How to use drishti “eye focus” points correctly
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Every once in a while I have to back up and cover the basics with even my advanced students… actually even with myself. Of the basics- I consider four points to be used in every posture, every time.
These are- 1) internal muscular locks (bandha) 2) throat breathing (ujjayi 3) eye focus points (drishti) 4) inner smiling (shambhavi )
Each of these could fill the pages of an entire book so I’ll confine this post to a particular way of doing drishti…
First off- Ashtanga yoga classifies 9 “official” drishti points – right toe/left toe, over right shoulder/over left shoulder, navel, tip of the nose, center of forehead, right hand/left hand – although really, wherever you snap your mind to, internally or externally becomes a drishti.
There are the official places that are listed in the books of where to look when doing which posture.. some have rationale, some seem arbitrary. For example, when looking at the tip of the nose, it is said to connect internally to the root chakra, which may stimulate the lift of kundalini energy to rise. Maybe…You can also practice by simply looking up when you inhale and down when you exhale. Drawing the eyes to a specific point builds internal heat through the power of concentration. It’s much like the mechanism of a magnifying glass.
So looking, focusing strongly will build heat and the inner smiling of shambhavi mudra releases the heat, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The WAY we look when doing a drishti is not to look like you’re trying to see something… when you look at your thumbs, you don’t have to analyze the color of your nail polish. You look but you don’t look if that makes any sense…
Try looking at the following sentence while opening your peripheral vision so you can simultaneously see the walls and whatever else is around you…
MY HEART IS OPENING
Did you notice the subtle effect on your mind? Not yet? Stare a little longer…
when we use the peripheral vision, the conscious mind slows down and the unconscious opens up. Your unconscious mind is what is taking care of your heart beat, breathing, and blood pressure while you read this, and you don’t have to even think about it. It also is able to catch ALL the details coming in through your five senses even if you consciously don’t know them. For example, your unconscious mind registered the nametag of the person who made your coffee this morning, even if you have no idea consciously.
I mention this because yoga is a process of getting out of the head and into the heart, into the present moment. The conscious mind is the head, the unconscious is the Self, in the moment. So look, but don’t look when you do dristhi. You’ll find your concentration better and at the same time, more open, more at peace.
Till next time,
Adrian Cox