Staying Centered in the Storm: The Three Gunas and Yogic Clarity in Times of War

There are moments — especially in times of conflict — when life feels overwhelming.

Grief floods the system, fear pushes us to act, and exhaustion pulls us under.

In those moments, a question arises: How can I stay human, stay present, and not lose myself?

Yoga offers an ancient, powerful framework:Not to escape the world, but to see clearly what moves within us — and to respond with awareness, not reactivity.

This is the practice of discernment. Of compassion.Of returning, again and again, to our deeper center.

The Three Gunas – Energies That Shape Our Inner World

Yogic philosophy teaches that everything in nature — including our own consciousness —

is woven from three essential qualities:

• Tamas – heaviness, inertia, stillness, darkness.

• Rajas – energy, action, movement, restlessness.

• Sattva – clarity, balance, presence, peace.

These energies are always at play within us.

Sometimes one dominates. Sometimes they dance together in complex ways.

The goal isn’t to eliminate them — they’re part of being human.Rather, yoga teaches us to recognize what’s active within us at any moment… and to nurture the rise of sattva, the quality of light and discernment that helps us hold the rest with grace.

Tamas – When Everything Shuts Down

Tamas often appears in times of trauma as withdrawal, shutdown, numbness.In war, it may look like deep fatigue, emotional disconnection, or wanting to disappear under the covers and never get up.

But tamas is not the enemy. It can be a call for deep rest — a system trying to protect itself from collapse.

When paired with sattva, tamas becomes healthy sleep, quiet healing, grounded stillness.Without sattva, it can spiral into despair.

Yogic lens: Take one action: Wash your face. Drink water. Make your bed.

Tiny movements = big shifts. Affirmation: I honor the need to rest, and I invite a little more light into this moment

Rajas – When There's Too Much Fire

Rajas fuels action. It drives us to respond, fix, speak out.But without sattva, it becomes overdrive: endless news-scrolling, emotional reactivity, guilt over moments of rest.

Rajas with sattva becomes purposeful action — movement with compassion and clarity.It’s the fire that warms, not the fire that burns us out.

Yogic lens: Redirect the fire: Channel energy into journaling, sweeping, singing, or gentle yoga. Affirmation: I don’t have to act on every impulse. I can choose grounded, loving action

Sattva – Clarity in the Noise

Sattva is not escape. It’s the capacity to remain with what is, without being consumed.

It’s the quality that lets us breathe even in grief, see even through fear, love even in uncertainty. To cultivate sattva is to build a bridge between tamas and rajas — a middle path of presence.

Yogic lens: Put on “sattvic glasses and share it: Offer a kind word, a moment of presence, or a prayer for someone else. Not to ignore the world, but to view it with clarity and compassion. Not to reject the other gunas, but to hold them in gentle awareness.

What the Bhagavad Gita Teaches

In Chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna — a warrior overwhelmed in the middle of the battlefield — turns to Krishna for guidance.

Krishna teaches him about the gunas, and offers a deep truth:

“The one who does not hate when tamas arises, and does not cling when sattva appears —who remains steady through all three —that one is truly free.” (Gita 14.22)

The gunas will arise. Always. But yoga reminds us: we don’t have to react from them automatically. We can pause. Breathe. Choose again — from a deeper, quieter place within.

Try This Simple Check-In

Pause now. Take one slow, deep breath.

Ask yourself: Which guna is most present in me right now? Tamas? Rajas? Sattva?

Then: What’s one small step I can take to support sattva?

A conscious breath. A walk. A sip of tea in silence. A moment of gratitude.

Not to fix everything — but to come back home - to yourself, even briefly.

Holding Yourself Through It All

Yoga doesn’t promise a life without chaos.

It offers a way to see the chaos, hold it, and respond from a place of deep humanity.

In times of crisis, this becomes our most courageous practice:To remain centered in the storm.To witness the inner movements without being thrown off course.To let sattva light the path — not to bypass pain, but to walk through it with heart and steadiness.

This is the practice of the yogi-warrior.And today, the world needs that kind of strength.