statement for this year:
I feel at peace with where I am in this moment.
I can best show up to fulfill my purpose when I’m operating from a peaceful foundation. As I transition into the next phase of motherhood and welcome baby Z3(PO) into our family, I want to do so from a peaceful mindspace rather than overwhelm, frustration, fear, or indifference.
Throughout the coming year I’ll keep reviewing my sankalpa and heartfelt desires at the new moon. I’ll also offer reflection prompts to point you back toward your own sankalpa each month. Together, let’s move forward into 2025 in alignment with our values and deepest desires. I don’t want to look back on 2025 next December and realize I’ve wasted another year reacting to life. I want to act, respond, and live in accordance with my values and desires. How about you?
Paid subscribers can use the guided meditation and journal questions below to craft your own sankalpa statement for 2025.
Go deeper into your yoga practice in 2025
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