We must have clarity to see clearly.

Engage the Fire Element to enhance your mental clarity with Tejas

Vata, Pitta & Kapha usually take the spotlight when talking about Ayurveda.
But, there are also the dosha's vital essences!The vital essences of each dosha are more subtle & affect the mind in various ways. Essentially, they are the fueling forces of each dosha:

Prana is the vital essence of Vata.
Ojas is the vital essence of Kapha.
Tejas is the vital essence of Pitta.

Tejas may be a foreign word to you, but we will explore the concept in depth to help you see how Tejas directly relates to you!

Did you know that your ability to focus is directly connected to Tejas?
Your healthy glow is the Tejas shining through you and your level of discernment is a reflection of that Tejas, too.

Since Tejas is the subtle, vital essence of Pitta, it shares similar qualities. In a sense, Tejas is the spiritual energy of fire. The fire within the mind is what guides one to have ambition, focus, drive & the passion to accomplish. A Pitta person's Tejas is what allows them to have a focused personality. They usually execute goals with a passionate sense of timeliness because they are motivated & have an affinity for planning. Tejas helps one see the path in which they will actualize their dreams into reality.

If this sounds like you, you have a balanced sense of Tejas. If you struggle with timeliness & discernment, you have a depleted sense of Tejas. Vata & Kapha people tend to have lower Tejas - yet they can still activate it!

Let's go over the fluctuations of Tejas you may have as well as how to balance Tejas for optimal clarity.

Signs of Deficient Tejas:

• loss of discrimination

• overwhelmed by options/decisions

• passive

• gullible

• impressionable

• confused about one’s purpose or goals

Signs of Excess Tejas:

• blinded by the light

• hyper critical/judgmental

• closed to new ideas

• cynical

• angry

• self righteous

• sharp speech

• aggression

• hyper focused on work & goals

• lacking compassion

Signs of Balanced Tejas:

• discrimination between truth & illusion - there is a healthy desire to know the truth & the mind is open, but also a healthy level of discernment to determine information’s validity

• courage - fearlessness without arrogance

• passion to learn/discover

• self-discipline

• healthy mental digestion/absorption

• inner and outer radiance!

• clarity

• intelligence

• focus

• determination & dedication

• clear eyes

Balanced Tejas is a healthy desire to know the truth of the world & have an intelligent awareness of every cell in the body.

We could all probably work on our relationship to Tejas…

Fire is the element of transformation & illumination. Applying this to the mind, Tejas processes all sensory information as a part of your essence. After this information is processed, it becomes absorbed by the mind. Just as food is digested by an internal fire, so are thoughts. A strong yet balanced fire allows you to have a truthful perception of your reality. A lack of mental digestive fire leads to confusion, indecisiveness & even overwhelm when presented with options. Passion burns strong & is not easily put out like a fire. When you feel aligned with clarity & able to discipline yourself into completing your goals, your Tejas is working in your favor.

 The Fire Element is directly perceived through the eyes. What we take in through the sense of sight is processed by Tejas. That means we must have clarity to see clearly. The fire of the mind must burn strong & truthful for one to have honest perception. This means that eye care & health correlate as well. Doing a rose water eye wash can benefit your sight as well as clear perception.

We must have clarity to see clearly.

Ways to Raise Tejas:

• Food: choose fire/Pitta increasing tastes such as sour, salty & pungent

• Color Therapy: meditate upon, wear, or decorate with colors that increase Tejas such as red, yellow, orange & gold

• Trataka: stare into the base of a candle flame while holding the gaze with focus

• Pranayama: practice solar breathing through the right nostril or kapalabati (breath of fire)

• Jyana Yoga: the pursuit of knowledge & stimulating the mind through study & reading as well as conversation

• Fire Exposure: sit by the fire, enjoy a fireplace or spend time amongst candle light safely

In the Kundalini energy lying dormant in the Muladhara (root) Chakra, Tejas awaits. Once Kundalini is activated, Tejas lights the way of perception. Tejas within you will shine through in your speech as well as it moves up to the 5th & 6th chakras (Visshudha & Ajna). Healthy Tejas also allows one to not get caught up in the basic dramas of everyday life. One who is constantly gossiping or hyper-focused on what everyone else is doing, could use some practice enhancing their Tejas. Tejas helps you focus on what really matters in life.

We hope this insight to Tejas changes your relationship to your mind. Sometimes, it’s easy for us to feel defeated by an overactive mind or becoming overwhelmed by distraction. That activity in the mind is the Prana (check out our blog on that here!) & guiding it with Tejas will help direct it into a resource!

There are many practices like the ones above to help engage your senses for optimal balance & restoration in An Ayurvedic Path Oracle Deck. :)