I was recently introduced to the idea of signature elements flavouring a person’s life, attitudes and beliefs.
It was actually in the context of an astrology lecture, where the signature element of a person’s astrological chart was pointed out and how this signature influenced the way that person reacted to life itself.
It wasn’t too difficult to see the logic behind this idea of a signature and equating it to the dominant blend of energy in your birth chart and how that person chose to embody that energy.
The idea of something having a signature has been used in the context of music, medicine, science and the arts.
The entire human experience could be described as a group of signature emotions like joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise – that are biologically hardwired and expressed globally through recognizable facial and bodily reactions.
These signature emotions are designed to help us survive and connect with other.
In classical yoga philosophy, the signature emotions are known as the nine Rasas (love, joy, wonder, courage, sadness, anger, fear and disgust).
Rasa translates to “essence,” representing the foundational emotional energies that colour human experience.
Rather than viewing emotions as something to repress, yogic and tantric traditions treat these nine essences as forms of energy in motion that can be channelled to transcend the ego and connect with deeper consciousness.
Yoga also encourages us to cultivate the emotions of contentment (santosha), equanimity (upeksha) and ananda (bliss).
Signature emotions resulting in peace, joy and good health.
