Ayurveda 101 - Introduction to the GUNAS

Where does your balance lie?

Ayurveda teaches us that there are three gunas, or “qualities” always present, in all beings and objects surrounding us, but they vary in their relative amounts.

The three gunas are:

Tamas (darkness),
Rajas (activity),
and Sattva (beingness).

Humans have the unique ability to consciously alter the levels of the gunas in our bodies and minds. Each guna holds beneficial use in your life. Looking for a promotion? You need some rajasic fire under ya.
Burning the candle at both ends? Tamas can help you slow down.

But too much Rajas or Tamas leads to imbalance and dis-ease. Too much rajas? Burnout city. Too much Tamas? Depressed mode.

Our lifestyle, thought patterns, and diet are the main factors bringing us into a rajasic or tamasic state of being. Which is great; It means we can turn things around if we’re on the wrong path.

Ayurveda teaches: You are what you eat, and, You are what you repeatedly do.

If what you’re eating, and what you’re doing, is creating discomfort, there’s always a simple shift you can make for immediate relief. Educating yourself on your options is one of them.

THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE GUNAS

Tamas is a state of darkness, inertia, inactivity and materialism. Tamas manifests from ignorance and deludes all beings from their spiritual truths. It shows up as addiction to processed foods, over sleeping, over eating, inactivity, passivity and fearful situations.

Rajas is a state of energy, action, change and movement. The nature of rajas is of attraction, longing and attachment and rajas strongly binds us to the fruits of our work. You’re rajasic when you’re craving spicy foods, and stimulants excessively, over exercising, over working, pumping loud music, excessive thinking and consuming excessive material goods.

Sattva is a state of harmony, balance, joy and intelligence. When you naturally crave whole grains and legumes and fresh fruits and vegetables, and enjoy activities and environments that produce joy and positive thoughts, you’re in sattva baby. All of the yogic practices were developed to create sattva in the mind and body.

Today’s mini video lesson dives into the qualities of the three gunas, or three states of being. Wanna know which is predominant for you? Take this quiz!

Ayurveda 101Carly Banks2 Comments