Second Anniversary Post - Drishti.

Two years and nearly 100 posts later.   The muse is still with me though thinking about what to write is the hardest part of keeping this blog.


In yoga, Drishti is a point of focus where the gaze rests during a posture and meditation practice--gazing outward while bringing awareness inward.  Drishti is especially useful in leg and arm balances but is important in all asanas.  For balances, focusing  your gaze on a spot on the floor or wall or ceiling helps  you keep your balance as you are not looking at your feet  or other Yogis and you are not distracted by outside influences. Additionally,  the gaze aligns your head to the best position it needs to be for the balance.  For example,  in Warrior 3  (a one legged balance pose) ,  I used to look at my feet and would struggle to keep my balance.   When  I moved my gaze out to the floor about 3 / 4  feet in front of my feet,  my balance improved greatly.   

Drishti also has the added benefit of helping focus during all the asanas your practice.  In Ashtanga Yoga,  each asana has a prescribed Drishti.     This allows the mind to focus not on the surroundings but on the pose and on what is going on with your body during that pose  (are my legs correct,  are my shoulders straight,  is my back too bent etc.) .  When your mind and body are working together,  your practice is so much stronger. 

Constant application of drishti develops single-pointed focus not just on the mat. When you restrict your visual focus to one point, your attention isn’t dragged from object to object. Without these distractions, it’s much easier to notice the internal wanderings of your attention and maintain balance in mind as well as body.    This can be important both in life as well as Yoga.   And that is what our practice is really all about.



“You are not able to behold me with your own eyes; I give thee the divine eye, behold my Lordly yoga”: Bhagavad Gita

Namaste

Joining an "On the Road" Studio

Over the next four or five months,  I will be spending a good amount time in Tennessee so I checked out the local   (and there is only one in town) Yoga studio because weeks of practicing in my hotel room did not excite me too much..     They offered a $5 "Night Owl" class that lasted almost 2 hours  (what a bargain) that really taxed me physically and Yogally.    The class itself was very physical and the instructor had us do some poses that I had never done before.    Seeing that I was trapped in town and seeing that it was the only Yoga studio in town and seeing that it fit my needs,  I bought a 10 pack pass (which gave me 11 classes) for $100.    

So here I am,  a wayward Yogi in a new land.  When you go to a different studio,  you immediately notice differences from where you practice normally.   Some are small and some can be big. Do they provide towels?  (no),  is there chanting?  (thank God no),  are there blocks?  (yes but I bring my own).     One thing that was very different is that Shavasana  (final relaxation),  lasted at least 10 minutes.   In the first class I took,  the instructor went from person to person rubbing our forehead with scented oil and then placing what I thought was an ice cube but later discovered to be a very cold stone in the middle of my forehead.   It did a good job of making sure I did not drift off to sleep.   In the second class,  he had us lay on your stomach and he then placed a cool sand bag along our lower back.   This actually felt real good  but it was unexpected as we just finished a really hard balancing sequence.

Classes seem to be well timed  (and are longer than my studio's) so I can make 2 or 3 a week if I want to and if I can drag myself out of work..    





So a second Yoga home:  5ive Points Yoga in Cleveland Tennessee..

Namaste..