Samskaras in Real Time

When the Old Record Keeps Playing

Lately I have been thinking about how much of our life is shaped by the parts of us that have not yet healed.

The nervous system is always scanning. Always looking for danger. Always trying to protect us based on what it has learned from the past.

And most of the time, we do not even realize it is happening.

Something occurs in the present moment — a conversation, a tone of voice, a look, an expectation — and suddenly our body reacts. Our thoughts rush in. Emotions rise. We interpret the situation through a lens that feels completely real.

But what we are often seeing is not the moment in front of us.

We are seeing the moment through an old groove.

In Yoga these grooves are called samskaras.

Samskaras are impressions left in the mind and nervous system through experience. Over time they form patterns. The mind begins to travel those grooves automatically, just like the needle of a record player follows the grooves in a vinyl record.

The same song plays again and again.

Until we notice it.

The Grooves We Inherit

These patterns shape how we see everything.

Our relationships. Our work. Our sense of worth. Even our spiritual life.

For example, someone who grew up with a volatile father may unconsciously view authority through that same lens. They may feel constantly on guard, expecting anger or disappointment even when none exists.

Sometimes that pattern extends even further.

God may be seen through that same groove — a figure whose love must be earned through good behaviour, devotion, or constant proving.

But that lens is not truth.

It is simply the groove the nervous system learned to travel in order to survive.

And when we do not see the groove, we believe the song is reality.

My Groove (In Real Time)

So let me share one of mine.

One of my deepest grooves is over-achieving.

Taking on too much. Feeling responsible for everything. Believing that if I work harder, give more, carry more, then everything will be okay.

It is a familiar groove.

In many ways it helped me survive earlier chapters of my life. It gave me strength, determination, and resilience.

But left unchecked, that same groove can pull me right back into pushing, striving, and carrying far more than my nervous system was designed to hold.

And that, my friends, is a very slippery slope to unwellness.

I have learned that this groove does not disappear simply because I understand it intellectually.

It shows up in real time.

When I take on one more responsibility. When I push through fatigue .When I convince myself that I should just do a little more.

The groove is subtle.

And awareness is the practice of catching it.

Awareness Changes the Record

This is where Yoga becomes very real.

Not on the mat.

Not in theory. Not in spiritual language.

But in the moment when the groove begins to play.

The practice is not to judge the groove.

It served a purpose once.

The practice is simply to notice it.

To pause.

To soften the nervous system.

And sometimes, to choose a different response.

Over time, something interesting begins to happen.

The old record still exists.

But we begin to reach for a new one.

The Courage to See Our Shadows

In order to have healthy relationships with others — and with life itself — we must be brave enough to see our shadows.

Not to shame them.

Not to fix ourselves.

But to understand the patterns that quietly shape our reactions.

When we see the groove clearly, it loosens its hold.

And slowly, gently, the nervous system begins to learn a new song.

The Real Work of Yoga

Yoga is often presented as something serene and polished.

But the deeper work of Yoga is far more honest than that.

It is the willingness to observe ourselves with compassion.

To notice the grooves.

To pause in real time.

To soften the body.

To choose differently when we can.

Not perfectly.

Just consciously.

Because every moment of awareness is the moment the needle lifts slightly from the groove.

And in that small moment of freedom, a new track becomes possible.

The Lens We Bring to Technology

Something else has been on my mind lately.

These same grooves — these samskaras — are also the lens we bring into our relationship with technology.

Including AI.

Yesterday someone mentioned that they watched a friend cheat on an exam using AI. It sparked an interesting reflection.

The tool itself is not bad.

Years ago students used cheat sheets scribbled on tiny pieces of paper. Before that, perhaps whispered answers or copied homework. The tool changes, but the underlying pattern does not.

The behaviour comes from the groove.

AI has extraordinary capacity. It can help organize thoughts, gather research, and bring information together in ways that once took hours in libraries.

But there is something it does not have.

It does not have lived experience.

It does not know what it means to sit with grief. To struggle with uncertainty. To wrestle with truth. To make a mistake and learn from it.

Those things belong to the human experience.

And this is where awareness becomes essential.

Because if we approach technology through our unexamined shadows — the grooves of avoidance, insecurity, or the need to appear more knowledgeable than we are — the tool will simply mirror those patterns back to us.

The danger is not the tool.

The danger is the groove using the tool.

A hammer can build a home or break a window. A knife can prepare food or cause harm.

In the same way, AI can amplify clarity or amplify confusion depending on the consciousness of the person using it.

What We Actually Need

It is tempting to believe that the solution to these challenges is more rules.

More restrictions.

More control.

But rules alone do not heal grooves.

What we truly need is more connection in real time.

Connection to our bodies. Connection to our awareness. Connection to each other.

When we are present and aware, the groove becomes visible.

And when the groove becomes visible, we have a choice.

That choice — that moment of awareness — is where real learning happens.

Not because someone forced us to behave differently.

But because we saw clearly enough to choose differently.

The Invitation

The deeper invitation of Yoga has never been about perfection.

It has always been about awareness.

Seeing the patterns. Understanding the grooves. Learning to respond with a little more clarity, a little more honesty, a little more compassion.

And that practice does not end on the mat.

It shows up in our relationships.

In our work.

And now, even in how we interact with technology.

Because whether we are speaking to another person, sitting quietly with ourselves, or typing a question into a machine…

The real work is the same.

Awareness in real time.

Audrey O'Marra