The three gunas

The 3 gunas are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. 

Sattva is the enthusiasm I feel in life. I was just having a conversation with my Yogi friends with whom I take online yoga classes. We would share nice anecdotes by Gurudev, pull each other’s leg, talk about doing Seva, discuss about the seva and impact other folks are having. It was 11:30 pm but still energy was high and had beauty care routine with head massage, face pack going strong till 12:30. But then slept post that because wanted to keep up the morning routine. Normal days I would be asleep and drowsy by 10:30. Good influence, sattvic talks & discussions always helps Sattva go high.

Rajas is needed in life. I work in software industry which can be very demanding at times. High Rajas actually helps get a lot of work done. But sometime when Rajas is too high my mind just goes haywire. Unable to focus to get anything done. Start doing multiple tasks at a time and just be confused and upset at not completing any task by the end of the day. It is very important in my life to have Rajas that is balanced.

Finally Tamas. Initially I thought I don’t any Tamas in life. Cutting down sleep and slog till I hit bed. Slowly over years, I am realizing we need to balance all aspects of life. We need to calm down our nervous system either through sleep or meditation or any calming activity. It is not the number of hours of sleep but all activities done together to clam the nervous system and bring in balance. Chipping in 20 minutes meditation when I see Rajas goes high during the day or having a quick yoga nidra when I find body exhausted with extremely high Rajas. 

Gunas are part of the body and mind. These need to be in balance. Balancing gunas has been a part of life. This has really improved the quality of life and brought a lot of meaning and understanding to life.