Which Guna Is Shaping Your Mind Today: A Quick Look at the Qualities of the Mind
Ayurveda teaches that your mental state is always shifting—and that awareness is the first step.
Namaste and welcome to my newsletter, where I try to demystify Ayurveda, making it approachable, useful, and never overwhelming.
Have you noticed how some days your mind feels light and clear—like there’s space between your thoughts, and you can see yourself and the world without all the usual static?
Other days, it’s the opposite: foggy, heavy, hard to get moving. And then there are the times when your brain is going a hundred miles an hour, dragging your body along for the ride—too many tabs open, too many thoughts to land on just one.
Ayurveda has names for these shifting states of mind—not to label you, but to help you notice what’s happening without judgment.
And once you start noticing? You begin to understand what your mind might need next.
Ayurveda calls these mental qualities sattva (clarity), rajas (restlessness), and tamas (heaviness). You don’t need to memorize the names—just know that your mind, like everything else in nature, shifts. And those shifts can tell you something useful.
If you're new to these terms or want a refresher, I wrote more in a previous post.
We recognize these states—and then we respond. That might mean grounding ourselves when the mind gets too busy, or gently stirring ourselves when it starts to sink.
The point isn’t to stay in some perfect mental state all day. The point is to know that these states shift—and that’s normal. You’re not failing if you wake up calm and find yourself agitated by noon. You’re human.
And once you recognize the quality of your mind, you can work with it. You can do something—or not do something—that brings you a little closer to clarity again.
Each of these states has its place.
Rajas gives us the spark to act, to move, to engage with the world.
Tamas allows us to slow down, rest, and retreat when we need stillness.
And Sattva—that steady, luminous clarity—is what we return to when we’ve had enough of swinging between extremes.
The goal isn’t to avoid rajas or tamas. It’s to know when they’ve stayed too long. That’s when we can gently shift the dial—toward balance, toward steadiness, toward ourselves.
This Is How It May Show Up
Right now, I’m traveling. Different routines, different beds, lots of motion. Some moments feel infused with rajas—mind buzzing, body moving, conversations coming faster than I can process them. An hour later, tamas might settle in—a mental fog I can’t quite shake, the desire to sit in stillness that could start feeling more like stuckness, if I’m not careful. And then there are sattvic moments—brief, quiet, clear—when I feel fully here, even for just a few breaths.
The gunas don’t necessarily take turns day by day. They shift throughout the day—sometimes within the same hour—like changing light across a room.
They also show up in how we respond to people and situations—especially when there’s conflict or overstimulation.
You might be having a calm, clear moment—until someone says something that lands wrong. Suddenly, rajas surges and you feel reactive, defensive, mentally rehearsing all the things you wish you’d said. Later, tamas creeps in—emotional heaviness, regret, that stuck feeling that keeps looping the moment on repeat.
Even overstimulation from good things—a noisy dinner, a long day of socializing, a packed schedule of “fun”—can push the mind into rajas at first, then tamas as a crash. You might find yourself snapping at someone you love, then wondering why you feel so off afterward.
None of these states are wrong. They’re just what’s present. And the moment you notice what’s happening, you have a little more room to choose your response—and maybe shift the energy just enough.
Doshas and the Gunas: Why We React the Way We Do
Even though the gunas affect all of us, how we express or get stuck in them can depend on our dosha type—Vata, Pitta, or Kapha.
Your dosha shapes how your mind moves, how you react under stress, and what throws you off center. So, while we all experience rajas, tamas, and sattva, we don’t all experience them in the same way.
Here’s a quick overview:
If you're more Vata by nature:
You’re likely familiar with rajas in its windstorm form—racing thoughts, scattered focus, creative energy that spirals into overwhelm.
When out of balance, rajas can make you feel like your mind’s sprinting without a finish line.
What helps: stillness, warming routines, calming breath, simplifying.
If you're more Pitta:
You also lean rajasic, but with heat and intensity. The mind becomes sharp, focused, and on a mission—sometimes overly so.
Rajas in Pitta can look like over-planning, frustration, or trying to control outcomes.
What helps: stepping back, cooling practices, softening expectations.
If you're more Kapha:
You may find yourself pulled toward tamas—that sticky mental fog, emotional heaviness, or resistance to change.
When tamas lingers, it can feel like you're underwater: slow to move, slow to feel, hard to motivate.
What helps: movement, lightness, inspiration, a little motivation from someone who understands your rhythms.
These aren’t hard rules—just tendencies. And the goal isn’t to never feel rajas or tamas. It’s to notice what’s present and gently guide yourself back toward sattva when you’re ready.
Cultivating Sattva—In Real Life
Sattva isn’t a reward for being perfect. It’s a quality you can invite in with small, intentional shifts. You don’t have to move to the mountains or meditate for an hour a day. You just have to start paying attention to what brings lightness, clarity, and peace into your mind—and what dims it.
Here are some real-world ways to cultivate more sattva:
Let one thing be enough.
Make a cup of tea and just drink it. Don’t scroll. Don’t plan. Let the moment be the moment.Cut through mental noise.
Instead of consuming more information, close a few tabs. Unfollow accounts that leave you agitated. Choose one voice to listen to today—maybe your own.Create something without optimizing it.
Write, cook, doodle, arrange flowers—without trying to be good at it. Sattva thrives in acts done for their own sake.Tidy one space. Not for productivity—for peace.
Clean your desk, not because it’s a task, but because it helps your mind breathe.Go where your nervous system relaxes.
That might be nature—or a bookstore. A garden—or a quiet corner of your apartment. Find your sattvic places.Spend time with people who don’t agitate your system.
Not perfect people—just the ones who leave you feeling steadier, not spun out.Choose beauty.
Beauty is sattvic. It softens the mind. That might mean music, flowers, warm lighting, poetry, or a well-set table. It doesn't have to be expensive—it just has to touch something true in you.Tell the truth. Be gentle about it.
Honesty (especially with yourself) is deeply sattvic. So is restraint. You can choose clarity over reaction.
Sattva builds over time. It’s the quality of ease without laziness, clarity without control, and joy without drama.
You don’t have to chase it. Just make a little space for it.
A Gentle Check-In for You
Before you move on with your day, pause for just a moment.
How does your mind feel right now?
Is there restlessness? (Rajas)
Heaviness or fog? (Tamas)
A sense of steadiness or lightness? (Sattva)
What’s one small thing you could do—or not do—to support your mind where it is?
This isn’t a quiz. There’s no right answer. It’s just a way to notice.
And that noticing is often where sattva begins.
In Closing
The mind is always shifting. That’s not a flaw—it’s nature. Rajas and tamas will visit. They’re part of the rhythm. But sattva can be cultivated. It can be invited in, again and again, with softness, curiosity, and choice.
Noticing the gunas in daily life isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about getting to know yourself—and offering a little more grace to the person who lives inside your mind.
As you move through your day, try noticing which quality is shaping your mind—and what small shift might bring you a little closer to balance.
I’d love to hear from you, dear reader—what’s dancing through your mind most often: clarity, chaos, or the irresistible pull of the couch?
Until next time,
Some days feel so heavy, like this morning, when my mind felt cloudy and my body was damp and weak from my intense night sweats. But playing soft jazz music, lighting my vanilla candle, and a enjoying a warm mug of tea allowed to wake up slowly, gently and helped me to face a busy Monday morning.
Love this, I woke up feeling restless and uneasy, I’m already feeling a bit more sattva just by reading your post. Thank you