Gunas

Everything in this universe has certain Gunas, or qualities and properties. Because of that everything has the potency to either bring you in, or keep you out of balance, depending on the qualities that currently dominate your body (and mind!).

Ayurveda uses the concept of Gurvadi gunas. These are 10 pairs of opposite qualities. An important fact that needs to be remembered when working with the Gunas is that ‘equal increases equal’. To illustrate this.. applying heat creates more heat in the body, or to turn it around, heat diminishes cold.

Equal increases equal

As said, the qualities are applicable to everything around us. By knowing these properties of every matter, situation, emotion and more, you are able to make choices that support your health. Let’s say you go to the beach to get a breath of fresh air on a windy, late autumn day in Europe. You could assign the qualities of light, cold, dry and mobile to this situation. Therefore it may be a smart choice to have warm porridge with milk and spices for breakfast in the morning. This will increase heaviness, warmth and unctuousness in the body, while being stabilizing also. It is an organic way to make sure that the qualities don’t go beyond their borders and start causing problems. If you take it one step further and take into account the properties that are by nature or through imbalance dominantly present in your body, then you’re definitely on the right track!