Why you keep repeating the same patterns | Svadhyaya

Two minutes into meditation and your mind is already arguing that the timer must be about to go off. It isn't. That's the mind running an old habit, and in this episode we start studying it.

Kristina teaches the fourth niyama, Svadhyaya, which translates as study of the self. Ayurveda's word for perfect health, svastha, starts in the same place. Sva. Self. To be well is to be anchored in who you really are.

In this episode, we explore:

• What sva and adhyaya mean, and the difference between the little self and the big Self
• Samskara, the grooves in the mind that keep us repeating the same reactions in different situations
• Why a pattern has to be seen before it can be changed
• Journaling, meditation, honest conversations and the yoga mat as ways to study yourself
• A question from one of Kristina's teachers: where do your thoughts come from, and where do they go?
• A short seated meditation with the mantra sat nam, I am that

Underneath it all is a simple invitation. Next time you sit down and your mind insists the timer must be nearly done, stay. That restless voice is the first thing worth studying.

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