“Where the eyes go, the body follows” is (sort of) a famous yoga saying and it’s actually really profound, and layered. It’s about one’s drishti, which is Sanskrit for gaze AND focus. It begs the question, “Where are you putting your attention?” In pure movement terms, where your eyes are IS where the body goes. Think Cobra pose – a big part of the pose is looking up. That upward gaze helps the body “snake” upwards into a more robust position,...
Drishti is a Sanskrit word meaning focused gaze. It’s about where you are physically looking, but it’s also where you place your attention, even when your eyes are shut. A yoga pose, like Warrior II, has a very specific physical drishti, vital to doing the pose correctly. As you can see from the above photo, the drishti is laser-like, directed to the tip of one’s middle finger. This is by design, as a means of fine-tuning alignment, developing concentration, and heightening a sense of self-awareness. When...
