 Your inventiveness can become the root of large-scale changes that take place in your life
Sometimes you may feel compelled to approach your goals in an innovative and modern fashion because you believe that doing so will help you prosper. If you feel comfortable embracing novelty, your assumption will likely prove correct. Undertaking even a single task using a fresh strategy can give you insights into why your efforts have faltered in the past. Consider that there may be no right or wrong way to accomplish the objectives before you, so there is likely no reason to stay true to one methodology when creative inspiration strikes. What has served us well in the past will not always meet our needs in the present. Recognising this is one of the key elements of innovation, because it allows us to break free from the patterns that might have set limits on our potential. Our imaginative minds can take us in so many directions yet using practical methods to bring what we see in our thoughts into being can be quite challenging. We are undeniably, creatures of habit. We tend to gravitate toward what is comfortable and familiar even if it no longer serves us. It is a part of being human. Your life today is the sum of your habits. How fit are you? How happy? How much yoga do you practice? – all a result of your habits. Want to change any of that? yoga philosophy addresses this intriguing aspect of our human existence -- according to yoga philosophy, not only do we form habits throughout our life, we are born with certain karmic conditioning that influences our mental and emotional habits -- called Samskaras. The word Samskara comes from two Sanskrit words, sam = same, complete, joined together, and kara = action, cause or doing. The meaning of the word points to the understanding that the repetition of our thoughts, behaviors, and actions becomes our conditioning. The more we repeat any Samskara the stronger and more engrained it becomes. Samskaras can be positive, and help propel us forward in our evolution, or they can be negative, get in the way of our evolution, and even be destructive or life threatening. Often Samskaras go unnoticed, quietly and unconsciously guiding our thoughts and behaviors until we bring our attention to them. Our Samskaras even sneak into our yoga practice with us. The physical practice of yoga helps us gain understanding and insight through the body. When physical practice is combined with the underlying philosophy of yoga there is great synergy that fuels transformation of the mind – creating change on the level of thought and emotion. One of the greatest gifts of yoga is heightened awareness and the capacity to see ourselves clearly -- viveka -- a Sanskrit term that can be translated as right understanding, discrimination or knowledge. If we realise that aspects of what we see are outdated or harmful we can take steps to create change and even replace old ways of being with new positive Samskaras. One time tested method is to employ a Sankalpa or resolution. Translated, the word Sankalpa also means seed. In order for a plant to grow first there is a seed placed in fertile soil. The same is true of transforming our habits. First we must plant the seeds of change. Our practice is like the fertile soil that brings the seed to fruition. Identify what you want to change. Is it a negative habit that is getting in the way? A positive habit you want to create or nurture? Perhaps both? Sankalpa is determination. Willpower is a one-pointed mind plus determination. The more one-pointed your mind and the more determined you are, the more you will have willpower. The complete practice of yoga: asana, pranayama, meditation, mantra and bhakti, or devotion, is the time tested method to developing a one-pointed mind and the fertile ground for planting the sankalpa to support you in realising your full potential in the here and now, this life. Building Willpower: Sankalpa Shakti - Himalayan Institute Comments are closed.
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