What The Hell’s a “Guna” and Why Are They In Pairs?
An Introduction to Balance Through Ayurveda
by James Tennant
According to the system of ayurveda, the world — including the humans within it — is composed of five elements: Ether (space), Air, Water, Fire and Earth. These elements have qualities, or gunas, attributed to them. For instance, the cool quality has an affinity to the air element and the hot quality to the fire element. Makes sense so far, right?
We can build on our knowledge of the gunas to maintain health and support our innate constitution. We can also use this knowledge to address a sign or symptom relaying dis-ease in the body/mind. There are two fundamental principles that govern this.
The first principle is: like increases like. For instance, if we spent some time outside on a cloudy, 25-degree day without a sufficiently heavy jacket, and then came inside to drink a big ol’ glass of ice water, we most likely would feel colder.
The second principle is: The opposite guna balances or heals. This is why we pair the gunas. Following the same cold-day scenario, if we instead came in and sat down to a warm bowl of soup, we would most likely feel warmer, or we’d at least begin to head in that direction.
Seems like common sense, and it is. This is one of the examples of how ayurveda can be so practical because we may intuitively be following these principles already. But if we take it a few steps further and apply these concepts to more complex contexts, our minds begin to open up to observing the world and ourselves through gunas. Our work environment, conversations we have with people, our food, even our behavior can be described through the interaction of the gunas.
Within the texts of ayurveda, there are some discrepancies as to which gunas are primary. It’s not to say one text is right and one is wrong; one of the many things that’s great about ayurveda is that scholars can agree to disagree, or even skip disagreeing altogether, and embrace the contradictions of different perspectives. You’ll find, however, that most will consider the following 10 gunas, paired with their opposites, a fairly comprehensive group:
The Fundamental Gunas
Heavy – Light
Slow/Dull – Sharp/Penetrating
Cold – Hot
Oily – Dry
Smooth – Rough
Dense – Liquid
Soft – Hard
Stable – Mobile
Gross – Subtle
Cloudy/Sticky – Clear
If our job has us on our feet all day, walking, moving, and talking excessively, we could associate that with the mobile guna. If this guna gains an accumulative effect in our body and mind, we could see anything from racing thoughts to anxiousness to muscle spasms. This would be due to a disproportionate amount of the mobile quality. As a preventive measure or to balance this, since quitting our job may not be an option, we could make sure we’re incorporating the stable guna into our lives through silent, seated practices. We could work with meditation, gentle seated poses, or maybe just enjoy a cup of warm tea in silence at a table instead of on the train or in the car. Keep in mind that there are other factors involved when assessing food, but the gunas are a good place to start.
Working with the gunas is not an alternative to seeking out professional help when we feel our health is compromised. We should instead see it as a supplement to our health. If we begin to view the world around us and ourselves through the lens of ayurveda, particularly the gunas, we can begin to make more thoughtful decisions. Over time, these choices can lead to improved health and a more balanced approach to living.
photograph by Lowry Pei