One of the foundations of yoga practice is our gazing point or drishti. A place to set our eyes as access to being present and staying focused. I find in my own practice that as soon as my eyes begin to wander around the room, my thoughts wander even more. Something I’m curious about in my own life is how to apply the concept of drishti off the mat.
As a chronic ‘do-er’ and (yes I’ll blame some of this on astrology) Gemini I tend to want to do all the things and can easily spread myself too thin. I’d say that the results are making little progress in many areas. Like digging ten wells 1 foot deep. I’m not very likely to find water. My 2020 plan is to keep my drishti focused on only the one or two MOST important projects. I then have the energy and time resources to dig 10 feet deep on each and am much more likely to strike water. By digging 10 feet I’m also going to hit upon more obstacles and my comfort zone along the way. The real opportunities for learning and growth. Digging only one foot is usually the easier work and there is less skin in the game when operating at the more shallow level.
I like the visual of a funnel: our drishti and attention start out very wide, but by choosing to gaze at one physical location- we narrow it to one point and there is power in bringing all that energy together. It’s similar to using a magnifying glass to reflect the sun’s light onto a single point and start a fire. I love thinking of that image in class. Harnessing my attention and placing it all on one point is much more powerful than letting it spread out over a wide space.
If I truly put my drishti on this project, this relationship, this pose and hold it there- what is possible? (And, what is this cat actually doing?)
