samskaras

Our minds love to be right. There is safety in feeling like we can predict an outcome, that we’ve seen this show before. And from an evolutionary standpoint, our brains ability to quickly categorize something as a known threat or benign has actually kept us humans thriving. Unfortunately, this ‘predictive’ nature of our minds loops us through the same patterns of behavior and response long after they stop being helpful. Our life is being constantly filtered through our past. This response happens quickly and subconsciously and includes a bracing/readying in the physical body. 🌀If our past experiences include trauma, our systems are on even higher alert to find and confirm danger. 🆘 And when we want to find it, there is all sorts of ‘evidence’ that we are right! This strengthens all those loops. 🌪 In a highly stressed state like that, our brains can’t be trusted to provide unclouded information. 🌀Yoga and other contemplative practices ask us to slow down and start refining our attention. This starts to re-wire the firings of the mind. 🧠 Literally, new connections are made that re-route us from our usual loops. 🌀This requires practice. Daily practice. (And water 😉) And spoiler alert! The increased attention to reality may not yield instant positive results. Often when we slow down and shine a light 🔦 on our patterns it can be very uncomfortable and unpleasant. 😕🙈
🌀The practice for me looks like: slowing down. Spending time in quiet meditation (sometimes 5 minutes sometimes 20). Journaling. Grounding myself throughout the day as stress arises (literally- pausing to feel into my contacts with the ground until the anxiety shifts) and deep breathing. Cardio. Moving my body in yoga. Staying still in my body in restorative yoga. 🌀The good news: with practice, serious and significant change is possible. We can start to loosen the ties to the past and choose how we’d like to respond from a calm, grounded and intentional place. As my friend Chris would say “live on purpose.” How wonderful is that!

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