Samskaras, Awareness, and New Year Intentions

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to write. As I return to this space, I’m reminded of how much reflection and stillness can shape our growth. The start of a new year feels like the perfect time to reconnect—with words, intention, and deeper patterns that guide us.

As the calendar turns, many of us are drawn to the ritual of setting intentions—a quiet moment to envision who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world. But beneath those intentions lies our samskaras, the grooves of habit and memory that shape our thoughts, behaviors, and patterns. Samskaras, in yogic philosophy, are like imprints left on the mind by past experiences. They influence how we respond to the world, often without us even realizing it.

The beauty of self-awareness is that it creates a pause—an opportunity to notice the patterns we’ve been carrying and decide which ones we want to release and which we want to nurture. It’s like standing at the top of your yoga mat in Tadasana, taking stock of where you are before moving forward with intention. By examining our samskaras, we can identify the habits or thought loops that no longer serve us. From this place of awareness, our intentions become less about striving and more about aligning.

As we enter the new year, I hope we all take a moment to reflect on the grooves in our lives. Which ones feel worn out? Which ones feel expansive? Consider setting intentions that honor not just where you want to go, but also where you’ve been—acknowledging the patterns that have brought you here and choosing, with care, the ones you’ll carry forward. The practice isn’t about perfection, but about planting seeds of awareness, letting them grow, and revisiting them with kindness, again and again.

Onward, with awareness…