Drishti is the sanskrit word for vision or insight. In yoga, a drishti is paired with each and every asana as a specific gazing point. The reason there is a particular gazing point for each asana, is to allow the mind to ground and sink into the body and to solidify concentration. I have frequently been told in my yoga classes at Vidya Yoga School in Rishikesh, India that my eyes shouldn’t travel here and there. My eyes should only go where the drishti says it should go. Knowing your drishti drastically improves concentration during a yoga practice and keeps the mind from wandering off the mat and away from your practice. When the eyes move, the mind moves.
Moreover, each asana’s dristi is important because it also helps improve the body’s alignment in an asana. For example in Utthita Parsvakonasana, the drishti is hastagrai, the tip of the middle finger. By gazing at the tip of the middle finger, I make sure that neck is properly aligned in this asana and that I am drawing awareness to my full body side extension.
You also know how people say they have a “sixth sense” and can feel when someone is looking at them? That is because your eyes and your eyesight has energy. When you look at something, you give energy to it. It is believed that your drishti sends the energy that you project outwards with your eyes back into your own body. Drishti is a retention of energy. In yoga, which is about uniting the mind and the body, sending absolutely all the energy you possibly can back into your body, is key.
There are 9 drishtis in yoga asana practice:
· Urdhva (upward)
· Bhrumadhya (third eye)
· Nasagrai (tip of the nose)
· Parsva (right side)
· Parsva (left side)
· Nabhi Chakra (navel)
· Hastagrai (tip of the middle finger)
· Anguṣṭha (tip of the thumb)
· Padayoragrai (tip of the big toe)
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