What are Samskaras?

In yoga, we understand the concept of Samskaras. Samskaras are grooves of impressions in the mind, your habits, and recurring thoughts. Samskaras deepen with time and repetition. They can be seemingly set in stone within us. The more you do or think of something, the more likely you are to experience that thing again.

Samskaras are like pathways through long grass in a field or through the wood. The path has been created by people walking that route time and time again causing the long grass or the woodland to become trampled down. These paths become easier and easier to walk, as they become more defined.

How do Samskaras develop?

Samskaras can develop in response to a situation or circumstance. This can either be over some time or quickly because of a single strong or traumatic event. This means that Samskaras that develop or exist are unique and personal to you or the situation.

An example of a Samskara would be the habit of reticence. For one person this might have a negative effect. It could cause them problems because they can't assert themselves. Whereas for another person who volunteers their opinion freely thereby not giving anyone else a chance to speak, then reticence would be a positive habit to cultivate. Assertiveness would be the negative pattern or Samskaras.

Changing your Samskara

The first step in being able to change your Samskara is through self-reflection. By committing time and effort to examining your patterns in your yoga practice you’re your daily life. You can observe how you respond to situations and events in your daily life. A good place to start this practice is on your yoga mat. You can observe how you move. Do you always move in a certain way or hold a pose in a particular manner? Or perhaps you always place your mat in a particular place in your room or the class.

Once you've identified a habit or pattern you can start working on transforming those you deem negative into more positive ones. Again, this is a process you can start on your yoga mat, not just through the physical body but mentally and emotionally too. Then combining all this you can begin to work in steps and stages to make changes.

If you go back to the idea that Samskaras are pathways through fields or woods, then to create new pathways you need to start treading new pathways. This is going to take time, dedication, and effort. Imagine trying to find a new way through a forest – you might need to chop a few bushes down or duck under low branches to make it through.

However, if you keep taking that same path then it will get easier.

Using a Sankalpa

The use of intentions to make changes is not a new concept. It is now a popular practice in being able to make changes and realise dreams.

An intention or Sankalpa, as the ancient yoga sages would have referred to it, helps you to keep your focus on treading those new paths. There used to be the common belief that it took 21 days to start a new habit. However, the author of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg, says:

“There’s no such thing as 21 days to start a new habit. The amount of time it takes will vary from person to person.”

Developing a pleasurable habit, like eating chocolate for breakfast, for instance, may take a day, while trying to exercise at 5 p.m. each evening may take much longer.

According to research, by Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts and Wardle[1], it takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form a new habit. The same research indicates that it takes an average of 66 days for a habit to become truly automatic.

As this indicates changing your Samskaras is not an accidental process. It is not a formula that you stumble upon without meaning to.

An intention or Sankalpa helps to bring the desired change into focus. It connects your mind with the deeper parts of yourself the intuitively want something to be different.

Conscious use of a Sankalpa or intention is a compelling way to communicate what you want to your emotional and physical body.

A Sankalpa focuses on the notability of effort rather than the effort itself. Your Sankalpa might be as simple as keeping your focus on your breath during meditation or yoga. Or talking kindly to yourself. It might mean listening to your body such that you don’t hold a yoga pose for longer than is healthy for you to do so. It might be something bigger and more elaborate such as setting committing to a daily meditation or yoga practice or anything else that brings you closer to your true self and makes you more content.

Examples of Sankalpas

Just like samskaras, your habits, are unique to you, so will be your Sankalpas. What motivates you will be different to what motivates others. Some examples might be:

I will remain present with my breath in all that I do
I will keep softening through my jaw
I am happy and grateful for everything in my life
I am not alone

When to use a Sankalpa?

You can use a Sankalpa at the start of a yoga class, at the start of the day or week. You can use it through the course of a day to keep you on track. The Sankalpa helps to galvanise your inner resources and align them with the energy of change to help bring about transformation. Your Sankalpa can act as a thread or a sutra through the yoga practise both on and off the mat.

Remember that change doesn't happen overnight. Change requires constant work and perseverance. Change will require you to notice when you have strayed from your new path, back to the well-trodden easy path. If you are busy or become ill, then it will potentially be more challenging to keep walking the new pathway. As soon as you are able simply remind yourself of your intention and work towards it again.

[1] Lally P, van Jaarsveld CHM, Potts HWW, Wardle J. How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world.

When you constantly repeat your intention, your Sankalpa, to yourself, you start to make it part of everything you do, in your yoga and in your life. This in turn means it will align your inner resources and the energy of change to bring about transformation.

It can be helpful to make your intention visual. Why not write it down and put it next to your mirror, or the kettle, or stick it to your computer? Somewhere you will see it repeatedly, enabling you to repeat it time and time again. Each time you repeat your Sankalpa, you reinforce the message to yourself and to the universe.

Samsakaras and Sankalpas