Nature’s Wisdom: How Spring Embodies The Three Gunas
An overview of what has been part of this block of classes:
In reference to yoga philosophy, I based this theme on the Gunas and how that links to where we are right now seasonally.
The concept of the three gunas forms one of the fundamental philosophical frameworks in yoga philosophy. These three qualities or "strands" - sattva, rajas, and tamas - are believed to weave together to create the fabric of our material existence.
The Three Gunas Explained
Tamas: The Quality of Inertia
It represents darkness, inertia, heaviness, and resistance. In moderation, tamas provides stability and grounding. However, when excessive, it leads to laziness, delusion, and ignorance.
Rajas: The Quality of Activity
It embodies energy, passion, movement, and change. Rajas provides the necessary energy for action and transformation, but in excess, it creates agitation, stress, and burnout.
Sattva: The Quality of Harmony
Representing balance, harmony, clarity, and purity. Sattva is generally considered the most beneficial guna to cultivate, representing an ideal state of being that facilitates spiritual growth.
The Gunas & Spring
The spring season beautifully illustrates the interplay of the gunas in nature. As April unfolds, we witness the transition from the tamasic qualities of winter (dormancy, darkness, and stillness) to the rajasic energy of spring (growth, movement, and activity). The longer daylight hours activate rajasic energy, inspiring new projects and increased physical activity. Meanwhile, the emerging blossoms, sunshine, and birdsong reflect sattvic qualities, creating moments of clarity and harmony. This seasonal shift mirrors our own internal cycles – the heavy inertia of winter gradually giving way to spring's creative impulse. In the yoga tradition, spring presents an ideal opportunity to observe how these gunas manifest both in the natural world and within ourselves, encouraging practices that harness the balanced rajasic energy of the season while cultivating the sattvic clarity needed for spiritual growth.
The Gunas in Everyday Life
Throughout each day, we experience fluctuations in these qualities. These states aren't permanent - they're constantly shifting and interacting with one another. Understanding the gunas offers a framework for self-observation; by recognizing which qualities are dominant in different aspects of our lives, we can make conscious choices to create more balance and harmony. In this way, the ancient wisdom of the gunas remains relevant for navigating our modern lives with greater awareness and purpose.
Physically in class we have started to do more standing to move more into the rajas energy but as always the balance is needed with our tamas & sattva to leave you feeling in a state of equilibrium!
Our visualisation has been a flower meditation. To bring an image into your mind of a flower - this may have changed each week or stayed the same for extra continuity. The flower adds an element of hope; representing the new life emerging around us. It also creates that something which is unchanging; maybe there’s a lot going on in your inner world - using this technique helps you to create and come back to your inner steadiness.
You can join me for weekly in-person classes in Comberbach and Northwich, and also from your home with my Gentle Mat & Chair live online classes.
1-to-1 and Corporate classes are also available.