The Three Gunas and the Summer of 2025

The three gunas (a Sanskrit word) in yoga philosophy are considered to be fundamental qualities or interlacing forces that shape our thoughts, actions, and experiences. They are primary energies that are present in all that we hear, smell, see, taste and touch. The three gunas shape the world. We try to balance them through our senses and interactions with Nature.

Briefly they are named:

Sattva – Purity: This is a quality of harmony and balance and the most desirable guna because when it is dominant, we will tend to be calm and compassionate. 

Sattvic food is healthy, natural, easy to digest and promotes physical and mental well-being. Consider consuming fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and most dairy products. These foods are rich in prana (life force) and essential nutrients. 

The natural beauty of a clear, serene, cool summer day is sattvic in quality.

There may be a gentle breeze and clean air quality. This summer we have experienced many of these days. 

Rajas – Action: This quality is characterized by energy, movement, ambition and desire. However when unbalanced it can lead to excessive cravings and restlessness.

A rajasic diet includes foods that are stimulating and energizing. These foods are spicy, salty, sour or pungent. Examples are chili peppers, onions, fried food and even coffee. They can provide a quick burst of energy but in excess can disrupt our digestive equilibrium resulting in insomnia and anxiety. 

A rajasic climate could be an environment that is stimulating and fast paced. Think about the bright lights, loud noises and the stimulation of an outdoor concert on a hot summer night. Initially it is enjoyable, but constant loud bombardment can be disturbing. The heat waves of this summer, along with the storms and floods, demonstrate an excess of rajasic energy. This summer we have also experienced these hot summer days. 

Tamas – Darkness: This guna represents inertia and dullness and can manifest as laziness, ignorance and delusion. Tamasic food is heavy, stagnant and can lead to sluggishness and lethargy. Meat, highly processed and stale food, and an overabundance of fat and alcohol are examples of tamasic food. 

In terms of climate – exposure to air pollution from fires can cause lethargy and other health issues. The excessive heat can cause inertia . Exposure to the increasing amounts of tick born illnesses no doubt causes  fatigue and significant health issues. This summer we are also faced with these concerns.

Finding a balance between the three gunas may be challenging. That being said, I am aware of these climate disturbances, even in my latitude and longitude, Yet I am blessed to live in mainly a moderate climate in a rural community. An organic garden and local farmer’s market provides us with a mainly sattvic diet. 

We are certainly enjoying the music and art venues in our area without over indulgence and can do our best to protect ourselves from exposure to hot sun by using sunscreen and drinking lots of water, and we try to avoid exposure to tick borne illnesses by using insect repellent. 

Going forward I will illustrate in prose and photos my impressions of Spring and Summer in my environment.

Early Spring 

First of all there is something about the sky, approaching Copake from any road – no matter.

Ten minutes  out of town, the sky becomes wider and the colors magical-any season – the hills and fields shimmering – contrasting light – weathered grey and stone washed red barns, intersect as the road curves and there are angles of light and shadow – misty at dawn and powdery at dusk – fields of gold and tilled soil in toffee brown and patchwork pastures of verdant green.

This Spring approached slowly – every subtle change was intensely felt – birds peeping out daffodils – then suddenly tulips – then blazing yellow shrubs, wild cherry trees, magnolias – pink, white, red and then lilacs and phlox.

This Spring I have been drinking up these changes slowly, like sipping a fine wine, aware of each distinct flavor.

Suddenly Summer 

However it is now Summer and our flower garden is ablaze with zinnias – orange and yellow and rosy pink echinacea, sun flowers, bumble bees and butterflies. 

Our vegetable garden is full of beans, zucchini,  greens,  peppers and the tomatoes are coming. Today is cool and calm but we are recovering from a heat wave and a rain storm. 

Here is another prose:  

Fields of Red Clover – Late Spring 

Today we walked by a field of strikingly beautiful red clover,  Sun drenched.

You kneeled down to take amazing photos – walking on the tan dirt path leading to two clover fields with a back drop of the grassy Taconic  hills and a silver silo in the distance.

All under a mid day cornflower blue sky, cumulus clouds so fluffy that I wanted to rest in them.

We were on the Rail Trail. Wild pink purple phlox, yellow jewel weed and one red columbine you noticed amid the weeds.

This is one thing I love about you – you notice – you notice – even when your mind is clouded by the recent losses in our lives.

The shimmering of the one quaking Aspen on the path. No other tree has leaves that dance in this way. We enjoyed the vibrations of the leaves on a clear late spring day. 

Here is a poem I like :

Traveler, there is no road,
The road is made by walking,
By walking the road is made, 
And when you look back you see a path
That you will never walk again
Only wakes upon the sea

    ~ by Antonio Machado, translated from Spanish 

Is there or is there not a pre-determined path?

We create our own way by our beliefs, behaviors and by our actions. Our actions shape our life’s journey. 

So happy we made the choice to take the red clover walk -phlox, columbine, shimmering aspen, blue sky. Our road, our day, ours alone. 

If only the actions of society could shape a peaceful world…