"The soul has been given its own ears to hear the things the mind does not understand." - Rumi
We are all emerging from the pandemic differently. For some, the virus sparked dramatic changes, offering an opportunity for positive transformation, providing an incentive to switch careers, move to a new location, or establish a healthier lifestyle. Others are devastated, experiencing overwhelming losses. Some are still struggling to find their footing as they attempt to establish a new normal. Many are happy to view the pandemic in their rearview mirror, remembering it simply as a time when day to day activities were altered, and they are looking forward to reestablishing life as it was before lockdowns and masks. How each of us moves away from this time in our history will be different, but collectively we all have, in some way, been changed.
Even before the pandemic, the world has always been in constant flux. The very essence of the universe is change. Things are one way for a time until they either evolve into something new or start to stagnate. This ongoing dynamic reflects the interplay of the three gunas. The sun rises, taking us from darkness to light using the transformative energy of rajas. The steady light of the day is maintained through the balanced, continuous state of sattva that keeps us awake and active, until it starts to wane and shift again at sunset, via the energy of rajas. Once darkness settles in, tamas keeps us contained and grounded so that we can rest and recover until the entire cycle starts over again. The interplay between the gunas creates not only the structure of our day, but makes up the fabric of our lives, influencing how we respond to the world around us.
Understanding the gunas is more than an academic exercise; it is an important element in self-care. Developing an awareness of how these forces play within us is the difference between being swept into the currents of change or skillfully riding its waves. Studies show that the ability to identify and describe body sensations, feelings, and moods is associated with higher levels of self-control and self-efficacy. Becoming aware of which guna is dominating both within and around us helps us respond to events more skillfully. We can’t stop change but understanding how the gunas interact can buffer the effects of their interplay.
Once a guna dominates, it tends to hold its nature for a period of time. Tamas and sattva have more continuity than rajas. Characterized by movement and action, rajas is inherently unstable. But even rajas can dominate, provided there is enough stimulation to sustain it. When balanced, rajas infuses us with vitality and enthusiasm, stimulating our desire to connect with the world. When it dominates, however, we feel restless, always searching for the next best thing. Our focus narrows to the future as we strive to fulfill tasks, achieve goals, and acquire material possessions. We become overly critical and judgmental. Whereas tamas is sticky and weighs us down, rajas is fluid and spreads easily, causing it to seep into many areas of our lives when it dominates. We take a day off to rest and find ourselves running errands. It causes us to pack a vacation full of adventures from morning to night, so that we come home exhausted rather than rejuvenated. It can even seep into yoga when we strive to “look” a certain way in a pose, pushing our bodies regardless of how it feels.
Because it is action oriented, rajas inherently builds momentum. Rajas moves in the direction of either tamas or sattva. Purposefully cultivating rajas to initiate movement away from tamas in the direction of sattva creates an upward spiraling momentum that leads to growth, expansion, and balance. This is the higher level of rajas that moves us away from inertia toward the enlightenment and contentment of sattva. However, once it is in motion, rajasic energy needs to be reined in. Without containment, rajas continues to propel us forward, and can generate feelings of restlessness, distractibility, greed, and criticism. This is the lower form of rajas, one that fills us with desire for more, morphing us into energetic bulldozers that run over whatever gets in the way of achieving our goals. This form of rajas is unsustainable and eventually sputters to a halt. As rajas withdraws, we crash into the inertia of tamas, exhausted and burned out.
Yoga philosophy teaches that our sensory experiences lead us in one of two directions: closer to a state of enlightened balance or in a downward spiral toward inertia and confusion. Rajas mediates this direction by influencing where we place our attention. Rajas directs our senses, influencing what we watch, eat, read, hear, smell, and touch. It is important to take notice of what you pay attention to and how it influences the interplay of the gunas. As I have written many times before, where our attention goes, so goes our energy. Feelings of frenzy and agitation are signs that rajas is building. Taking time to notice how we feed our senses allows us to redirect our attention toward experiences that are more sattvic. What we attend to—the media we watch, the information we read, the foods we eat, the music we listen to, as well as the types of people we interact with--all determine the direction in which our energy will travel.
A yoga practice offers numerous tools that can help us capture the higher form of rajas that leads toward enlightenment and balance. Asanas—the poses—are intended to engage our muscles in ways that keep our energy balanced. Rajas is centered in the torso, so a practice focused on engaging the muscles of the core sparks this transformative energy. The ability of the spine to move fluidly and with stability is the key to initiating the higher form of rajas. Bringing the spine into extension through backbends is stimulating and creates heat. Engaging the core muscles to create deep, active spinal flexion counterbalances extension. Together these two movements promote suppleness in the spine. Planks and side planks build strength and resilience, which helps to contain the energy of rajas, keeping its power of transformation within our reach and under our control.
As you come to your practice, take a moment to reflect on how the pandemic changed you. Did it offer momentum for positive change? Have you been struggling to find your footing, feeling confused and overwhelmed? Or perhaps it was just a quirky, albeit annoying, time that left you with memories of making sourdough bread, masks, and searching for toilet paper. Whatever your experience has been, we can use the gunas to shift our energy in ways that help us gain insight and emerge stronger from this time in our history. I invite you to use your practice to initiate the spark of rajas to start your journey of transformation. Direct your attention to this guna and take control of your energy, your vitality, and the direction of your life.
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