The Three Gunas

Everything in the world is made up of three qualities, these are called sattva, rajas, and tamas (or the three gunas). One of these qualities is always dominant but all three exist in everything. Sattva is an energy of balance, order and purity. Rajas is the energy of action, excitement and dynamism. Tamas is the energy of inertia, lethargy, slowness, and dullness. You can see these qualities in everything - but most importantly the mind. We aspire to have a sattvic mind, one that is in balance and pure but often times we get stuck with an overactive rajasic mind or a lazy, depressed tamasic mind. There are a few tricks and nutrition tips to help develop a more sattvic mind that I wanted to share with you.

A sattvic diet is vital to developing a sattvic mind. Your diet should include wholemeal bread, fresh fruits and vegetables, pure fruit juices, milk, butter, cheese, legumes, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds, honey and herbal teas. Sattvic foods calm and purify the body and the mind allowing it to function at it's maximum potential.

Rajasic foods include tea, coffee, fish, eggs, salt, chocolate and strong,spicy herbs and spices. These foods overstimulate the mind making it restless and uncontrollable. Yogis also consider eating in a hurry rajasic. If you feel like you are in a state of rajas, the best way to become more sattvic is with discipline. Creating a schedule will keep you organized and bring sattva to your activities. Focus your overstimulated mind on developing virtues to create a more sattvic mind. I have also found reading about saints helps.

Tamasic foods do not benefit the mind or the body. These items include meat, alcohol, tobacco, garlic, onions, fermented foods, stale and overripe foods. These foods destroy the body's resistance to disease and the mind can become filled with dark emotions. Overeating is also considered tamasic. As we awake in the morning we are in a state of tamas. The best way to change this state is just to take a shower to help purify quite literally and transform the state of tamas to sattva. This technique is helpful anytime of the day, not just when you wake up. Any activity will bring you out of tamas but it is important to try and find a sattvic activity rather than a rajasic one.

Let me know if you have any questions!