Latest / Ayurveda: One Bite at a Time / Episode 8 — Sattva, Rajas & Tamas: Understanding the Landscape of the Mind

Transcript

Episode 8 — Sattva, Rajas & Tamas: Understanding the Landscape of the Mind · Ayurveda: One Bite at a Time

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever noticed that you can wake up as the exact same person in the exact same home with the exact same family, and yet your experience of the day can be completely different.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Some mornings you wake up peaceful, clear, present.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Even simple things seem beautiful.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: The morning sunlight, a warm cup of tea, birds outside your window.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: You move through the day with a sense of ease.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Then other mornings your mind races before your feet even touch the floor.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: You begin mentally checking your to-do list, answering emails in your head, thinking about tomorrow before today has even begun.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then there are days when everything simply feels heavy.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Getting out of bed feels difficult.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing sounds particularly interesting, and you don't necessarily feel anxious, you just don't feel like yourself.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: What if I told you Ayurveda has been observing these different states of mind for more than 5,000 years?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to explore three beautiful Sanskrit words that help us understand not who we are, but the qualities moving through our minds.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: They are called sattva, rajas, and tamas.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And learning to recognize them has completely changed the way that I relate to myself.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Ayurveda One Bite at a Time, where we explore ancient wisdom for modern life.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: One bite, one habit, and one small shift at a time.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Tara Barnes, Ayurvedic Health Coach, Digestive Specialist, author of One Bite at a Time, Programs and Growth Manager at The Ancient Way, and a lifelong educator with more than 20 years of experience helping people learn, grow, and create lasting change.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Today I get to combine that passion for teaching with my love of Ayurveda, translating more than 5,000 years of ancient wisdom into simple, practical habits anyone can begin using right away.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: No previous experience required.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: My hope is that every episode leaves you feeling a little more connected to your body, a little more curious, and a little more empowered than when you pressed play.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so grateful you're here.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dive in.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Before we go further, everything you hear on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: It isn't medical advice, and it isn't meant to diagnose, treat, or replace care from a qualified healthcare provider.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Ayurveda pairs beautifully alongside modern medicine, so please check with your doctor before changing your health routine, especially if you're pregnant, managing a health condition, or taking medication.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Before we begin, I want to make an important distinction.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: A few episodes ago, we talked about the gunas as qualities warm, cold, heavy, light, dry, moist, those qualities that help us understand the physical world.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Since then, we've explored Agni, our fire of transformation, ama, the residue left behind when digestion doesn't quite finish, and then the doshas, the patterns of qualities that shape our bodies and personalities.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are going to talk about something a little bit different.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, these are also called gunas, but they describe the qualities of the mind.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Think of them less as personality traits and more as like weather patterns passing through your inner landscape.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Just as the sky can be sunny one day and stormy the next, our minds also experience different conditions.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Ayurveda, it simply gives us a beautiful language to observe those changes.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And as we've been discovering together throughout this podcast, awareness always comes before transformation.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Another amazing gift that Ayurveda has given me is permission to stop identifying with every thought that passes through my mind.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody else out there an overthinker?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: For years I assumed that if I felt anxious, then I was an anxious person.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: If I felt overwhelmed, then something must be wrong with me.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: If I struggled to focus, I believed I'd somehow failed.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Ayurveda gently challenged all of that.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of asking, who am I?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: It invited me to ask, what's moving through my mind right now?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: That tiny shift created so much freedom because suddenly thoughts became experiences, not identities.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just as clouds move across the sky, these qualities move through our minds.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Some stay for a few minutes, others linger longer, but none of them define who we are.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: So let's begin with the first one, sattva.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you have ever watched the sunrise in complete silence, you already know what sattva feels like.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you stood beside a quiet lake, held a sleeping baby, walked through a peaceful forest, or shared a heartfelt conversation with someone you love, you have experienced sattva.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Sattva is clarity, harmony, balance, presence.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's not excitement, it's not perfection, it's simply a quiet sense of enoughness.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: When sattva is present, we see clearly, we listen more deeply, we're less reactive and more compassionate.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're able to respond rather than simply react.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I love most about sattva is that it doesn't demand attention.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's gentle and it rarely shouts.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, modern life often makes it difficult to even notice because we're surrounded by so much noise, so much stimulation, so much urgency.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sattva reminds us that peace isn't something to chase.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's something we create space to experience.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's meet Rajas.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine a busy Monday morning.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Your alarm goes off, your phone is already buzzing, you answer an email before getting out of bed.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Coffee in one hand, keys in the other, you're thinking about three meetings ahead while still brushing your teeth.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Sound familiar?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's Rajas.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Movement, activity, desire, ambition, drive.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: But before we go any further, I want to say something important.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Rajas isn't bad.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Without Rajas, nothing would ever get accomplished.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't build businesses, raise families, write books, or record podcasts.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Rajas gives us the energy to move forward.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: But just like we've learned with every other concept in Ayurveda, too much of a good thing creates imbalance.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: When Rajas becomes excessive, our minds begin racing.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: We struggle to be present, constantly seeking what's next.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: We feel restless, even when we're resting.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: I've certainly experienced seasons of life that felt overwhelmingly rejosic, especially when I believed my worth depended on how much I could accomplish in a single day.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been there too.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Before we jump back into today's conversation, I want to take just a moment to share a couple of ways we can continue this journey together.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: If today's episode has you wanting to go deeper, my book, One Bite at a Time, walks through these same teachings, sattva, Rajas, Tamas, and so much more, in a gentle, practical way that you can return to again and again.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're looking for guidance tailored specifically to you, I'd be honored to work with you one-on-one.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Through my practice Brightside Wellness, I offer personalized health and nutrition coaching rooted in the timeless wisdom of Ayurveda.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: So together we can explore your unique constitution and find practical, sustainable steps toward greater balance.