If you have not taken a yoga teacher training you may have never heard of the word guna.
What are the Gunas?
The word guna literally means “strand” or “fiber” and implies that, like strands of a rope, the gunas are woven together to form the objective universe.
The three gunas are the prime powers that make up and run through all substance. The gunas are energies that govern what is happening in the physical world. They can be studied and noticed within different yoga asanas, but are present everywhere in the world around you. As we move into a posture, the gunas show up in the lines of energy within the body.
The three gunas are Rajas, Tamas and Sattva
The rajas guna is present in the forward backward movements. For example moving from downward facing into low lunge. Anytime we are moving our body from the front of the mat to the back of the mat or vice versa we are in a rajasic movement. A rajasic movement is dynamic, and passionate, like a stallion around a mare. Rajas is very back and forth, always moving, never stopping, and never slowing down. In a conversation it would be when you are the one speaking.
Rajas is the power that stimulates and moves.It is dynamism, passion and activation.
Rajas is that which gives force and motion.
It prompts action.
The tamas guna is present when we move up and down in a posture. For example, mountain pose to chair pose and back to mountain pose. Anytime we are moving from standing to forward folds and back up. The tamasic movement is very strong and internally focused, like an oak tree in the winter with the sap moving up the inside of the trunk and down the outside of the trunk. In yoga it is the deep focus within the postures itself. In a conversation it would be when you are listening.
Tamas is the power that obscures.
It is darkness, heaviness, gravity.
Tamas restrains, obstructs, envelops and binds.
It resists motion.
We experience it as lethargy, tiredness, apathy, dullness, slowness.
The sattva guna is present with side to side movements. For example moving from warrior to a balancing posture and back down to extended side Angle. Sattvic Movements are light, subtle, delicate and graceful, like a still pond in the sunlight. Sattva is in the stillness and balance of a posture. It is the centering point of your practice. Sattva is divine or godly in nature. This would be just before a conversation ensues. The sattva approach views yoga as a journey viewing the postures as potential for both steady joy and a challenge.
Sattva is the power that illuminates and reveals.
It is clear, calm and balanced.
It is harmony and purity.
It appears as light and is our inherent natural state.
One who is established in Sattva is content.
Sattva leads us to higher states of being.
We experience Sattva as balance, harmony, coherence, clarity, joy, contentment.
But why should we know this?
The goal of Yoga is unlimited freedom through the understanding of our hidden, true nature.
The gunas provide us with a model to engage with, to guide us towards that understanding, and by which we can achieve greater joy, harmony and balance in our daily lives.
As we recognize what Guna we are living from, or are in in the moment we can be aware of where we need to go from there. What we can do to further our personal development and further our practice. Awareness of the gunas tells us whether we are genuinely moving forward in life (sattva), running in place (rajas), or losing our way (tamas).
So can you start to pinpoint moments during your day that are rajas, tamas or Sattva?
Awareness for anything is the first step. Even if you dlnot know what to do with that information, Being aware of if will allow us to acknolodge and make a change if we feel it is needed.
In Yoga we can work to reduce the effects of Rajas and Tamas and to increase that of Sattva choosing and modifying our practices and our everyday actions in order to find solutions to imbalances that are appropriate to our own personal needs.
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