What are you consuming?

A brief discussion on the yoga metaphysical concept - gunas

TL;DR: what are you consuming and why?

In a recent dharma talk, I was talking about - we are what we eat.

More broadly, obviously, we are what we consume, and of course, 'consumption' can include not just what we eat but who we're around, whose posts we read, what apps we spend our time on, the music we listen to, the podcasts we hear, the channels we watch, the movies we watch, the conversations we choose to engage in and even the peppers we eat (trust me on the last one 🥵)

In my dharma talk, I was discussing the gunas. In much of yoga metaphysics, the gunas are three substances that make up all of 'nature' (from our bodies to our thoughts and actions as well as everything we *see* at least in the world). They are considered the constituents of Nature and include: tamas, rajas, and sattva. These 3 gunas allow for the for infinite plasticity of Nature.

Tamas is inertia, lethargy, maybe even laziness. Tamas is what stops us from going to a yoga class, even when we know it makes us feel good, or what makes us skip our meditation (probably to consume something not worth consuming). But tamas is also what keeps rocks from spinning all over the place running into us. So none of these are inherently 'bad', they just are.

Rajas is activity and passion but also restlessness, agitation, and anxiety. Rajas helps us do, move, initiate. But we also know what a surplus of activity and passion can turn into - anxiety, frustration, anger.

And finally, sattva, the principle of balance, calmness, lucidity, light. Need I even explain this one? Sattva is what we're trying to cultivate with yoga practices like āsana, prāṇāyāma, and meditation.

Now, of course, I'm not perfect; I'm completely entangled in these gunas just like you. I see the memories on Facebook and I'm quite shocked at what I consumed and who and how I chose to argue with. But I'm devoted to these practices of yoga and swimming through these gunas with a little more awareness, at least on some days. But that's because of practices like yoga, meditation, and prāṇāyāma help us swim through an often messy world and be better at consuming what we want. We have choices. The choice is actually ours.

🙋 All of this to ask, are you aware of what you're consuming?