How food affects the mind

Yoga and gunas: Upgrade the quality of your life

What is the current quality of your life?

Take this quiz and find out what quality of life you are leading right now.

1. Your meals mostly contain

A. Freshly prepared food which is gently spiced.
B. Food which has a strong flavor such as extremely sweet, salty, hot food. Examples: vinegar, pickle.
C. Food kept overnight in the fridge, pungent food, pizzas, burgers, sodas and fast food.
D. None of the above.

2. Your parents or boss give you a task to complete

A. You work on the task joyfully. Even if you do not achieve the expected result, you do not lose your enthusiasm and continue to work towards your goal.
B. You get either extremely excited or extremely upset about the task. You get upset and lose interest if you do not achieve your goal.
C. You work on the task even though you find the task quite disgusting. "Oh! I shouldn't be doing this" goes on in your mind all the time.
D. None of the above.

3. How much time does it take for you to complete your task?

A. I happily work on my to-do list and complete it in the stipulated time.
B. I have so many ideas so I take some time to complete the task.
C. I like to enjoy things and do it at my own pace.
D. None of the above.

4. Some people greet you, "Hello! How are you?" Your response?

A. You return the greeting politely.
B. You wonder what they want and why they are being so sweet to you.
C. You think, "How arrogant! They know too well I am miserable still they are asking me how I am doing!"
D. None of the above.

There are three gunas or qualities that affect your day-to-day life: sattva, rajas and tamas. Explaining how they affect the quality of our life, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says in Patanjali Yoga Sutras, “Three gunas come into our life in cycles. When sattva comes, there is balance, alertness, knowledge, interest, lightness and joy in everything. When Rajo-guna comes, more desires, selfishness, restlessness and sadness arise in us. When Tamo-guna comes, delusion, attachment, lack of knowledge, lethargy, all this comes. These three come in life, turn by turn.” Though all three qualities come in turns, we can keep our levels of sattva high with the help of yoga and enjoy the benefits of a higher quality of life.
Let's see what is the current quality of your life.

Mostly "A"s

You have clear and logical thinking, sharp intelligence, good health, freshness and lightness in the body. When sattva dominates our environment and body, we feel light, happy, pleasant, joyful, alert, focused, creative, helpful and energetic. There is happiness and peace. You tend to acquire healthier habits. You prefer food which is healthier. You are quick in responding to a situation and efficient at your work. You desire to meditate more.
“The more sattva or purity rises in your life, the more easily your tasks get accomplished. If you put in a lot of effort and the result turns out to be less or below your expectations, it means that there is a lack of sattva or purity in life.”- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Mostly "B"s

The dominating quality in your life is rajas or rajo guna. You have lots of thoughts, are restless, there are too many desires and too many things to be done. You swing between being very happy or extremely sad. Take a break, meditate.

Mostly "C"s

Tamo guna is dominating in your life. Rajas and tamas are responsible for activity and rest at our mind and body levels, respectively. We cannot ‘act’ without a certain level of rajas and cannot have ‘sleep’ without a certain level of tamas. They have their own place in our lives and are healthy when in balance. However, when tamas dominates, it can bring delusion, wrong understanding, and dullness.

Ensure that your sattva level is high when you are going to discuss an important deal or doing something very important.

Enjoy the game of the three gunas! With yoga techniques you can ensure that you always emerge the winner.