Three Gunas

Everything in nature is made up of these 3 qualities- Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. They are always moving- shaping your thoughts, actions and inner state. At every moment one of them is leading your mind and life

Sattva refers to the energy of clarity and harmony. Rajas refers to energy of action and desire. Tamas refers to the energy of dullness, inertia and resistance.

Paying attention to the Gunas, you can make conscious lifestyle choices that support a more balanced and optimal state of mind.

Lets say you become too lazy or no mood to do anything this means your Tamas has increased. You can balance this by working on increasing your Sattva and Rajas. For example you can engage in activities that brings movement (Rajas) like walking, jogging dancing etc and engage in activities that promotes clarity and balance (Sattva) like yoga, meditation, reading spiritual texts or spending time in nature.

And even the food that you have can contribute to increase in these Gunas. Food that is too oily, heavy or processed food can be avoided as it increases Tamas.

Some people advise you to move towards Sattva and suppress the other two Gunas. However, forcing yourself to suppress a Guna is not a good idea, as it will only bounce back and make you feel guilty. For example, you might have friends telling you to stop eating non-veg, as meat can be rajasic and tamasic. But if you force yourself to do this, it's unlikely to last. Instead, aim for balance and gradually move towards Sattva. This will then further enable a person to move beyond even Sattva as all the Gunas too bind you at some level.