Whatever it’s writing a book or cleaning the kitchen – you gather energy and begin to focus on the task. Once you get your work out of the ground, the momentum takes over, and you are on a roll. Eventually, you begin to feel tired, lose focus and slow down; then, you take a rest from the project. When your energy return, you gear up and begin work again. This natural flow of energy is in motion all the time and in different scales of creation. Even when we are still, we are preparing to move again. The dynamic interplay of potential energy, kinetic energy, and inertia is omnipresent.
The 3 Gunas
Our mind has the same dynamics of creation. Those energies are call-in Ayurveda, Maha Gunas;
Sattva: the energy of satisfaction, illumination, clarity and harmony.
Rajas: the energy of movement, change, creativity, passion.
Tamas: the energy of rest, inertia, stagnation, destruction.
Sing of Tamasic Mind.
In winter months, nature rest and with that put in motion Tamas Guna. Activities decrease; we prefer to stay on the sofa scrolling Facebook or Netflix, we want to consume rich food, snack between meals, sleeping during the day or simply rest with a good book. Timepasspasses by, and we start feeling brain fog, oversleeping, losing appetite, procrastinating, feeling lethargy, hopelessness, craving for fried and processed food and of course, resisting to change. Well, Tamas Guna has entered your mind.
Recognition and actions
SING OF IMBALANCE: Brain fog
ENERGY AT WORK: You have difficulty engaging or maintaining attention.
SYMPTOMS; There is a heavy sensation in your head, especially the eyes. This may correspond with a heavy feeling in the entire body and a desire to sleep.
KEY ACTIONS; Move your body until the fog breaks up. Take a long walk, dance or do 12 sun salutations every day for a couple of days.
SING OF IMBALANCE: Loss of appetite
ENERGY AT WORK: You have a heavy feeling in the stomach and not excitement for mealtimes.
SYMPTOMS; Healthy foods have little appeal.
KEY ACTIONS; Sip hot water during the day. Ginger, cumin and coriander tea is excellent to get your appetite back. Do not eat until you’re hungry.
SING OF IMBALANCE: Procrastination
ENERGY AT WORK: You experience difficulty in getting started but are better once things are moving.
SYMPTOMS; notice how you talk to yourself out of getting started on something new. Are you overwhelmed, self-deprecating, or not interested?
KEY ACTIONS; Get to know your flavour of “not-doing” and begin to smile at the inner conversation that tries to keep you from the beginning. Just start!
SING OF IMBALANCE: Letargecy
ENERGY AT WORK: You are bored or exhausted.
SYMPTOMS; Activities that used to excite you no longer do. The main desire is to lie around or indulge only in sedentary activities.
KEY ACTIONS; Get up and move. In case you are overtired, practice taking rest until the feeling subsides. Ask yourself if the exhaustion comes from consuming tamasic food or overwork.
SING OF IMBALANCE: Difficulty making a decision
ENERGY AT WORK: You hem and haw, question yourself.
SYMPTOMS; You second guess yourself, cannot follow thought with anything and feel the tension in the body.
KEY ACTIONS; Get to know mental chatting and inner knowing. Inner knowing has a quality of calmness, and it is easy to trust. Chatter is fast and insecure.
SING OF IMBALANCE: Resistance to change
ENERGY AT WORK: You dig your heels in and are often a stick in the mud.
SYMPTOMS; You cling to what you know, such as comfort foods and familiar faces and places. You have a fear of connecting with new faces and places.
KEY ACTIONS; Try to be spontaneous. Go to places you had never being, try something new- start with something fun.
Tamas and meditation
By now, you feel that sitting in meditation is a big deal when you are in Tamas Guna. But let’s think for a moment you end up sitting to meditate. You most probably fall asleep or found the practice very unproductive and boring. Time will be pass as eternity, and your mind simply can not concentrate in-breath or in the now. When you spot this symptom, don’t force yourself to meditate for long. Instead, start with a lifestyle that decreases Tamas.
Lifestyle to decrease tamas:
Avoid cheese, processed, greasy, stale, soggy, leftovers, microwaved food. Also, avoid deep fry, canned, frozen, artificial or overcooked dishes. Avoid watching TV (especially violence), trolling social media, sitting around, oversleeping and overeating.
Instead, choose fresh, light, local and vegetarian food. Keep the body active, do yoga, dancing or uplifting activities. Connect with people and spend time outside. Make your heart pump every day.
If you want radical and quick results, choose three days where you’re able to follow a light diet ( mono-diet) or one-day juice fasting.
Remember that your life is a free judgement zone. The signs of imbalances are common and nothing to beat yourself up about. Keep your sense of humour and adapt your lifestyle.