Did you know that you can calm your mind with food?

One of my free resources is a Sattvic Shopping List and I get asked, what is that? What is sattvic? Is it about comfort eating?

I would like to shed some light on the concept of Sattva and its effect on your mind. And no, it has nothing to do with comfort eating, although it’s very tasty. It’s all about the qualities that underlie everything, including food items and us.

Let’s get philosophical for a moment.

The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna, the charioteer of the warrior Prince Arjuna, and a distressed Arjuna on the eve of a massive battle resulting from a longstanding family feud. Arjuna was leading one side, and opposite him, he saw his cousins, teachers, and other family members, so he broke down, seeing himself unable to fight. The dialogue of the Bhagavad Gita arose. Lord Krishna explains to him over 18 chapters the purpose of his life and how to fulfil and stay happy.

You might ask, what this has to do with my shopping list?

Well, two chapters of the Bhagavad Gita deal with the Gunas, the three universal qualities or attributes and Shri Krishna explains their importance.

What is Sattva or Sattvic?

The three Gunas, or qualities or attributes, are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

In English, they are translated as balance, activity, and inertia, which arise from nature and bind the indestructible (your soul) to the body, according to the Bhagavad Gita XIV, 5.

We experience these qualities all the time; for example, they are present throughout different times of the day. Sattva is the morning quality when the atmosphere is still clear and quiet. He describes Sattva as pure, luminous, and without obstructions.

But Shri Krishna also points out that we will see certain qualities as more favourable than others, but that even Sattva will bind us to happiness and knowledge to which the mind becomes attached (BG XIV, 6).

Is it wrong to wish for happiness? Of course not. We all want to be happy; nobody thinks, ‘I really want to be unhappy today?!’, right?

But when we become obsessed with it and can’t deal with the unavoidable opposite, when things go wrong, it becomes an issue.

Circling back to the connection with the shopping list, food items with a sattvic quality bring balance and clarity.

Let’s look at Rajas!

The seed of passion is rajas (restless activity), Arjuna, which gives rise to the thirst (of the senses) and, thereafter the bondage of (selfish) attachment. This, in turn, leads to compulsive behaviour. BG XIV, 7

Rajas is the restless activity, the quality of the day. We are all busy during the day, working, shopping, commuting, etc. Naturally, we feel like doing something during the day, and unless we are ill, we feel the need to get up and do what needs to be done.

Rajas activates your senses. You see something you like, you want it. You smell food; you get hungry. You hear music, for example, you start dancing, and so forth. In short and very generally speaking, input or information is coming through your senses, and you react to it.

Back to the shopping list, food items of rajasic quality bring that restless quality, and the wanting to have, which leads to the compulsive behaviour that Lord Krishna mentions.

Now, let’s look at Tamas!

But know that the quality of tamas veils the mind in ignorance. This, in turn, deludes and binds all beings through carelessness, laziness, and over-sleeping (dullness). BG XIV, 8.

Tamas always sounds pretty bad and has all the qualities that we don’t want to be associated with, right? But we need tamas, because it is the natural quality of the night. Imagine you would always be in a rajasic mode; you couldn’t sleep, correct?

Again, food items of a tamasic quality bring just that. They make you feel lazy and sleepy; if you need to do something, you just don’t feel like it and don’t care either. I certainly know that quality very well.

Introduction to Sattvic Eating

Having explored the three gunas a little, you might see the connection between the gunas and food.

As mentioned above, though, all the qualities have their place and are all needed.

Ayurveda considers all food items as medicine and all food items as poison. It depends on who is eating them, when and where.

Please keep that in mind. If we get obsessed, even with something good, we create issues for ourselves.

Sattvic food is the food recommended in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In the first chapter, verse 62, Svatmarama says:

These are wholesome for the best yogis: wheat, rice, barley, milk, ghee, sugar, butter, honey, dry ginger, cucumbers etc., the fine potherbs mung dahl, etc. and pure water.

These are all considered sattvic, apart from wheat, but they are super nourishing and won’t aggravate the mind to become rajasic or tamasic.

You might have heard that some people avoid eating garlic and onions because they are naturally rajasic, which aggravates the mind.

