“You don’t change by solving your problems, you solve your problems by changing.” (Samuel Sagan)
Baggage that weighs you down
Emotional baggage, you know what it is. That stuff inside you that colours your world in so many ways. The feeling you don’t belong somewhere, the belief that everyone around you is an idiot, the distrust you feel towards some types of people. The things that pre-shape experiences without you even noticing.
A friend once said to me that she kind of liked emotions because make you feel alive. Even the terrible ones, because their intensity has an awakening effect. But if they become too much, emotions can also distort your thinking, destroy your peace of mind, and ruin your health.
Emotional baggage is such an evocative term for all this. An an invisible burden that weighs you down wherever you go. You can change what you do, where you live, who you are with, but it’s not so easy to leave your baggage behind. If anything, it’s likely to get heavier as life’s hurts and disappointments add more layers.
But why does the baggage feel so heavy, and why is it so hard to just let go and move on? It’s because of the psychological imprint that caused it in the first place.
Samskara: an emotional imprint
In the Upanishads, sacred texts of ancient India, there is a word for this imprint: samskara. A samskara is an imprint in your psyche caused by a traumatic or intense experience. It is not the event itself, but the highly charged emotional reaction that creates the imprint. There is the event, and the reaction. And just like that the samskara is imprinted. If there is no resolution or healing, the samskaric imprint just stays there, conditioning your attitudes and behaviour. Even long after you’ve forgotten the event it still colours the way you experience the world.
Samskara example 1: Jack
Imagine little Jack at his fifth birthday party, who gets over-excited and crashes his new bike into his friend, injuring them both. The party is abruptly replaced by a visit to hospital. Maybe his friend blames Jack. Maybe the parents do. Jack definitely blames himself. He becomes over-cautious and fearful whenever he rides his bike, which only makes him feel less safe. What has changed? An emotional imprint – a samskara – has been created, and it is conditioning his inner environment.
This one is a relatively minor samskara. It’s probably not going to significantly change the course of Jack’s life. But suppose Jack’s friend had been badly injured in that accident. Then the psychological aftermath would be much worse for Jack.
Samskara example 2: Sal
Let’s take another example. When Sal was a child her father often came home drunk and aggressive. He would fly into a rage if Sal was being too noisy, too quiet, or sometimes for nothing at all. It seemed she could never do anything right. Little Sal learned to tiptoe and whisper until she saw what sort of mood he was in that day. Her childhood was filled with fear of this volatile man, and Sal left home as soon as she could.
Now in her late twenties, Sal avoids confrontation and is intimidated easily. Anger scares her, even her own. Dealing with her father infuriates her, but the last thing she wants is to become like him so she pushes the anger and frustration away. The trouble is, this strategy is not really working. Her emotions ‘leak’ out in all sorts of situations and Sal is always offending people with her sharp words. Afterwards she’s left feeling like she can never do anything right, just like when she was a child. The samskaric imprint from her childhood is having an ongoing effect on her life.
Everyone has samskaras
Everyone has samskaras, big and small. If your own are not obvious to you, take a look around you at other people (negative things are usually easier to see in others!). Samskaras shape the way you see yourself and the world. They create lifelong beliefs like: ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’ll never be loved’, or ‘People always disappoint me’. Samskaras amplify emotions, attract you to negative situations and people, and perpetuate the same old destructive patterns. You could say the more you are ruled by samskaras, the less you really have free will.
Change your samskaras, change your life
You might have noticed how people assume their problems are part of them, maybe inherited from a parent, or due to childhood experiences. An innate part of who they are. They might describe themselves as being impatient, or say they’re terrible at public speaking. They say these things in the same way they might say, “I’m tall,” or “I love chocolate icecream,” as if it’s something that just is, and cannot be changed.
But this is not true. If something in you was caused by a samskara, it can be changed by resolving the samskara. No need to try to change your thoughts or habits. When you deal with the samskara you have neutralised the problem at its source. The thing that happened no longer rules you. You can see the world as it really is, not as your inner conditioning saw it. There is clarity where there was once a veil of samskaric conditioning. And the best part is that you feel different. More like your real self. And because you are different the world treats your differently. You move through life differently, with new openings and possibilities.
I’ve often thought it’s such a terrible shame that more people don’t know about this. That change is possible. That they can become different. Not the same person with one less problem. Not necessarily completely different person either, but a more real, more shining version of themselves.
IST: deep emotional healing
The purpose of deep emotional healing techniques like IST is simple: to improve the present. IST does not involve suggestive techniques like hypnosis or visualisation. It aims to see things as they really are, without emotional overlay or preconceived beliefs. It is this clarity that leads to real emotional freedom.
A higher light
It’s not unusual for an IST process to lead to metaphysical experiences, where you glimpse the hight light and fire of spiritual worlds, the natural home of your own inner Spirit. And as you unravel the knots of samskaras that were weighing you down, a higher light increasingly permeates your consciousness. Your higher self, and the light of spiritual worlds that comes with it, become a tangible part of your daily reality.