The Art of Drishti in Yoga & Meditation

Drishti is the art of staring, but not creepily, at a singular point. Practitioners of yoga and meditation often “find a Drishti” to envelope and cull a state of concentration.

The intention is to keep your focus singular and soft to roll into a gazing state. The spot where you rest your attention could be anything from a crumb on the floor, a candle wick’s flickering, an electrical outlet, ooze inside a lava lamp, or a symbol on a mandala.

How might finding a Drishti help your practice?

Improved balance in yoga

A still, subdued gaze allows for increased harmony in yoga. Wandering eyes do affect balance when intending to move with slow movements. Drishti, loosely meaning ‘gaze’ in Sanskrit, isn’t typically used in a vinyasa flow but comes in handy when transitioning from warrior II to warrior III and moving into a tree pose.

Other pose combinations that use a Drishti include:

• Standing wind release pose
• Tree pose side bend
• Tree pose volcano arms
• Standing hand to big toe pose in front
• Standing hand to big toe pose extended to the side
• One-legged standing garland pose
• One-legged revolved mountain pose
• Revolved hand to big toe pose
• One-legged five-pointed star pose side bend

Centered attention in meditation & visualizations

For those engaged in meditation, you may use various energy chakra points on the body for internal visualization. If in sitting meditation, those areas may include, from the bottom to the top of the body: root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and crown.

Focal points on-the-go

To extend your study on Drishti, consider…

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By Tricia Louvar; All Rights Reserved @2021