Some of my favorite foods are chicken alfredo and mac & cheese. While I am consciously trying to eat healthy, my plans go down the drain when I see these items on the menu.
My yoga teacher connected food to the various gunas and I found it very interesting. 'Guna' refers to the quality or attribute in everything and comes from Hindu philosophy.
There are 3 types of gunas:
- Rajas
- Tamas
- Sattva
Rajas refers to fast, active and aggressive qualities. If you think in terms of food, a good example would be spicy chicken wings. Before you consume them, you do realize that you'll pay later for the spiciness. But they pair well with beer while watching sports and you have them anyway. Spicy and fried foods have rajasic elements.
Tamas refers to slow, dark and chaotic qualities. You can think of chicken alfredo as an example. It has a lot of calories and you know beforehand that it is an unhealthy choice. Once you eat a heavy meal like that, you feel slow and sleepy. Processed foods and heavy meats have tamasic elements.
Sattva refers to harmony, balance and joy. Some example of sattvic foods are whole grains, fruits and vegetables. A salad (like in the pic above) has sattvic elements and is good for the body and soul.
I will make an effort to choose food items that have the sattvic guna and eat right. I hope the switch will help me become healthier and more balanced.
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