Stuck in a Samskara? When You Know it's Time to Let Go
“Our past and our pain is familiar and therefore comfortable.”
Sometimes, you don't have to work so hard to figure things out.
Sometimes, letting go is as simple,
and as instant
as making the choice.
Decide to let go. And then walk away, end the habit, or no longer buy into the belief.
When we make a choice to let something go, we are also healing a Samskara. In yoga, Samskaras are mental imprints, psychological grooves formed from a particularly memorable experience, that dictate our beliefs and behaviors.
We don’t have to know the Samskara exists. We don’t have to know when or how it was formed. The scar will remain, until we make a choice to alter a behavior.
When we alter the behavior, we heal the Samskara.
Consider patterned behaviors, like the way you talk with your partner or parents. The way you react to a person or event. The way an addiction of any kind takes hold over your cells and you cannot ignore the craving. All of these patterned behaviors are the result of our Samskaras, our imprints based on our experience. We each have multiple experiences - good, tragic, and everything in between. When a Samskara is reinforced, we deepen the groove. We add to the pattern, even if it is negative, unhealthy, or not true.
We can spend our entire lives stuck in a Samskara and never know any different. Except we will continue to operate with a false belief about ourself, someone else, or the world. We may feel fearful, agitated, or continually resentful. We may feel unsettled, less confident, anxious, or depressed. All of these can be symptoms of an unhealed Samskara.
When we make the choice to embark on a spiritual path, we have already begun the process of illuminating and healing our scars. To heal a Samskara, we must first bring it to light, which involves self-awareness and a brave look inside ourself. Breath, yoga, and tuning in, all help to illuminate and bring the Samskara to the surface. Once there, we might be able to determine what is no longer serving us along our path. And then we can choose to take a different action.
I started by quitting drinking. Knowing it was destroying my body and numbing my soul, numbing parts of me that wanted to be healed and heard. Keeping me stuck in the Samskara.
I believe there are so many different avenues to healing - professional therapy, support groups, reading, writing, exercise, yoga, meditation, art, music... any many others. Healing or transformation of any kind is often gradual, over a period of time, and as a result of a continued practice or discipline.
Healing can also take place in an instant. Sometimes, you are just done - ENOUGH. We start small, and we start with one step, one day at a time. Each new step, each new behavior, goes against our deeply embedded Samskara, and we begin to fill in the groove. We lesson its power and our hold on us. Our different action, even though uncomfortable and foreign at first, is slowly creating a new line, a new groove, one that is healthier and more accurate for where we are today.
We want to be aware when something is no longer necessary for our path or our existence.
We can cling to our painful pasts and healing journeys just like we can cling to the good and fulfilling things in our life.
Our past and our pain is familiar and therefore comfortable.
At some point during your journey, it's ok to simply say, "I can let this burn." It's ok if you don't have all the answers or the reasons why. It's ok to set it down. It’s ok to make a different choice.
Trust your own heart.
If it's time, let it go.
As soon as you make the choice, I promise the Universe will bring you a test or a sign. Each time I have decided to burn a journal, drop a habit, or change a belief, that exact lesson or pattern shows up. I am confronted with my choice - as if the Universe is asking me, "Are you sure? Really really sure??”
Trust yourself.
Be sure.
Be ready for a test, and then commit.
Watch it burn.