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're drawn to the deeper philosophical and spiritual roots of Ayurveda, I invite you to explore the Ayurvedic Lifestyle In-Depth Training.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's a self-paced online course through the ancient way where I serve as programs and growth manager.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I'm currently a student in the program myself.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I thought it would simply be a supplement to what I'd already learned, but Ananta's teachings have taken the abstract theories of Ayurveda and shown me how to truly integrate and embody them in my everyday life.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's a wonderful way to study these teachings more fully, on your own time and at your own pace.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find links to my book, one-on-one coaching, and the Ayurvedic Lifestyle in-depth course, along with more details at theancientway.co in today's show notes.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let's meet our third guna.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's often translated as darkness or inertia or heaviness, and because of those words, many people immediately assume it's something that we should avoid.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: But just like Rajas, Thomas has an important purpose.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine the sun setting at the end of a long day.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: The world begins to grow quiet, the lights dim, and your body naturally starts preparing for sleep.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's Thomas.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or think about planting a seed.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't grow in bright sunlight.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: It first rests in the darkness of the soil.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's Thomas too.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Rest, stillness, stability.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Without Thomas, we would never sleep, we never pause, recover, never put down roots.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Healthy Thomas allows us to rest, restore, to become grounded.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: But when Thomas becomes excessive, that's when we begin feeling stuck, unmotivated, withdrawn, cloudy mind.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: The feeling of wanting to move, but not quite being able to.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And again, notice we're talking about qualities, not character flaws, simply qualities asking for our attention.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite things about Ayurveda is that it refuses to reduce us to a single identity.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: We already discovered this with the doshas, and now we see it again with the gunas of the mind.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every one of us experiences all three.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Think about your own day.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you wake up with enough tamas to enjoy a peaceful night's sleep.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then Rajas helps you get dressed, head to work, solve problems, and accomplish what needs to be done.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully, somewhere throughout the day, you create moments that invite sattva.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Your morning meditation, your walk outside, watching the sunrise, sharing dinner with your family, reading before bed, listening to music that calms your heart.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Life isn't about eliminating one guna in favor of another.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's about recognizing which qualities are serving us and which qualities might need a little balancing.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: One of the reasons I think this teaching is so incredibly relevant today is because our modern world does an exceptional job of feeding Rajas.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Our phones buzz, notifications appear, emails arrive, the news never stops.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Social media is constantly asking for our attention.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Everything moves quickly, everything feels urgent.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Everything tells us to keep going, keep producing, keep consuming, keep achieving.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: And while there's certainly a place for healthy ambition, our nervous systems weren't designed to live in a constant state of acceleration.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: We were not built like that.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I wonder if one of the greatest acts of self-care today is simply choosing to create a little more sattva.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Not because we're escaping life, but because we're returning to it.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: I know that's been true for me.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the most healing moments in my own life haven't come from doing more.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: They've come from sitting quietly on the shore of Lake Michigan as the sun rises, watching birds greet the morning, breathing deeply, remembering that I am part of something much bigger than my to-do list.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Those moments don't make my responsibilities disappear, but they change how I meet them.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that change changes everything.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Before I found Ayurveda, I was often hard on myself.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: If I felt distracted, I criticized myself.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: If I felt tired, I pushed harder.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: If I felt unmotivated, I assumed I simply needed more discipline.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Ayurveda offered me a much more gentle perspective.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: The same shift we just talked about, but applied to my own self-talk.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I didn't need more coffee.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I needed more sleep.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I didn't need another productivity book.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I needed to spend 10 quiet minutes outside integrating all of the knowledge in the books I've already read.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I didn't need to force myself through another task.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I needed to digest everything I'd already taken in.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: That shift replaced judgment without compassion, and I honestly believe compassion creates far more lasting change than criticism ever could.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Over the last many episodes, we've built a beautiful foundation together.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: We've explored Ayurveda, the qualities, Agni, Ama, the doshas, and now the qualities of the mind.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: In our next episode, we're going to bring all of those teachings together by exploring two words that completely transform the way that I understand health.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Who you were born to be, and what's happening to you right now.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of the most freeing ideas in Ayurveda because it reminds us that who we truly are is never lost.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: We can always return to it.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's simply hidden beneath temporary imbalance.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: And together we are going to learn how to recognize the difference.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Before we go, it's time for this week's small bite.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: This week I'd like you to begin noticing the weather of your own mind.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Not to judge it, not to change it, simply to observe it.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe even keep a small notebook nearby.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Once each day, pause and ask yourself, what quality is most present in my mind right now?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Not throughout the day, early in the morning, late at night, just right at that moment that you're writing it.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself, do I feel clear and peaceful, busy and restless, heavy and tired?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then ask yourself one more gentle question.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: What might help bring me back toward balance?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it's stepping outside for five minutes.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it's putting your phone away for the evening.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it's reading a few pages of a book instead of scrolling.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it's simply giving yourself permission to rest.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, awareness always comes before transformation.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: One of the reasons I continue returning to these ancient teachings is because they remind me that my thoughts are not my identity, my emotions are not my identity.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Even my difficult days are not my identity, their experiences, their seasons, their invitations to become a little more aware, a little more compassionate, and a little more present.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: My hope is that as you move through this week, you'll meet yourself with the same kindness you would offer a dear friend because healing doesn't begin with criticism, it begins with understanding.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for spending this time with me today.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time, stay curious, love yourself, and remember lasting health happens one bite at a time.