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There is a trick to yoga that seems quite simple but is quite complex in the doing. It’s one of those things, like mindfulness practitioners saying ‘all you need to do is focus on the now’ to get over your anxiety, panic, stress, and regret. All very well said, but how is it done? But that’s a column for another day. With yoga, the comparative effort is to focus on the breath and align the drishti, or the gaze. Focus on the breath is simple enough in that same unattainable way, but how and why drishti?
In the Patanjali Yogasutras, drishti which means sight or vision, where the gaze is fixed, is deeply linked to the dharana and dhyana, the sixth and seventh limbs of yoga. There are two ways to focus the gaze, the first is by locating a spot on the ground, or ahead of the practitioner, or in the direction of the posture (in an asana where you turn your head, you would fix the gaze in the direction where your head is turned). You might also fix the gaze on the tip of the nose, or on the third eye between the brows, and locate the gaze inwardly, independent of an external fixed point. Each asana in the ashtanga system has an associated fixed point. There are nine drishtis in ashtanga yoga: angusthamadhyam drishti, in which it is fixed in the thumb, nasagara drishti, on the tip of the nose, hastagram drishti, tips of fingers, parsva drishti, to the left or right of us, urdhva dristhi, upward or outward, nabhi chakra, the navel, padyoragram drishti, tips of our toes, and bhrumadhya dristhi, the middle of the brow. Without getting into the complexities of the ashtanga drishtis, simply put, whichever way you turn, you have an appointed location in which if you fix your gaze, you will be physically and mentally stable. In the simplest possible way, this is the purpose of drishti. At a higher level, the purpose of yoga is to enable the body to take to meditation and a spiritual path, but let’s say that’s not your purpose for now, even within your daily life, fixing the gaze brings long-term benefits.
The lesson of all sport and exercise, whether you’re a swimmer or a runner or play football or take up strength training or yoga, is that the resistance you are up against is first mental. When you’re able to take on the mental resistance, the body aligns. Take the simplest instruction in all exercise, ‘to use your core’. What is the core? Is it a physical organ? It is located in the lower abdominal muscles, but it is essentially the ability to manipulate and use its power to gives you the ability to gather and thrust your strength, to propel the whole body into the compliance you need it to have. This can be momentum, or it can be balance. Anyone in a high-impact bodily skill, whether gymnastics or ballet, understands that you need the core to be solid and firm and a place you can come to rely on for your state of motion. It keeps you stable and powerful. Having the mula bandha come into play is the base for a lot of the skill in asanas. Engaging it is a mental process first.
When the drishti is fixed, the mind is powerful, fixed and located. The goal is in sight. It’s like tethering a tent (or a mosquito net, if you prefer). You first put the spikes down, or locate the spots to which you will tie the corners of the net so that it stays held up. Then, you can begin to set it up, tying first one corner, then the other, so that you have a structure that is held in place and holds shape. This is the same with the body. Once you use the drishti to fix the mind, the body is guided in the direction it needs to go. The rest of it is adjustment in place. You tighten the strings as you need to make it taut and well held. With the body, you move from the core, tweak the muscles and limbs, and you hold the posture to the gaze, with the rise and fall of the deep breath. In this way, the body is able to hold to the position it is not entirely comfortable in. And it acquires strength.
This is also how to navigate an uncomfortable position in life. If you go to the core, and fix the gaze on the points that hold you up, focus on the breath, which is essentially staying calm, aligned and well-located within the body, whichever way you are, even if life has you standing on your head right now, despite all chaos, you will be stable.
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