By JACCI GRUNINGER, MS, C-IAYT
Los Alamos

No, I’m not talking about the Goonies movie, which was a classic and major stepping stone for many of today’s more famous actors. And, when we explore the gunas and the concept of energy, the movie could even be broken down into the various components you’ll find in today’s article.

The gunas are three types of energy and come from Sankhya philosophy. Guna translates as thread or quality. Think of threading (sewing) things together. The three gunas are present in everything, including ourselves. They are qualities that are found in everything.

A desk, tablet and car are all forms of energy – each one vibrates at a speed that allows you to see, touch and utilize it. Our thoughts, emotions and feelings all have energy as well.

The gunas are a form of yogic anatomy called the subtle body. You might think of the gunas as the ways you respond to any situation that arises or ways that your personal energy ebbs and flows through the course of a day. However, food, thoughts, movement and objects around you also have these energies.

Each guna has its own attributes:

• Sattva – steadiness, calm, harmony, compassionate selfless action, truth, presence
• Rajas – restlessness, agitation, action, change, movement
• Tamas – inert, dull, slow to change, inactivity

All three gunas are present in all things both sentient and non-sentient. However, the amount of each guna varies depending on the object. Human beings have a unique ability to alter the gunas in both body and mind. We can never get rid of a guna but we can adjust its level. We change our gunas by changing our interactions with others, our lifestyle and our thoughts.

For example, say you are late to work, school or meeting a friend, rajas is the dominant energy. If you shut down or turn away from feelings or settings, tamas is now in control. As you hike, run, walk and feel content with the movement and beauty around you, you may feel sattvic energy.

Food and drink can also be categorized by the gunas.

Say you get a latte from Film Festival. The Yogis would say a atte has rajo guna. If I drink it, my mind absorbs rajo guna and I might become restless (caffeinated). Alcohol, sugar or marijuana can make you lethargic. Not only is the source tamo guna, but your mind also becomes more tamasic. Sattvic foods include items like salad, brown rice, veggies.

When you choose what you eat or drink you are also choosing your state of consciousness. Now you can also eat too much of any of these foods and change their energetic quality. We can also use food to pull us out of various states. If I am feeling too tamasic, I might choose a caffeinated drink to give me more rajasic energy.

People and places also have different energetic qualities. Tamasic environments might be the DMV, a funeral or a meeting. Rajasic settings could be Costco, sporting events or even the Friday night concerts. A sattvic environment would be a yoga studio, church or out in nature.

People not only have gunas but because of our consciousness, we also absorb the energy around us. Those who suffer from depression might have too much tamasic energy while those with anxiety might have too much rajasic energy. I’m sure you know people who have different energies and how they affect you when you are with them.

Again, everything has energy. If you see trash on the sidewalk or graffiti on the wall it might depress you – this is tamasic energy. Everything has a guna effect. If you have a porsche it might create sattva energy for you but if you worry about car payments and the car getting scratched that is rajas energy. Or you see someone in a gas guzzling car and it disgusts you, that is tamas energy.

For some of us the pull of energy is very small or it can be quite extreme. Watching our energies shift and change is an important part of getting to know ourselves and this practice of yoga off the mat. If you know you are going into a rajasic situation, you might take steps to find more tamas or sattva. Maybe you take a few deep breaths before interacting with someone or spend some time meditating.

The gunas are intertwined with one another, almost like a dance. You can think of them this way as well – tamas is our grounding and foundation, rajas gives us vitality and breath and sattva provides consciousness and compassion.

In yoga and in life, the gunas can help with our navigation of life and the world around us. When you can witness or notice your energy you can make conscious choices and work towards greater balance and harmony in any situation.

Jacci Gruninger is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and Focusing Coach. She has been teaching for more than two decades and spent 12 of those years training yoga teachers for the Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts. She helps clients manage the ups and downs of life with yoga, meditation, breathwork and bodywork. Her Yoga Therapy Center is at 190 Central Park Square #212. For in person and online teaching schedules and on other services, visit www.yogawithjacci.com.