Drishti: The Yoga Gaze, Its Meaning and the 9 Gazing Points

Drishti (Sanskrit: दृष्टि, dṛṣṭi) means "sight", "gaze" or "view". In yoga it is the point you rest your eyes on while you hold a pose or sit in meditation: the tip of the nose, the hand, the toes, a spot on the floor. A steady gaze keeps your attention in the room and helps you stay upright in balancing poses. Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga names nine of these gazing points and gives one to every posture.

What does drishti mean?

The word comes from the Sanskrit verb root dṛś, "to see". Drishti is the noun: the act of seeing, the eye, the gaze. Like the English word "view", it also stretches from the eyes to the mind. A drishti can be the way you look at something, a point of view or an opinion.

That double meaning is why the word turns up in so many places:

• In yoga, it is the focused gaze during asana and meditation. This is what the rest of this article is about.
• In Buddhism, drishti (Pali: diṭṭhi) means a view or belief. Samyak drishti, right view, is the first step of the Noble Eightfold Path.
• In everyday Hindi and in Hindu custom, drishti or nazar is also the evil eye: the idea that an envious look can bring bad luck. That is why you see black dots on a baby's cheek or a lemon and chillies hung over a shop door.
• In Vedic astrology, graha drishti is the "aspect" of a planet, the houses it is said to look at.
• As a name, Drishti is a common girl's name in India, meaning vision or sight.

Drishti in yoga practice

On the mat, drishti is simple to describe. Pick one point. Look at it with soft eyes. Keep looking while you breathe.

In Ashtanga Vinyasa, the gaze is one of three parts of the practice that Sri K. Pattabhi Jois called tristhana, the "three places of attention": the posture, the breath and the gaze. You move and breathe with Ujjayi Pranayama (victorious breath), and each posture has a fixed place for the eyes. The idea is that when the eyes stop wandering, the attention stops wandering with them.

There is a physical side too. Your balance draws on three sources: your inner ear, the sense of position in your joints and muscles, and your eyes. Take the eyes away and most people sway more. Anyone who has tried Vrksasana (Tree Pose) with the eyes closed knows this. A still point on the floor in front of you gives the body a fixed reference, which is why teachers say "find your drishti" in every standing balance.

The gaze also guides the head. Where you look is where your neck turns, so the drishti shapes the line of the spine. Looking up at the thumbs lifts the chest. Looking at the navel in Downward Dog lets the neck hang long.

The nine drishtis

These are the nine gazing points of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga as they are usually taught. Spellings vary a lot from school to school. The examples are the most common pairings in the Ashtanga sequence.

1. Nasagra drishti: the tip of the nose. The most used drishti, for example in the forward folds of the Sun Salutation and in many seated poses. Look down past the nose rather than crossing the eyes at it.
2. Bhrumadhya drishti: the space between the eyebrows, sometimes called the third eye point. Used in some backbends and in seated meditation.
3. Nabhi chakra drishti: the navel. The gaze in Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog) in Ashtanga.
4. Hastagra drishti: the hand or the fingertips. The gaze in Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), up to the top hand.
5. Padayoragra drishti: the toes. The gaze in Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend).
6. Parshva drishti (right): far to the right side. Used in twists that turn right.
7. Parshva drishti (left): far to the left side, in twists that turn left, such as Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes) on that side.
8. Angushtha madhya drishti: the thumbs. The gaze in Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute), the first movement of the Sun Salutation.
9. Urdhva drishti: upward, toward the sky. Also called antara drishti. Used when the head tips back, as in the arms-up phase of Warrior I in Ashtanga.

The two side gazes are counted separately, which is how the list reaches nine. You will find the drishti for every posture of the sequence in our guide to the Ashtanga Vinyasa Primary Series postures.

How to find your drishti

You do not need to learn nine gazing points to use drishti. Start with the balancing poses, where it pays off at once.

1. Come into Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Stand evenly on both feet.
2. Choose a point that does not move: a mark on the floor about two metres in front of you, or a spot on the wall at eye height. Avoid a person or a window with movement behind it.
3. Soften the eyes. Keep the muscles around them relaxed and let the edges of your vision stay open. You are resting the eyes on the point, not staring it down.
4. Keep the gaze there as you shift your weight onto one foot and come into the pose.
5. Breathe slowly through the nose. When the eyes drift, bring them back without any fuss, the same way you return to the breath in meditation.

