“It is your Sankalpa that determines the course of your destiny. You sow an intention, water it, make it grow; your actions follow from a determined and concentrated mind and create your surroundings as you wished for them to be.”

~ (Swami Veda Bharati, “Making a Sankalpa,” from “Mind, Economics and Anxieties” in Life Positive Magazine).

We have the ability to sculpt our life. Sankalpa in Sanskrit means intention—a deep heart intention that is connected to our heart’s desire. Karma is our actions and reactions. How do we create our reality through them?

During the last year, I have visited Rishikesh five times (!!!), against all odds. I’ve made a dream come true—practicing and studying yoga with the most amazing masters I could have ever met, having experiences that are beyond words, and in addition to all this, bringing women for joyful yoga journeys, sharing with them my yoga, and “my beloved Rishikesh.”

I’m so thankful for all this and sometimes shocked: How did all this goodness happen to me? Is it because I started meditating every day? Reading Sutras? The word Sutra in Sanskrit means a thread. Here I will describe how so many threads have recently connected in my own life, from my personal experience and point of view, due to a true Sankalpa.

Since my first visit to India in 1999, I was dreaming of coming back, but somehow life went on, and this dream was neglected. Then a miracle happened (As one of my teachers always said—if we want to allow miracles to come, we should leave them some space): My last documentary, which I made together with my partner Amit, “It’s a Wrap,” was selected for a film festival in Delhi in March 2023, and I was invited to come to India to present it. I felt very excited and lucky, and I used this chance to travel to Rishikesh, the world yoga capital, to practice yoga. I fell in love with Rishikesh, and as soon as I could, I came back for a 10-day Yoga Therapy course. Those 10 days were magical and actually changed my life. When you meet great masters, it affects your energy and your whole life. I could feel and see more clearly what my real dreams were, and it became easier to follow the guidance towards fulfilling them. I went through a transformation.

So, what exactly has changed? In that yoga therapy course, I heard the word Sankalpa for the first time. The most significant change I’ve made since then was that, except for Asana, Pranayama, and reading some texts which I did for many years, I started meditating every day, with Sankalpa. My biggest dream in the last few years was to have land somewhere in the world, in the wild, with a big simple house, like an ashram, where people could come to practice, study, rest, heal, write, make music, etc. So this Sankalpa was in my daily meditation. There was another Sankalpa: wishing to come back to Rishikesh again soon to dive into more yoga studies. Aside from the meditation, there were some actions that have been done as well, like filling out applications for film festivals around the world and also in India.

The meditation and the actions created new karma and opened more space for miracles to arrive: three months later, I was invited once again to a film festival in India, in Kota. I grabbed this chance to go to Rishikesh again, taking some classes with my beloved teachers, deepening my yoga practice and the meaning of yoga in my life. One day my yoga philosophy master told me, “You should share yoga, not only practice.” I always knew I wanted to share yoga with others someday, but didn’t know how to do it, with all the crazy working hours on TV and busy life. Then something interesting happened: those two Sankalpas—having an ashram somewhere and spending more time in Rishikesh—became connected somehow: I started to visualize this whole dream coming true in Rishikesh. But it was still a very faraway dream.

I already felt that Rishikesh was my second home, with beloved friends and yoga masters, and powerful inner processes I went through, with deep insights. I was thinking to myself: this place must have the power to impact other people’s lives as well. Why should I wait till the time I have my own land and big house? Maybe it won’t even happen in this lifetime. If I have content that I want to share, it shouldn’t depend on the facilities I have. And I also have some free time between the projects I was committed to. Then after one of my meditations, I had a clear voice inside, telling me, “Invite other women to join you for a journey in Rishikesh, allow them to experience what you have experienced, help them find out their deepest heart desires. Do it in your own special way; that’s your way to share yoga.”

I wasn’t sure how to find those exact women that fit my plan and flow and would like to join me. So I was sitting near the Ganga river every day during the last 3-4 days of my stay, meditating. Putting a very clear Sankalpa about my wish to come back to Rishikesh very soon with 5 to 7 women for a yoga journey. I really saw this happen in my imagination. I knew exactly what I wanted to give them and felt how they would feel and what they would gain in their lives from this experience. Then I left it, not pushing and thinking too much. When I entered the taxi heading towards the airport to catch a flight back home to Israel, again a miracle happened: Deepak, the driver I’ve already known from last visits, suddenly told me, “You know, ma’am” (he keeps calling me ma’am though I told him to stop), “if you want to bring groups to Rishikesh, I will help you.” It was crazy, as if he read my mind. I felt it was a sign I’m on the right path. That the Universe may have decided to dance this dance with me.

When I came back home, I told my partner about my plan. He gave his blessing and suggested some ways to “bring the plan to earth.” I kept on meditating with a very clear Sankalpa, and one night I found myself sitting and writing the whole plan for the journey. After a few hours—I don’t know exactly how—I already had a flyer and a reel. Many people shared it, including my yoga teachers, who put their trust and faith in me, a fact that made me feel even stronger and increased my confidence that it’s really gonna happen. When people were asking what my next projects were, I was saying, “I’m making women’s journeys to Rishikesh.” Believing in it with every cell of my body, feeling it inside my heart, inside my belly. I knew it’s gonna happen. And it really happened. One brave woman immediately said she’s coming, and the others came after her.

What we experienced during those journeys is beyond words, beyond all expectations. Beyond intellectual studies or understanding. We experienced moments that the world actually stopped, and we could feel pure energy flowing. Moments of deep understanding about how every little thread is connected to so many others—to everything—inside us, between us, all over. Each woman with her special story brought joy and change into her life. I’m not saying there weren’t some challenges on the way; there have been all kinds of challenges. I discovered the power of stillness as a way to overcome them. While always remembering the highest cause—solutions propped up.

Actually, what I mean to say here, is that our fate is in our own hands and depends mostly on our mindset. Our illnesses, our well-being, our relationships, it’s all about observation and awareness. It’s all about practice. When we stop in order to observe, to focus on our awareness, on our inner world, on what we wish to give to the world, we reflect this energy and attract similar vibes in the outer world. When we put a clear and, of course, positive Sankalpa, make some helpful actions, leave some space for miracles, and have patience, the things we wish for eventually happen.

If we observe, we can see so many signs the universe sends us to guide us to our right path. It reacts to our energy, dancing with us, to the sound of music we chose to play.

With gratitude to all my life teachers. Miri Urman – Filmmaker, Yoga teacher, ILM therapist.

https://www.u-mi.com/en