A Note on the Word Sankalpa
In Sanskrit, words are rarely one-dimensional. They are not meant to be reduced to a single translation, but to be understood through relationship, context, and lived experience.
The term sankalpa is often translated simply as “intention,” but its meaning is more nuanced.
It is commonly understood as arising from two roots:
sam — meaning together, with, or fully
kalpa — meaning to shape, form, or bring into being
Taken together, sankalpa points toward a unified, coherent form… a resolve that gathers the mind, heart, and direction of practice into alignment.
This is why sankalpa is not a wish, affirmation, or personal preference. It is not about declaring what you want from practice. It is about how you are orienting yourself within it.
Understanding words in this way was an important part of my own journey. Seeing how terms relate to one another (how meaning unfolds rather than fixes itself) helped me recognize that yoga itself is not a system of rigid definitions, but a living inquiry into how experience is organized and understood.
In this sense, sankalpa is not something you “set” once and carry forward unchanged. It is something that matures as clarity deepens. As attention becomes steadier and perception is clearer… intention naturally refines itself.
Sankalpa, then, is not about controlling the path. It is about aligning with it.
