Tristhāna: The Three Dwelling Places (Part 3, Dṛṣṭi)
If you haven’t read parts 1 and 2 of this series you can find them here.
We complete our series on the tristhāna technique with dṛṣṭi. Dṛṣṭi (prounounced drish-tee) is a sanskrit word that refers to the eye, and as a practice describes a focused gazing point.
Almost every yoga practitioner has had the experience of just “going through the motions” on their mat - we’re there, physically present, but mentally, emotionally and energetically we are somewhere else. Our minds are wandering to what’s for dinner after class, or the meeting we just wrapped up at work before we headed out to class, our hearts aren’t always in it and we’d rather be somewhere other than in a room of people breathing and moving, or we are distracted by our senses - namely our eyes wandering to the windows, or the person on their mat next to us. Or we might simply close our eyes and check out.
Tristhāna is a three part technique to help us experience a full, holistic presence when we are on our mat, not just physically there “going through the motions”, but in it with our full body, heart, and mind. Tristhāna describes the three techniques we use in āsana practice to hone our attention and harness our energy, or our prāṇa.
In addition to steadying the mind, the practice of dṛṣṭi helps us draw prāṇa inward. Maybe you’ve heard the saying “where attention goes, energy flows”. One of the 5 movements of prāṇa is called apāna vāyu. In addition to managing elimination, this particular movement of prāṇa allows us to be out in the world through our senses - it draws prāṇa outward when we engage our senses so that we can be present. This is actually one of the reasons that overstimulation can be so energetically draining - it’s literally sucking the prāṇa, or lie force out of us. Through the practice of dṛṣṭi we learn to keep our wandering eyes still to prevent them from “leaking prāṇa”, so to speak, and eventually we turn our awareness inward (maybe with closed eyes) and start drawing that prāṇa, or energy into ourselves, rather than outward into the world.
So, how do you practice dṛṣṭi? In traditions like Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga there are a set of prescribed dṛṣṭi that you use throughout the sequence (gazing at your navel, your thumbs, your toes, and so on). However, the word dṛṣṭi doesn’t refer to any specific gazing point, only to the idea that the gaze is steady. I like to teach dṛṣṭi as an extension of the movement of your spine. When your spine is neutral your gaze is straight ahead, when your spine is extended your gaze is slightly lifted, when your spine is flexed your gaze is slightly lowered, and when your spine is rotated your gaze is off the the side.
You might also think of the dṛṣṭi in terms of the energy of a posture. Postures that increase prāṇa vāyu or udāna vāyu would have an upward gaze, while postures that increase apāna vāyu would have a downward gaze.
Of course, we also need to take into account comfort. If turning your head in a certain way causes irritation and discomfort, you should choose another placement of the head and therefore the gaze. Where you look isn’t nearly as important as the fact that they gaze is steady.
What about closed eyes? Well that depends. For some, having the eyes closed can foster a more inward gaze and is part of a practice called pratyāhāra (or channeling energy inward and away from the distraction of the senses) and can calm and settle the mind, but for others closed eyes can really set their mind into a tailspin. If closing your eyes makes your mind race, then keeping the eyes open and building discipline would be more beneficial.
Give it a try. Pay attention to what you’re doing with your eyes the next time you practice and see if you can apply the practice of dṛṣṭi, or steadying the gaze.
The three practices of tristhāna work together to support our life force energy; dṛṣṭi draws the prāṇa in, prānāyāma stimulates the movement of prāṇa, and bandhas help harness the prāṇa and suspend it in the central energy channel so we can use our prāṇa for spiritual pursuit.