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Writer's picturejaclyn king

Five Ways to Increase Your Sattva

Have you been reacting with strong emotions lately? Making impulsive choices or giving in to temptation too often? Struggling with depression, anxiety, or negative thoughts? Maybe you are feeling scatterbrained and your passions are all over the place, or you are lethargic and having hard time with concentration. If you feel like your life is out of your control or you are lost, frozen, or becoming too reactive or destructive, you may have an imbalance in your energies and a need to increase your Sattva.

In Ayurvedic tradition, there are three qualities, or Gunas, that are present in everything and everyone on earth. They are energies which humans possess within themselves; Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Tamas is the destructive and chaotic tendency, Rajas is the passionate, creative quality, and Sattva represents purity, clarity, balance, and harmony. All humans possess all three Gunas within themselves, and there is a constant interplay among these three qualities in us that drive all of our decisions, reactions, and behaviors. While none of the Gunas are considered to be better or more desirable than the others (after all, destruction is an important force for creating change and life is dull without passion and creativity), it's important to find balance among the three and recognize when one may be becoming an overriding force. Here are the top five ways to increase your Sattva:


Take Care of Your Body

The most important thing you can do to help increase your peace is to take care of your physical self. Exhausted me is stressed out, hungry me is irritated, and unhealthy me is full of self-loathing. When you feel strong, healthy, and well rested it is so much easier to think clearly and deal with emotions. I know that when I am exhausted I cry easily, snap at people, and have lots of negative thoughts about myself. The same goes for when I haven’t been eating well or getting enough exercise. Keeping your body clean and eating “clean” foods, like lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water is one way to help clean up your energy and dispel emotional weight. The old adage “you are what you eat” couldn’t be any more true here; loading up on processed foods, sugar, alcohol, and caffeine wreaks havoc on your Gunas and can create an imbalance where your destructive, chaotic, or overly passionate qualities can take over. Keeping your physical body clean and healthy is the first step in magnifying your Sattva.


Consider Your Media Consumption

Just like the foods that you put into your body, the media that you consume can have a major impact on your inner balance and purity. I know I’ve said this a million times but doom scrolling, reading news headlines over and over, and watching violent or disturbing movies is the same thing as drinking a bottle of vodka and eating a pile of candy! I used to love watching horror movies when I was younger; the Exorcist, Poltergeist, and Dawn of the Dead were my favorites. I have also always been interested in politics and the news. But there are certain times in my life when I need to recognize an imbalance in my energies and scale back on disturbing images and ideas. In winter time, when I often struggle with depression, I will not watch any TV shows or movies about war or crime. I make it a point to never consume any media that shows children or animals being harmed, rape, or domestic violence. I know what seeing these things does to me emotionally; it’s like directly injecting toxic waste into my brain. I do not have notifications turned on for any social media; I’ll look at it when I feel like it, not when that little red bubble tells me to! I don’t encourage you to completely bury your head in the sand, either; it’s important to know what’s going on in the world. But recognizing times in your life when you need to protect your peace by putting down that cell phone is key to increasing your Sattva.


Keep Good Company

Let’s face it, you can’t choose the family you are born into, and for most of your young life, who you spend time with is based on the house you live in and the kids in your class at school. But the beauty of becoming an adult is your ability to choose who to spend your precious time with. Do you have a friend who is always asking for help with everything and saps your emotional energy? A family member whose name on your caller ID sets your teeth on edge before you even answer the phone? Maybe some colleagues in the lunch room whose conversations are always doom and gloom. You do NOT have to spend time with these people! Just because the phone rings doesn’t mean you have to pick it up! Eat lunch somewhere else, tell that friend “sorry but I have other plans.” Protect your peace at all costs, even if this means being alone for a little while before you find new company. Maybe you have filled your life with so many unwanted social interactions that you haven’t left any time or space for your true tribe to find you. There’s no need to explain to people or make excuses for your sudden absence from their lives. Just quietly back away from the negativity and pivot to a place where you are open to discovering more nurturing, supportive, and enjoyable friendships. Sattva means de-cluttering and making space; do this with your social life by clearing away relationships that are no longer serving you.


De-clutter Your Space

Speaking of decluttering! One great way to increase your Sattva is by physically clearing and cleaning your space. Don’t take this to mean your home needs to be the picture of perfection at all times. Rather, think about the space where you spend the most amount of time. Maybe it’s your bedroom or living room or office. Do you feel safe and comfortable in this space? Is it welcoming? Are you able to think clearly and remain calm when you spend time there? Nothing feels better than sitting down at a desk that has just been organized and wiped down, or getting into a bed with fresh sheets on it. Clean with intention, choosing tasks that will lead to the most pleasure for you down the road. For me, this means having my kitchen counters cleared at the end of the day because I feel calmer relaxing in my living room with a clean kitchen within eye shot. I like to have my bed made every morning because it’s nice to get into it at the end of the day and my desk organized because I spend a lot of time in my home office. There are lots of cluttered spaces in my home (my nightstand, the bathroom vanity, the junk drawer in the kitchen) but this is not clutter that affects my peace, so I do not prioritize keeping them clean. Increase your Sattva, your sense of balance and peace, by mimicking the inner clarity you seek in the physical space around you.


Maintain a Regular Mindfulness Practice

It all comes back to yoga, doesn’t it? Of course it does! Seriously, though, our minds are full of random thoughts and clutter, just like that drawer in my kitchen that I can barely close because of the junk I've collected in there! We spend so much time thinking about the past and worrying about the future, running scenarios in our minds, ruminating on our problems, and doing mental acrobatics that it's nearly impossible to think clearly about any one thing for more than a second or two. Talk about wrecking our peace! Now, there are lots of ways to practice mindfulness; that intentional stepping away from the thoughts. But I have found yoga to be the easiest. I think that is because when I am using my body and focusing on my physical sensations, my breath, and the postures, I am mindful by force; I can’t be worrying about tomorrow when I am busy controlling the breath and body. Increasing your Sattva is all about clearing space, and your mind is no exception. A regular yoga and meditation practice helps you to not only visualize the mind’s clutter, but release thoughts that no longer serve you, creating that mental space that brings with it a sense of calm, purity and balance that is so important to our mental health.


Don’t try to change everything at once, which would only create more angst and anxiety in your life. Enhancing your Sattva energy isn’t about having an immaculate home, meditating for hours each day, secluding yourself from all social interaction or tossing your cell phone all in one day! As always, try walking the middle way, doing everything with intention and in moderation. Pick one thing that you feel most drawn to and do that thing first or most often. As you find time and energy, notice other aspects of your life that could be increasing or decreasing your Sattva each day and make minor adjustments. Enjoy the journey and love yourself.


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If you’re curious about which Guna might be the most powerful driving force in your life at the moment, you can answer just a few questions on this quiz from Yoga Basics to find out:




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