Finding balance through the 3 Gunas
I was talking last week to a lovely student who was saying how it's interesting that we can feel such different states within our minds and bodies at the same time. We can feel utterly exhausted and low in energy within our body, yet anxious and agitated in our minds. I always remember Yoga Therapist Bo Forbes talking about how we can have depression in our body but anxiety in our mind. This is certainly true and you might be experiencing the same.
What I love about yoga is that the same practice can work with both of these elements to create balance. Movement and breath can stimulate energy to 'lift' the body and mind, but keeping the breath and the movement slow also calms our body and mind. This is one of the reasons that I consciously choose to teach a slow, mindful, steady flowing yoga. Yes we want energy and vitality but we also want calmness and clarity. Ultimately we want both mind and body to move closer towards balance.
In some of last week's classes I talked about this in relation to the Three Gunas in Yoga Philosophy. Some of you said you found it useful, so I thought I would share it with you all here.
The Three Gunas
In brief, Yoga philosophy states that all things (e.g. our environment, our food, our mind, our body) are made up of these three Gunas, or three qualities, Sattva, Rajas & Tamas.
Rajas - when in balance can offer activity and motion which we need to move through life, but when out of balance it can be felt in an inability to stop, fidgeting in our body or anxiety in our mind or a heated, reactionary state.
Tamas - when in balance it could offer us a sense of steadiness and grounding, but when out of balance we might feel lethargic in our body, stuck in our ways, shut down or depressed in our mind.
Sattva - is a state in which we feel calm, peaceful, more insightful, focused, clear and even radiant. We feel at ease in our body and calm in our minds. Sattva is a state that comes when Rajas and Tamas are in balance.
So how is this helpful? Through mindful awareness we can notice where we have fallen out of balance. In which direction have we gone? Is our body feeling dull and lethargic or agitated and unable to be still? Is our mind feeling flat / depressed or busy / anxious? Once we recognise in which direction we have fallen out of balance, we know which direction we need to move in to regain it. We can then consider what small steps could move us closer towards Sattva.
WHEN OVERLY RAJASIC
When we notice we are overly Rajasic we can do things that calm us, to bring us down towards Sattva e.g. slowing things down, slow, mindful movement (stillness may feel agitating initially so slowing down movement can be helpful), slow breathing, abdominal breathing, yoga / meditation practices that calm and ground, focus on our exhale.
SATTVA
This state can often be felt at the end of our yoga practice when we are in relaxation or meditation. We feel more at ease and more at peace. It shows that we have balanced Rajas and Tamas.
WHEN OVERLY TAMASIC
When we notice that we are overly Tamasic, we can do things that lift us up, again moving us closer towards Sattva. e.g. we might ensure that are moving gently, take ourselves out for a walk, focus on our inhale to get energy flowing back into the body, try to notice things that bring us joy.
And when we are feeling Tamasic in our body but Rajasic in our mind we can see how yoga enables both movement and grounding so that we can move our whole being, mind, body, heart and soul towards a more balanced Sattvic state.