The gunas (Sanskrit for strands or qualities) are energetic forces that weave together to form the universe and everything in it. There are three gunas, each with its own unique attributes: Sattva (goodness), Rajas (passion), and Tamas (ignorance). They can also be seen as consiousnes, activity, and passivity, or stability. Chapter 14 of Bhagavad Gita is entitled The Trigunas

 The Gunas come in cycles, you naturally experiences them according to your lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle helps increase Sattva, which in turn balances rajas and Tamas. Animals never overwork, overeat, or over indulge in sex, because they have no freedom. Unlike them, we can overeat and get sick. We can over-indulge in activities and get restless, which is what causes an imbalance in the Gunas that affect the quality of our lives.

The Gunas can be balanced through spiritual practices, a healthy lifestyle and by following a Sattvic diet. Regardless of your religion the purpose of all spiritual practice is to increase the Sattva level in us so we can transcend the three gunas altogether. Unlike Sattva, Rajas is what leads us to suffering, and Tamas to delusion. Hence the importance of putting time aside for spiritual practice. Below are some practices that boost your Sattva:

• Yoga is a great way to settle down restlessness in the body and mind. About 15 to 20 minutes of yoga daily can help calm the nervous system.
• Breathing exercises are an ancient technique specifically meant to increase the oxygen flow in the body. The more oxygen you intake, the more energized you will feel.
• Fasting is an age-old technique which has been prescribed over decades. This is because fasting is the best way to detoxify the body and raise the Sattva. It would be great to incorporate fasting every now and then in your life, even just one day a week, or eat only certain specific foods that are high in Sattva.
• Meditation is one of the best ways to increase Sattva. The more you meditate, the deeper is your meditation and the more Sattva you have.

So, all the basic lifestyle tips that our grandmas taught us are actually of great value.

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”.
“Don’t lose all your health to gain wealth, and then all your wealth to gain health”.
“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”.

A Sattvic diet is one that consists of fresh fruits, all vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fresh milk, and sweet spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, mint, holy basil, etc. Sattvic food items are generally easy to digest and they do not bring any heaviness or dullness in the body. Food having excess of sugar, oil or spices are Rajasic. Non-vegetarian food or food items with too much onion and garlic are  Tamasic. Lastly, it is essential to eat only as much as required so that food is well digested. The body should feel light at all points of time. So the right amount of food, and fresh food which is gently spiced is a great combination to keep the Sattva levels soaring in you.

Ultimately Sattva itself is problematic ---the happiness it gives you can lead to pride. It’s that daunting “holier than thou” feeling. According to Krishna, goodness and virtue are not in themselves spiritual qualities, which is why He advises to squarely rise beyond the three gunas. In the final analysis, happiness itself falls short of transcendence when you become too elated by it.

“The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed”. BG 2.14

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is an alternative medicine widely practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using the treatments, which have also been adapted for Western consumption, One of the most popular are techniques is panchakarma to eliminate toxic elements from the body with five processes aiming at restoring balance of the three gunas by purgation.

Ayurvedic practitioners regard the body, the mind and the personality as three separate elements of a whole person with each element influencing the others. This holistic approach says that there are channels which transport fluids that can be opened up by massage treatment using oils and fomentation. Unhealthy, or blocked, channels are thought to cause disease.

Ayurveda is widely practiced in India and Nepal where public institutions offer formal study in the form of a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and surgery degree (BAMS). The legal standing of practitioners is not equivalent to that of conventional medicine and it is unrecognised in most countries. Several scholars have described the contemporary Indian application of ayurvedic practice as having a more "spiritualised" emphasis to practice found in variants in the West.