In Ayurveda we meet the principle of 3 Gunas - qualities that categorize behavior and impact of food or activity upon one’s body and mind. By understanding these categories and their influence we are able to build the diet and activity we need to reach a particular state of mind and body. People living in Western countries are not used to such an abstract categorization, but from my experience I can confirm that it brings more clarity into my doings and food I chose.

- sattva (”being”, “entity”) - lucidity, purity, balance, light, consciousness. Dominance of this guna usually means that individual is optimistic, kind, compassionate and thoughtful. Think: do you know any people of this kind? How often do you experience this state of mind? What is it connected to?

- rajas (”air”, “atmosphere”) - force, activity. Rajas guna creates our desires, aspiration to own something. It also brings us fears for losing things we have and people we love. Individual with rajas dominance loses tranquility; if rajas force gets very strong, person becomes a hostage of own desires. Look around. Isn’t rajas the type of most people we meet nowadays?

- tamas (”darkness”, “obscurity”) - negative, lethargic, dull, sleepy. Tamas guna brings person into passive state of mind, when desires and aspirations become misty and distant. Person may gain a self-destructive mood following ruinous ideas and actions (smoking is a tamas action in long time perspective). Everyone has experienced tamas increase after a heavy meal, when the only thing you want is a short nap. Try to remember: do you know someone with a permanent tamas dominance?

Try to recollect, what food and activity brings you to the state of sattva? rajas? tamas? How did you feel yourself after the last meal, - can you pick one guna to describe the state or was it a combination of gunas?

The easiest way to balance gunas is by proper cooking and diet.

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You are what you eat. I’ve started this 12 rules article in one of previous posts to help readers correct their diet and start eating in a more healthy way. Any practice, including yoga, will be times more effective if supported by wholesome nutrition; and some Indian schools of yoga even start education with kriyas - special body cleaning practices - before studying postures or breath techniques.

I will briefly describe the first two rules I wrote about:

1. Eat to live; don’t live to eat

Do you often eat favorite cookies/sweets/chocolate blaming yourself and promising to stop “after this last one”? Do you eat much when you are stressed? Do you automatically eat in front of computer or TV? Do you eat before going to sleep? If you do, this article will help you slightly change the way you eat to become healthier and happier. Food is an instrument, a fuel for your body. Using this or that fuel, your body will feel better or worse. Everyone wants to live a longer, healthier, happier life, - and that is why we should choose good fuel that will not harm our body. It’s very simple in theory Try to treat the food in this way.

2. Hunger is truth, appetite is a lie

Whenever you want to eat and hold out your hand for something tasty, try to think and analyze - “Am I feeling hungry? Is it a real hunger? Or am I bored, stressed, used to eat more then I need?”. Be honest with yourself and try to become aware of every little thing you eat.

Next step is to experience a real hunger. Dedicate your day (why not Friday or weekend?) to explore a real feeling of hunger. Eat less for breakfast and take a long walk during lunch. Don’t eat anything before next meal. Watch how your hunger appears and grows, let it fill your thoughts and body. Remember this feeling. During next few days try to work out a new habit - to eat when you feel hungry, not when you see something tasty.

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I got several feedbacks from the community on personal importance of healthy eating. We discussed Overeating as one of obstacles on the way to Yoga and Health. “We are what we eat” and we realize this truth very soon if start following basic rules. I will split 12 basic rules of healthy nutrition to several posts and I hope to cover each fully, bring you essential value of each.

As a result of a habit, advertising, stress and rush in our lives, current society has altered those eating concepts our forefathers followed. In order to revive our natural feeling of food that is required by our body, we can use several simple rules. Following these rules will save and strengthen your health. I have accumulated these advises from several Yoga teachers and use them in my everyday life for more then a year, advising them to students and friends. You will notice first results in a week if your nutrition is not very healthy and in a month if it is more or less healthy (this estimation is very rough, as it generally depends on your sensitivity).

I’m not giving “how to lose weight diet”, but instead I’m talking about healthy nutrition Yoga may advise.

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“6 reasons destroying your practice: overeating, physical and mental overstraining, garrulity, too strict rules compliance (limiting food to fruits only or bathe in cold water only, any rule coming from mind, not confirmed by the body and awareness), instability of mind and spending long time among people who don’t share your aspiration.”

Swatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Talking about things that hinder our practice, one should carefully evaluate own obstacles. Sit for a moment and tell yourself, why you are doing yoga. Having a goal is important; we get too defocused without motivation. In Buddhism practitioners use “preliminary practices”, grounded on development of deep motivation to go ahead and practice.

Be fully aware of your goals and take a glance over your daily life, what stops you from practicing regularly. Swatmarama emphasizes common obstacles that make our practice less effective. Let’s go deeper and see what every reason means to us personally. In this post I will cover the first one, Overeating.

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