One Connection between Yoga and Psychology

One of my favorite entries about how yoga and psychology come together in the eloquent collection by Rolf Gates titled Meditations from the Mat. 

"The Samskaras are built up by continued action of the thought waves, and they, in their turn, create new thought-waves, the process works both ways. Expose the mind to constant thoughts of anger and resentment, and you will find that these anger-waves build-up anger-samskaras, which will predispose you to find occasions for anger throughout your daily life. A man with will developed anger-samskaras is said to have "a bad temper." The sum total of our samskaras is, in fact, our character at any given moment." from the Yoga Sutras

In yogic psychology, our predispositions, the contents of our character, are in a state of perpetual cocreation with our thoughts. Our thoughts create impressions on our souls, samskaras, and these impressions, in turn, predispose us to similar thoughts. Over time, these impressions can become quite pronounced, as in the case of addiction. But like impressions made on the surface of a candle, our samskaras can be melted away by heat. The heat we apply is yoga. Dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation), whether experienced in asana, pranayama, meditation, or some other activity, are so powerful because they bring us to a place beyond thought and the impressions of thought, and into vidya, direct knowledge of the soul. Our thought can refashion our samskaras; dharana and dhyana eliminate our preconceived notions altogether. We can move beyond our self-created personalities, let go of our self-limiting definitions and realize our true nature.   (Adapted from Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates)