November 2019 I went to India for 2 months, more specifically to Mysore, to finish my 300 hours of yoga teacher training. During the yoga philosophy, we learned about the 3 gunas.

The meaning of the 3 Gunas, or energies in yoga philosophy?

According to the yoga philosophy, the Gunas are three basic qualities or energies that make up everything. On a personal level, you can view the Gunas as a quality or attribute of the mind. How are you in life? What do you radiate in the world? What energy do you bring with you? 

The 3 Gunas are:

• rajas
• tamas
• sattva

Rajastic energy

Rajas is the energy of action, change, and movement.
Rajas is the fuel of passion and fire.
Rajasic energy is also associated with the daylight hours. 

We obviously need rajasic energy to create energy to move successfully throughout our world and lives. When we have too much rajasic energy we might appear to the outside world as extremely busy, go go go, do do do! Does this sound like you? Maintaining a high degree of rajasic energy leads to burn out! When rajas is out of balance the mind and body are overstimulated, the mind becomes restless and you experience a lot of uncontrollable thoughts.

Foods that are rajasic include:

spicy food, fried foods, coffee / caffeinated beverages/ stimulants/ fish, eggs, chocolate, foods that are very bitter, sour, dry, and salty. Eating in a hurry is also considered rajasic

Tamasic energy

Tamas can be thought of as the opposite of rajas. Tamasic energy is associated with a state of inactivity and inertia, heaviness and darkness. When tamas is out of balance your ability to reason becomes clouded and you might experience the darker emotions such as anger or greed. Just as there is more rajasic energy present in daylight hours, tamasic energy is present during nighttime. People who are very tamasic might be depressed or appear lazy. Generally speaking, disease states are tamasic. 

Examples of tamasic food include:

meat, alcohol, tobacco, onions, fermented foods – vinegar or strong cheese, stale food or over ripe food, overly processed food or chemically treated. Overeating is considered tamasic.

Sattvic energy

Sattva is the energy that is in a state of harmony and balance. Positive mental and emotional states of joy and intelligence are associated with sattva. A person who was experiencing a lot of sattvic energy would appear very happy. Sattvic energy also is consistent with healing states and in Ayurveda (yoga’s sister science) sattvic energy is actively cultivated. Sattvic energy is most present during the times between light and dark- in other words dusk and dawn. A person on the yogic path is focused on developing sattva and for this reason, yoga asana and meditation are classically performed at these times. 

Foods that are sattvic include:

whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, pure fruit juice, legumes, milk, butter, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds, honey, and herb teas.

What is your guna?

It is important to realize that we all have all three gunas within us. And while this is true we tend to have a predominant guna. Based on the descriptions above can you figure out what yours is? It is good to be aware of this because once you are aware of your predominant guna then you can predict how might react to certain life circumstances as well know your strengths and weaknesses. You’ll know when you will tend to be thrown out of balance and what you will need to do to bring yourself back into balance.

In balance, or not?

You also might have times in our lives when one guna is more active then another. Perhaps you have a very active time and very productive (rajasic). Or a period when you have been depressed (tamasic). Or a time when we are very balanced and in tune with your spirituality (satvic).

The average diet

Another way the gunas show up in our lives and directly affects us is through the food we eat. Consider for a minute the average diet with overly processed and chemically treated foods which are very tamasic. Modern science now confirms that these food items are directly linked to major illnesses including cancer, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. As mentioned above too much tamasic energy leads to disease states. We also know that foods in their whole form such as grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables (sattvic foods) are life-sustaining and bring health and energy. 

Do you practice yoga postures (asana)? How do the gunas show up here? Is your asana practice fiery and passionate? Was your practice slow and lazy? Or was it balanced?

Cultivate satva

It is probably becoming clear to you by now that to be healthy, happy, and live a balanced life, it is important to cultivate sattva in your life. This can be done by:

• Reducing rajas and tamas
• Becoming aware of when you are out of balance- which guna seems most present?
• Increase activities and environments that produce positive thoughts
• Eating a healthy, sattvic oriented diet
• The practice of yoga: pranayama (breathing practices), asana (postures), meditation