Recognizing and Shifting Your State of Mind
Am I, right now, in clarity or in agitation? In lightness or in heaviness? This simple question, asked regularly, already opens up a space of choice. How do we recognize, in ourselves, the moments when we are more in Sattva, Rajas or Tamas, and how do we move from one state to another?
Sattva is the state in which I feel rooted in my being, in my body, present, comfortable in my own skin, with constructive emotions that lift me up, a mind that is stable, peaceful, clear and content.
If I am too rajasic, I feel nervous, hyperactive, full of doubt, forcing things, impatient, quick to become irritated, or mixing all sorts of thoughts without discerning clearly between them. If Rajas is not excessive, on the other hand, it gives me the drive to act, to digest information, to think analytically and to be in motion.
If Tamas is too pronounced, I become lazy, passive, immobile, even depressed, and I fall too often into unconsciousness: I lose myself in distraction, aware neither of reality nor of the fact that I am free to act. I become instead a kind of victim of circumstances. But we do need a little Tamas in the mind, just as the body needs a pause during the night: quiet moments where we let go, where the movement of the mind rests, so it can recharge.
How do we move from a state that is too rajasic or too tamasic toward a sattvic state, with more clarity? If I am in an exaggerated state of Tamas, like a depression, I cannot move directly to a state of Sattva. Tamas first needs to be broken through Rajas, a little like a sluggish digestion: something strong is needed, like a digestive stimulant or herbs, to activate the intestine. It is the same for the mind: if it is stuck in a stagnation of Tamas, it needs an infusion of Rajas, stimulating elements that break through the Tamas, before that state can gradually be brought toward Sattva. So it is easier to move from Rajas to Sattva than from Tamas directly to Sattva.
In concrete terms, to move from Tamas to Rajas: if I am constantly bored, stuck in the role of victim, doing nothing, I need to stimulate myself, for example through exercise, to wake myself up, with food that is healthy but a bit stimulating, like garlic for instance.
To move from Rajas to Sattva, on the other hand, the task is to calm down, to slow down, to add something soothing and rebalancing: meditation, a conscious and gentle yoga, reading that lifts the mind, ancestral teachings, something that calms while also elevating.
Unlike the doshas, our Prakriti, rooted in the body, does not change. The Gunas, on the other hand, describe a state of mind that we can shift: it is easier to change our state of mind, even though, in the case of a condition such as depression, this also calls for sustained effort. The mind changes constantly according to the influences running through it, and neuroscience has confirmed this through research on neuroplasticity. It is from Sattva, this state of quiet clarity, that our singularity unfolds most truly, not in the restlessness of Rajas that pushes us to prove ourselves, nor in the inertia of Tamas that keeps us from daring, but in this peaceful clarity where we know, without needing to convince anyone, what is right for us.