Breaking Generational Cycles and What You Are Carrying That Does Not Belong to You
- May 7
- 5 min read
Dr. Shamma shares insights on clarity, emotional resilience, and purposeful growth, helping individuals and organizations navigate personal and professional transformation.
Many of us unknowingly carry emotional patterns and responses that were passed down through generations. These inherited behaviors, often born from survival mechanisms, shape how we respond to stress, connect with others, and protect ourselves. Dr. Shamma Lootah delves into the concept of generational trauma, helping you recognize the invisible burdens you might be carrying and offering ways to unlearn them, enabling you to break free from cycles that no longer serve you.
You didn’t start this: The invisible patterns you’re still carrying
There are patterns in your life that did not begin with you. They don’t always come from a single memory. They don’t always have a clear story. But they show up consistently. In how you respond under pressure. In how you relate to others. In how you protect yourself, even when there is nothing immediate to protect from. Over time, they begin to feel like an identity.
What you’re carrying may not be yours
Generational trauma is not only about what happened. It is about what was never processed after it happened. It lives in what was silenced, in what was normalized, in what was endured but never understood. You don’t inherit the event. You inherit the response. That response becomes a pattern.
How it quietly becomes identity
Most inherited patterns don’t feel inherited. They feel personal. “I’m just like this.” “I don’t trust easily.” “I need to stay in control.” “I always expect the worst.” But often, these are learned adaptations. At some point, someone in your environment needed to survive. The way they survived through control, silence, hyper-awareness, or emotional withdrawal became the template for what felt safe.
The brain holds onto what is familiar. The nervous system repeats what it recognizes. Research shows that repeated stress patterns shape how the brain and nervous system respond over time, particularly in areas linked to threat detection and emotional regulation. This is why certain reactions can feel automatic, even when the present moment does not require them.
The moment everything starts to shift
There is usually a moment when something no longer feels aligned. A reaction that feels too intense. A pattern that keeps repeating. A feeling that does not match the present moment, and a question begins to form: Why does this feel bigger than it should? This is where awareness begins. Awareness is the first interruption of any cycle.
Understanding without continuing
This is where the work becomes complex. Understanding where something comes from can feel like loyalty. Changing it can feel like betrayal. But breaking a cycle is not rejection. It is awareness in action.
You can recognize that:
Someone before you lived in survival mode.
They did the best they could with what they had.
Certain behaviors once made sense.
Still decided not to repeat them.
Why change feels unfamiliar, even when it’s right
When you begin to respond differently to situations, your system may resist. This resistance occurs because your system is accustomed to the old pattern, and it feels safer, even if it is limiting. For example, setting a boundary may feel uncomfortable if you are used to overgiving. You might feel uneasy creating space for your needs if you have always prioritized others above yourself.
Additionally, calm may feel unfamiliar if you are used to living in a constant state of alertness. Your nervous system, trained by years of stress and high emotional intensity, might find it difficult to embrace a peaceful, steady state. Stability might also feel uncertain if you’ve been exposed to unpredictable environments in the past. Your mind and body have adapted to a world of chaos and inconsistency, so stability now feels unfamiliar, even though it’s exactly what you need for growth.
The brain is wired to favor what is familiar over what is accurate. This wiring leads to a default mode where known patterns are repeated, even if they are no longer beneficial. Therefore, the discomfort of change is natural, it’s the brain’s way of sticking with what it knows, even when that old pattern no longer serves you.
Breaking the cycle is not dramatic
The process of breaking old patterns is quiet and happens in small, repeated moments. It’s not about grand gestures, but about the consistency of your actions. For instance, pausing before reacting gives you the space to choose a different emotional response. By consciously taking a step back, you allow yourself the opportunity to process instead of automatically reacting based on past trauma.
Choosing not to follow the usual script is another powerful moment of change. When you resist the urge to repeat your learned behaviors, you disrupt the cycle. Allowing a different emotional response, instead of reverting to old patterns like anger, frustration, or fear, is a quiet but transformative action. Similarly, creating space where there was once an automatic reaction, taking a breath before speaking, for example, signals to your body and brain that you are choosing something different.
These moments may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but this is where the patterns begin to shift. The work is in the consistency of these small actions. Each time you pause, choose differently, and create space, you break away from the patterns that have been passed down to you.
The responsibility and the opportunity
You are not responsible for what was passed down to you. But you are part of what continues. Generational cycles persist through repetition. They shift through awareness and intentional change, and the question becomes: What am I carrying that I no longer need to continue?
A final thought
Some of what you call “yourself” may simply be what you adapted to, and what was learned can be unlearned. Breaking a generational cycle is not about becoming someone new. It is about recognizing what you have been carrying and deciding, consciously, what stays and what ends with you.
Call to action
If this resonated, and you are ready to shift what you’ve been carrying, you can explore working with Dr. Shamma Lootah by booking a session through her profile.
Read more from Dr. Shamma Lootah
Dr. Shamma Lootah, Self-Leadership & Mental Wellbeing Expert
Dr. Shamma Lootah is a UAE-based leadership and mental well-being consultant, Partner and Director at The Holistic Culture, and an Adjunct Professor in business and leadership. With over 17 years of experience in UAE government strategy and institutional excellence, she brings a rare blend of system-level expertise and human-centered insight. Her work focuses on self-leadership, emotional clarity, and sustainable performance, helping individuals and leaders navigate pressure without losing themselves in the process.
