How attached are we to memories ?
I was recently surprised and somewhat frustrated to observe that some of my memories were quite intrusive and, what’s more, that I was clinging to them ! In a way, they had become a distraction … and also a real hindrance not only to my yoga practice, but even to social life. Whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, memories have the ability to take hold, they can crowd out the present moment, breaking our connection to time, space, and our surroundings.
A few months ago, I wrote a short IG post in which I was quoting Nietzsche, speaking of the capacity to forget as a necessary condition for happiness :
“In the case of the smallest or of the greatest happiness, however, it is always the same thing that makes happiness happiness: the ability to forget.” 1
In On the Use and Abuse of History for Life, Nietzsche sees active forgetting—the ability to let go of the past—as a means to maintain mental order and vitality, which are both necessary for hope and happiness. In another passage, he discusses the ‘plastic force,’ which is the ability of an individual or a society to reshape and integrate the past, so as to live fully in the present. He says :
“In order to determine this degree of history and, through that, the borderline at which the past must be forgotten if it is not to become the gravedigger of the present, we would have to know precisely how great the plastic force of a person, a people or a culture is. I mean that force of growing in a different way out of oneself, of reshaping and incorporating the past and the foreign, of healing wounds, compensating for what has been lost, rebuilding shattered forms out of one’s self.”
From a yogic perspective, Smṛti (memory) is two-sided: it is at once an obstacle to the state of yoga and a means to attain it.
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali identifies smṛti as one of the 5 Citta Vṛttis (mental fluctuations) that the yogi must suspend to attain clarity, concentration and ultimately samādhi.
Pramana viparyaya vikalpa nidra smrtayah || 1.6 ||
They are right perception, wrong perception, imagination, deep sleep and memory. 2
Further on, in Yoga Sutra 1.11, Patanjali explains what smṛti is:
Anu-bhūta-viṣaya-asaṁpramoṣaḥ smr̥tiḥ || 1.11 ||
Memory is the retention of the experience of an object. 2
Later, in Yoga Sutra 1.20, smṛti becomes one of the 5 qualities that a practitioner needs to cultivate in order to attain yoga:
śraddhā-vīrya-smr̥ti samādhi-prajñā-pūrvaka itareṣām || 1.20 ||
For others faith precedes vigour, mindfulness, integration and knowing. 2
When memory is filled with attachment, when it brings past experiences—pleasant or unpleasant—and creates mental projections, it becomes a distraction that pulls attention away from the present. But the ability to recollect—remembering experiences and lessons from the past and connecting them to the present—is a necessary means for growth.
Memory can be both ally and adversary. Yoga invites us to remember wisely: to keep the part of memory that supports our growth, and to free ourselves—rather than forget—from the part that holds us back.
I believe that in any memory of a past experience, there are always some aspects we need to remember and integrate and others that are better released. May we all step into 2026 carrying only what matters and releasing what does not… Guided by the heart and fueled by a childlike joy and curiosity. 🙏
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and Massage treatments with Amina Mokrane 