Yoga for When You're Unmotivated

Hi,

When a new year comes, I often feel motivated and ready for a new start with golden goals. However this new year hit quite hard. I feel a deplete in my mood, a lack of motivation, energy and hope for the future. Being in this mood makes it difficult to take actions to make it better. But luckily I got the tools of Yoga and I know I always can seek hope in the yoga philosophy. So I googled what The Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras telles us about motivation, especially the lack of it, and here is what I found:

In Chapter 14 in The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks about the three Gunas and I realized that the answer to more motivation is here.

What are the three Gunas?

The Three Gunas are the qualities of nature, the energy that influence everything in the world and the universe, including our thoughts, emotions and actions. These are Sattva (clarity), Rajas (activity) and Tamas (inertia).

Sattva is the energy of clarity and balance. It’s the energy of light, peace and positivity. When Stava is strong in your body, you feel strong, calm, clear-minded, and happy. You are thoughtful, kind and focused.

Raja is the energy of activity and power. This energy is about movement, energy and drive. It’s the force of ambition and action. However, if the raja energy is too strong in your body, you can feel restless or stressed.

Tamas is the energy of inertia or darkness and are often associated with depression. This is the energy of heaviness, laziness and confusion. It’s the energy of ignorance and stagnation. When Tamas is strong in your body, you might feel tired, unmotivated or stuck in bad habits.

How does the Gunas work?

The Gunas are forms of energy, and as we know, energy cannot be destroyed - it can only transform. This means that the Gunas are always shifting and interacting. Lets take one day in my life as an example:

When I start my day with meditation I feel a sattvic energy. I feel calm, at peace and centered in myself. One hour later when I rush my way to work I feel Rajasic. I can fell motivated and eager to start my my work, but also stressed if I will be there in time. 8 hours later, when I’m back home, binge-watching Netflix series at the end of the day I can feel tamasic. I feel tired and lazy.

In a spiritual practice and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali encourage us to increase the sattvic energy in our lives, as this energy leads to more harmonious and fulfilling lives with peace and clarity. When we have more of the sattvic energy, we become better persons both for ourself and the community around us.

It’s not easy and we’re all human beings, we’re supposed to have and feel all the Gunas at different times, but if we stop up in our days and start to notice how we’re feeling with the Gunas in our mind, we might get to know our self a little better and start to take better actions toward how we truly want to live our lives.

So I notice a lack of motivation in my life right now. And with this knowledge in mind, I realize that the lack of motivation I’m experiancing can be an indication of excess of Tamas. To counteract this and to find back to my motivation I have to cultivate more Sattva. If you feel a bit like me, here are some activities we can do to increase the sattvic energy right now:

✨ Start your day with making your bed.

✨ Go for a short walk, 5-10 min is enough

✨ Treat yourself with a membership at a bath (I just did this, and I can already tell it will be the best investment this year)

✨ Go do sauna / Ice bathing (If this is something for you)

✨ Clean your home - move furniture around, make it a cozy and nice place to be

✨ Go read a book at the library

✨ Meditate

✨ Spend time outside

✨ Eat fresh wholesome food.

✨ Do some easy/gentle yoga practice. ➡️ Check my YouTube Channel HERE.

I do also have one special January offer for you:

💖 Through January you get 10% discount on my “sleep better with yoga course”. This course can help to increase your satvic energy and is a great way to start the year with good routines. Read more HERE and use the code SOVJAN25 (NB: The course is in Norwegian) 💖

Much Love, 
Vilde Linnea 💓