It’s 7am and your alarm sounds, jolting you from sleep. Before you can blink your eyes open, your thoughts are racing to places far beyond your bedroom. “I’ll get the coffee started,” you tell yourself, “and eat breakfast on the way to work. I’ve got that lunch meeting, then a doctor’s appointment—and I can’t forget to pay the electric bill! I’ll figure out dinner on the way home from getting the kids at school…. ”
Does this routine sound familiar to you? If so, you have plenty of company. Of the three gunas (natural, essential energies), rajas is the dominant and active force within us that propels us into being overwhelmed, overworked and overloaded. This rajasic state rules the lives of many of us in the West, as evidenced by our constant engagement with some form of activity—or for some of us, our constant engagement with several activities at once. Though skipping out on our yoga practice can free up much needed time, it is often during these times of busy-ness that we need our practice the most. It might seem counterintuitive, but sometimes, the secret to fulfilling the many responsibilities of life is in stopping long enough to breathe.
