Cultivating Nourishing Patterns – Part 1

In yoga, we have a concept called samskara. These are impressions left behind by our past experiences, actions, and responses. Some call them “soul scars.” They are often described as grooves or imprints in the mind, not unlike a neural pathway. Most often, samskara are subconscious patterns that show up in how we perceive and react to the world around us.

Many people find their way to yoga therapy or embodiment work because something isn’t working in their life. They try to create new, healthier patterns, and it just doesn’t seem to stick. On the contrary, it feels like they are stuck in the loop of an unhelpful tendency. This stuckness is one of the 9 antarāyas, or obstacles to growth, according to yoga philosophy.

In James Clear’s Atomic Habits, a modern treatise on habit formation, he outlines a four-part framework for a pattern to become the new normal. He calls these the “Four Laws of Behavior Change.” This framework is in line with the principles of yoga therapy, where antarāyas like being stuck are addressed and samskara are brought into awareness and repatterned. 

The first principle or “law” is to make the new pattern the obvious choice. If you want to eat more veggies, they should be front and center when you open the fridge. If you want to read a book at night instead of doom scrolling, have a book on your nightstand and put your phone “to bed” somewhere else. This principle is in effect at the checkout stand of any grocery store…there are drinks and snacks, magazines, and any other item they want you to be sure to buy. If it’s obvious, you are more likely to choose that pattern.

Another principle for shifting away from a less-than-ideal pattern to a supportive one is to up the appeal. Cutting up veggies and having a yummy hummus to dip them in might be more appealing than simply stocking the fridge with greens. Buying a cute running outfit makes running more desirable than wearing old sweatpants. Running with a friend could be more fun than running alone. Getting excited about something makes it more likely that you will do it.

Aside from a new pattern being obvious and appealing, a great way to increase your odds of success is by making it the path of least resistance. Clear calls this “reducing friction.” I know someone that schedules down time in her planner before anything else to ensure that it happens. Many people have a water bottle with them throughout the day to increase the likelihood they will hydrate. Choosing a yoga class that’s on your way home from work makes it easier to attend than one across town at an odd hour.

Something that goes a long way to support a healthier way of being in the world is celebrating successes. Whether this is sharing your wins with someone else, rewarding yourself with a massage or other treat, or doing a happy dance, celebrating communicates success and making progress to your subconscious, the home of samskara. Dr. Rick Hanson calls this “savoring.” Celebrating feels good and will increase the likelihood that you make the choice again in the future.  

In yoga therapy sessions, the client and therapist work together to cultivate conditions that will support new behaviors (and anticipate obstacles). Whether that entails making a choice obvious, attractive, easy, satisfying, or all of the above, it is in service to the client’s stated goal or goals. Over time, shift happens. Samskara that contribute to imbalance are brought to light, and new ways of being are explored and embodied. Things that weren’t working in life begin to disentangle as possibilities unfold. Over time, the old grooves lose their grip, and a new current gently shapes the conditions where new patterns can take root and flourish.