The practice of deliberately recalling and reinforcing chosen patterns, building new memory pathways that compete with and eventually replace old behavioral habits.
Smarana means remembrance or recollection in Sanskrit philosophy. Patanjali recognizes that mind tends toward established grooves—habitual thought and behavioral patterns maintained through repetitive activation of existing memories. Smarana in habit formation means deliberately recalling the new behavior, your motivation for change, and evidence of progress. This practice strengthens the neural pathways supporting your desired habit while allowing old pathways to weaken through disuse. By regularly remembering why you committed to change, how it aligns with your values, and moments when you successfully executed the new behavior, you keep these memory traces active and reinforced. This counters the tendency of old habitual memories to resurface during moments of stress or weakness. Smarana includes revisiting your initial insights about why change matters, reinforcing commitment through intentional reflection. This psychological practice of deliberate recollection parallels modern understanding of memory reconsolidation—the neurological process where recalled memories become malleable, allowing new associations and meanings to overwrite old patterns through reconsolidation cycles.
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