Wk. 72 COMPACT – Gunas – Tamas

Gunas are the three interdependent modes, tendencies or qualities of Prakriti which creates the essential aspects of all nature—energy, matter and consciousness.
This class focuses on Tamas Guna that conceals the presence of consciousness. It is a force that we all can be affected by and it causes dullness, darkness, hopelessness, lack of inspiration, apathy, boredom, stubbornness and ignorance through its power to obscure the truth. It is said that Tamas is the darkest and heaviest density of ignorance (Avidya).

Tama’s nature is heavy. It creates lethargy, sadness, procrastination, self-doubt and depression in your being. However, Tamas guides us towards healing by providing the necessary rest, relaxation and sleep we need to have in order to function properly. Obviously a balance in Tamas is key for a healthy consciousness.

Tamas Guna is the Downward motion, Apana Vayu the movement of death, decay and cessation. It is associated with the Exhale, likened to the last breath we will take in life. There is a lot to be learned by studying the exhale pattern. We hang on out in the exhale when we feel tired, exhausted, drained and lethargic.But we use the exhale pattern to provide the necessary rest, relax, restore, renew & sleep we need. 

There are going to be periods in life where grief, sorrow and trauma is like the dark veil that covers our mind, heart and humanity.Tamas is a part of the spectrum of life. Yin Yang. Good Bad. Right Wrong. Virtuous Non-Virtuous. Using the tools that Yoga provides to help manage this in a productive way is what this practice aims to accomplish. 

So to contextualise this for practice, Tamasic Poses can be more passive poses that ground and are more restorative. Hip openers, forward bends, seated and supine poses. It can also be those that connect you with your integral strength, mass and stability.
To work with a Tamasic State and get out of it we need to, start off stimulating and activating some prana to wake a tamasic person up. Moving and focusing on inhaling patterns to receive energy and light of inspiration. Then work to direct that energy to heal, restore and alleviate some of the Tamasic darkness and bathe in the prana created in practice.