Shaping the Inner Landscape
An inner detox
We all carry patterns that tug our mind and emotions off-center. In the yogic tradition, eight tendencies: rāga, dveṣa, kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya, explain much of our daily reactivity. When we see them clearly and loosen our grip, energy moves more freely. That inner detox is also an essential preparation for Kuṇḍalinī flow.
How to use this guide:
Read each tendency. 2) Pick the one that most grips you this week. 3) Practice the “Break Free” steps every day for seven days.
Rāga: Attachment (Obsession with Pleasure)
Pattern: What you crave starts to own you. You chase, cling, and build life around a person, thing, or state. The high fades; the cycle repeats. The higher your highs, the lower your lows.
Effect: You mistake quick thrills for real joy. Fear of losing keeps you vigilant and anxious.
Break Free: Love without chains. Desire without desperation. Taste life without grasping it. When you feel the pull, pause, breathe slow and steady, and let some space grow between you and the urge.
Science says: Mindfulness weakens the craving loop by helping the brain notice urges without acting on them instantly (“urge surfing”). Research shows mindfulness coaching can reduce cue-induced craving and compulsive habits by changing how we relate to reward signals in the brain.
Dveṣa: Aversion (Hatred, Rejection of Discomfort)
Pattern: You push away what feels bad, but it follows you like your shadow. Aversion is attachment flipped.
Effect: Resentment drains energy, isolates you, and keeps conflicts alive. You feel exhausted.
Break Free: Turn toward discomfort in small, safe doses. Name it (“tightness in chest,” “heat in face”), breathe into it, and allow it to move through. You don’t have to like it to allow it.
Science says: Letting sensations be (allowance) reduces secondary stress. Mindfulness coaching teaches you exposure and acceptance-based skills that are shown to lower avoidance and calm the nervous system over time.
Kāma: Lust (Unchecked Desire)
Pattern: The more you feed it, the more it grows. Lust mistakes sensation for fulfillment and connection.
Effect: You hand your steering wheel to urges and lose sovereignty over your attention. You feel empty all the time.
Break Free: Treat desire as sacred fuel. Ask: “What wholesome action wants this energy?” Move, create, pray, or journal before you act. Discern need vs. want, and even then, need wisely.
Science says: Mindfulness coaching teaches you awarenessing of body sensations. It reduces compulsive behaviors by decoupling the “trigger to conditioned reaction” habit. Training attention changes reward prediction over time.
Krodha: Anger (Rage, Blind Fury)
Pattern: Anger burns everything. But first it burns you. One button, and boom.
Effect: Peace, relationships, and health suffer. People discover your buttons and keep exploding you.
Break Free: Feel heat without feeding it. Inhale through the nose, exhale longer than you inhale for one minute. Take a “movement minute” (walk, stretch), then speak from cool clarity, not fire. Mindfulness coaching helps you uncover the more tender, raw, and vulnerable feelings anger hides underneath. E.g., Anger often hides deep sadness.
Science says: Slower breathing (especially longer exhales) increases vagal tone and calms the stress response. Episodes of intense anger are linked with short-term spikes in cardiovascular risk; cooling the body and pausing helps safety and self-control.
Lobha: Greed (Insatiable Hunger for More)
Pattern: The cup never fills; “more” becomes a moving target.
Effect: Restlessness and a poverty mindset, even in plenty. You have everything but you remain poor, unable to share.
Break Free: Practice “enough”. Name three things you already have and are using well. Share something each week—time, attention, or resources. Spiritual coaching moves you from taking to receiving and offering.
Science says: Materialism correlates with lower life satisfaction, while gratitude practices (like weekly gratitude lists) improve mood, sleep, and overall well-being.
Moha: Delusion (Attachment to Illusion)
Pattern: You live in the story in your head, not in the reality in front of you.
Effect: You argue with what isn’t there and suffer for it. Ultimately you stumble and fall.
Break Free: Ground in the senses: “What do I see, hear, feel, smell right now?” Then ask three clarity questions: What am I assuming? What do I actually know? What else could be true? Mindfulness coaching brings you to direct experience of reality without a mental filter.
Science says: Present-moment awareness reduces rumination and cognitive fusion (being hooked to thoughts), improving emotional regulation and decision quality.
Mada: Pride (Arrogance, Hubris)
Pattern: Standing so tall you stop seeing others. Success turns into a haze of self.
Effect: Learning slows, relationships thin, feedback stops reaching you. People avoid you as if you were a skunk.
Break Free: Bow daily, literally or figuratively. Praise someone’s effort out loud. Ask for one piece of feedback and thank the giver. Spiritual coaching helps you to see the web of interconnection and collaboration that flourishes the flock.
Science says: Humility and perspective-taking improve teamwork, learning, and trust. Actively valuing others’ contributions widens your information field and reduces blind spots.
Matsarya: Envy (Jealousy)
Pattern: Another’s win feels like your loss. Life becomes a scorecard.
Effect: Joy disappears; collaboration turns into competition. You always see yourself as less.
Break Free: Practice mudita, rejoicing in others’ good. Say (or write): “May your success and good-fortunes grow.” Then name one gift already in your hands. Spiritual coaching brings you to loving-kindness where celebrating others also becomes a celebration of self.
Science says: Loving-kindness and compassion practices increase positive emotions and reduce social comparison stress, supporting healthier relationships and self-worth.
10-Minute Inner Detox Recipe
Settle (1 minute): Sit upright. Breathe gently, in through the nose, out through the nose, with slightly longer exhales.
Name the pattern (1 minute): “Right now, I notice… [rāga / dveṣa / …].”
Feel & allow (3 minutes): Locate it in the body. Soften jaw, shoulders, belly. Let sensation rise and fall without fixing it.
Choose a counter-quality (3 minutes):
Rāga → Contentment
Dveṣa → Acceptance
Kāma → Discernment
Krodha → Clarity
Lobha → Gratitude
Moha → Truth-seeing
Mada → Humility
Matsarya → Appreciation
Breathe that word and the feeling in; imagine acting from it today.
Close (2 minutes): Place a hand on the heart. Whisper a simple intention: “Today I will choose <counter-quality> clarity over <pattern> anger.”
Journal Prompts
Reflection: Which pattern controls you the most right now? What is it costing you?
Plan: What small, repeatable action will you take this week to loosen its hold?
Notice: After seven days, how has your body’s baseline (tension, breath, sleep) changed?
When to Get Support
If these patterns are tied to trauma, addiction, or intense distress, work with a mental-health professional. Coaching and therapeutic support can work together, but neither is a replacement for the other.
Final Reflection
Which pattern controls you the most? And what are you going to do about it?
Choose one. Practice daily. Your inner landscape will start to clear and the great energy will know where to flow.