Where Is Your Drishti?

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 you close you eyes and do a body scan, putting your inner drishti – your attention – on a specific body part, emotion or body function, it enhances the body/mind/spirit connection to the point where you get answers. You realize fear is lodged in your heart center, affecting your breath. You realize an injury to your right ankle has made your right knee overcompensate. You realize that clenched jaw is causing those afternoon headaches. 

Info like this doesn’t seem all that powerful at first, but over time, it provides better guidance than any doctor, x-ray or MRI could give. You become your own guru. 

The problem these days is we (as a society) rarely focus our gaze long enough, and we very rarely gaze inwardly. Healthy drishtis aren’t anywhere to be found!! This is a big reason why anxiety is through the roof.  Where attention goes, energy flows. Energy is not flowing towards YOU if your attention is away from you! 

So a big question is: where is your drishti? Apply it on yourself everyday, on and off the mat. Your drishti is an unsung hero of empowered wellness.