Observing The Gurvadi Gunas
In Ayurveda, balance is the key to well-being.
One of the fundamental concepts that help us understand balance and imbalance is the Gurvadi Gunas… which are the 20 fundamental attributes found in nature, within us, and in all aspects of life. These qualities exist in opposing pairs and influence our physical, mental, and emotional states.
By understanding them, we can make mindful choices to restore balance when needed.
For example, if we feel overheated, we can cool down with foods and practices that embody the opposite quality. If we feel sluggish, we can introduce lightness and movement to energise ourselves.
hot – cold
soft – hard
rough – smooth
static – mobile
dense – flowing
light – heavy
gross – subtle
cloudy/slimy – clear
dry – wet
dull – sharp
Understanding the Gunas allows us to access how our body and mind are functioning and what we can do to cultivate harmony.
Since our bodies are in a constant state of change, like nature, referring back to the Gunas helps us make adjustments if an imbalance occurs. We can use diet (ahar), lifestyle (vihar), and practices to counteract excesses and bring harmony back to our system.
As part of my Ayurvedic Health Counselor course at Hale Pule, one of our assignments was to step into nature and observe the Gurvadi Gunas in action. This experience gave me a deeper understanding of how these fundamental qualities shape the world around us, and I felt inspired to share one of my observations… i hope it inspires you to see what you observe next time you are out exploring x
The sun hung low in the sky, not yet reaching the mid-day peak but the sticky heat was evident as I walked down to my local beach, smelling the frangipanis along the way... forever observing my surroundings... the air carrying whispers of the seasons turning.. fall is coming. Though summer lingers here, there is a subtle softness now... a gradual shift in the way the breeze (vayu) moves, in the way the light bends. The body senses these transitions before the mind names them. A knowing stirs deep within. I smile...
To meet the summer heat, I surrendered to its opposite. I stepped into the water (jala), the ever-moving, ever-adapting element that carries no resistance. It engulfed me, cool and alive, a reminder that motion is its nature. And when I emerged, wet and weightless, I found the earth (prithvi)—rough, steady, unmoving. I sat upon a warm rock, yielding to stillness, allowing the sun to dry me.
Opposites meeting in perfect harmony: heat (hot/ushna) and coolness (cold/shita), motion (mobile/chala) and stillness (static/sthira), wetness (wet/snigdha) and dryness (dry/ruksha), roughness (rough/khara) and smoothness (smooth/slakshna), softness (soft/mridu) and hard (hard/kathina).
It is a simple act, but the body understands... balance.As I sat, watching the waves breathe against the shore, I noticed my thoughts drifting in and out, some fluid and clear, others jagged with ego’s grasp. I pondered... do ego-driven actions always feel rough, scraping against the grain of our being? And do soul-driven ones flow with ease, like water finding its way around stone? Perhaps. Or perhaps it is simply that when the mind is clouded, everything feels unsettled, heavy with resistance. But when we nurture our inner flame, our Agni, when we live in alignment with nature, with clarity and lightness, thoughts become spacious, reflections of a sattvic mind.
Lately, I have been moving through life with this awareness... listening to the body, trusting its quiet wisdom. The Gurvadi Gunas, these qualities that shape existence, have become my guide. Not through rigid study, but through experience. Through feeling. What a gift...
So, I am choosing to check in regularly, to pause in the midst of it all and ask, “How do I actually feel/need in this moment?” And then, with gentle curiosity, “What can i do to seek balance?”
Because balance is not found... it is created, moment by moment, breath by breath.