The 17th chapter of the Bhagavad addresses how the qualities affect the nature of people, in particular their faith. But it mentions as well which food they prefer:

Those of tranquil temperament prefer foods that increase vitality, longevity and strength; foods that enhance physical health and make the mind pure and cheerful; foods with substance and natural flavour, foods that are fresh, with natural oils and agreeable to the body.
Those of a restless, compulsive temperament prefer foods that are very spicy or very sour, piping hot, bitter-dry or quite salty. Such foods give rise to discomfort, pain and disease and, therefore, dismay.
Those of a dull and lazy temperament choose foods that are stable and tasteless, overcooked or left overnight, spoiled, rotting or even putrid. Such foods have lost their vitality and nutrition.
BG XVII, 7-9

The Top Sattvic Foods for a Calm Mind!

What are these foods that increase vitality, longevity, and strength, foods that enhance physical health and make the mind pure and cheerful?

Doesn’t that sound like you just want those?

Increasing strength and vitality, according to Ayurveda, are foods containing mainly the sweet taste, but a balanced meal should contain all six tastes.

Here are a few examples of sattvic foods:

fresh sweet fruits, like peaches, apples, pears, plums, grapes, apricots, figs,
seasonal vegetables, such as fennel, kale, chard, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, beetroot,
rice, quinoa, amaranth, barley, oats,
mung beans, lentils,
milk (non-homogenised), yoghurt (homemade)
ghee, coconut oil
turmeric, cardamom, coriander, cumin, fennel.

DOWNLOAD YOUR SATTVIC SHOPPING LIST HERE

How Sattvic Eating Reduces Stress and Anxiety

As mentioned before, the sattvic quality induces calm, balance and clarity.

Stress is a rajasic quality. You experience stress because there are expectations involved—expectations that you have on yourself regarding a timeframe, for example, the quality of work or what you think others expect from you.

When expectations are not fulfilled, they can lead to you feeling disappointed, angry, and frustrated, all strong emotions that unsettle the mind.

When you feel stressed, you might want to drink coffee, a glass of wine, or beer to wind down. You might crave spice curry, rajasic food, which will keep you in the loop of restlessness and aggravation.

However, if you are in the same stressful situation but stay with sattvic food, its balancing, calm, and clear qualities will help calm the mind.

Bearing in mind that all foods can be medicine, if you experience strong anxiety, eating tamasic food temporarily can be helpful for slowing the mind down with their dull qualities.

Equally if you feel have and dull a spicy curry or cup of ginger tea might give you a boost to snap out of the inertia.

Sattvic Eating Habits for Everyday Life

First, let’s address a myth. There are people out there who think that sattvic food equals bland food. Far from it! Spices such as fennel, cumin, coriander, ginger, and cinnamon, combined with vegetables, dals, and grains, create a super delicious meal.

Meal Planning

Some stress is unavoidable; there is nothing that we can do. But some things are avoidable. Not knowing what to cook is one of those. Being organised is super helpful in a busy life. Planning meals prevents us from getting into bad routines of consuming highly processed tamasic food or snacking. It also helps us nourish ourselves well with suitable food, even during stress, anxiety, and worry.

Ayurveda recommends eating meals at the table without distractions, avoiding TV and radio, reading the paper, etc., focusing only on the food and chewing it thoroughly.

Another way to connect to the gunas is by observing how you feel. For example, after you have eaten, notice if you feel

heavy or light,
clear or dull,
stable or mobile.

It might be confusing initially, but you get more familiar with your inner world after a while. This is an unassuming but very valuable exercise.

Spiritual and Mental Benefits of Sattvic Foods

At the start of this post, we discussed why Yoga recommends sattvic food to keep the mind from getting aggravated and restless. There are obviously so many opportunities for this to happen, so we exclude what we can.

Meditating is easier when the mind is settled and calm, and we are more likely to get on the mat when we feel light.

Staying with sattvic foods makes our lives easier if we want to pursue these disciplines.

Final Thoughts

With sattvic foods, you can profoundly impact your mental and spiritual well-being.

Rooted in Yoga philosophy and the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, the three Gunas—Sattva (balance), Rajas (activity), and Tamas (inertia)—help us understand how different foods influence our state of mind.

Sattvic foods, characterised by their purity and ability to enhance clarity and calmness, are essential for maintaining a balanced and peaceful mindset.

Incorporating these foods into our daily diet can reduce stress and anxiety, fostering a tranquil and vibrant life. By choosing sattvic foods, we align our eating habits with the goal of achieving a calm, balanced, and joyful existence.