Once a still gaze feels normal, carry it into harder balances such as Garudasana (Eagle Pose) and Tuladandasana (Balancing Stick Pose). You will notice the difference the first time your eyes jump and the standing leg wobbles with them.

Common mistakes

• Straining the eyes. A hard stare tires the eyes and tenses the face and jaw. Keep the gaze soft.
• Forcing the head to reach the drishti. If looking up in Triangle Pose or Warrior I pinches the back of your neck, look forward or down instead. The pose comes first.
• Crossing the eyes at the nose. For nasagra drishti, lower the gaze along the line of the nose. The eyes stay in a comfortable position.
• Looking around the room. Checking on your neighbour's pose is the fastest way to lose your own balance.

Drishti in meditation

The gaze is older than the posture sequences. The Bhagavad Gita (6.13) describes the meditator sitting with the body, head and neck still, gazing at the tip of the nose without looking around. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes trataka, steady gazing at a small point until the eyes water, and a gaze toward the space between the eyebrows in seated postures.

In the framework of the 8 limbs of yoga, drishti sits between pratyahara, the fifth limb, where attention turns away from the senses, and dharana, the sixth, concentration on one point. A fixed gaze is a practical way to do both: the eyes stop taking in the room, and the mind has one thing to rest on. If you want to try it sitting, our beginner's guide to meditation is a good starting point. Many people meditate with the eyes half open and the gaze lowered to the floor a metre or so ahead.

Where teachers disagree

Drishti sounds like a settled rule. In practice, teachers from different schools use it differently, and some of the claims around it go further than the evidence.

• Fixed gaze or relaxed eyes. Ashtanga gives each posture one drishti and treats it as part of the practice. B.K.S. Iyengar taught the eyes to stay passive and soft, with the gaze following the alignment of the head rather than a set point. Both approaches aim at a quiet mind. They differ on whether the eyes should do the work.
• Tradition or modern system. Gazing at the nose tip or between the eyebrows appears in old texts about meditation. The list of nine drishtis, one per posture, comes from the Ashtanga Vinyasa system that Pattabhi Jois taught in Mysore in the twentieth century. Calling the nine-point system "ancient" overstates what we know.
• Balance: well supported. That the eyes help you balance is standard physiology, and it is the part of drishti you feel from the first class.
• Higher consciousness: a claim from tradition. You will read that drishti "activates the third eye" or lifts you to a higher level of awareness. In the yoga tradition, the space between the eyebrows is linked to the ajna chakra (see our beginner's guide to the seven chakras). That is a teaching about inner experience. There is no measurement behind it, and we present it as tradition.
• Looking up is optional. The upward gazes put the neck in extension. Many teachers, including Ashtanga teachers, tell students with neck problems to keep the gaze level. A modified drishti is still a drishti.

To practise the gaze inside a full sequence, the Ashtanga Fundamentals program teaches the postures and their drishtis step by step, and the 35-minute Balance and Strength class gives you plenty of standing balances to test it on.

Frequently asked questions

What does the term drishti mean?

Drishti is Sanskrit for sight, gaze or view, from the root dṛś, "to see". In yoga it means a focused gaze on one point while you hold a posture or meditate. Outside yoga it can also mean a point of view, and in Hindi it is a word for the evil eye.

How do you find your drishti point?

Choose a point that does not move, about two metres in front of you on the floor or at eye height on a wall. Rest your eyes on it with a soft gaze and keep it there while you breathe. In Ashtanga, each posture has a set drishti, such as the navel in Downward-Facing Dog or the toes in a seated forward bend.

How many drishtis are there?

Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga lists nine: the tip of the nose, between the eyebrows, the navel, the hand, the toes, far right, far left, the thumbs and upward. Other styles use fewer set points or none, and ask you to keep the gaze steady.

What is drishti in Hinduism?

In Hindu yoga and meditation texts, drishti is the directed gaze used to steady the mind, for example at the tip of the nose in the Bhagavad Gita. In everyday Hindu custom, drishti also means the evil eye, and people use black dots, lemons and chillies to ward it off. In Vedic astrology it is the aspect of a planet.

Is drishti a good name?

Drishti is a common girl's name in India. It means vision or sight, and it carries a sense of insight and clear seeing.

Should I close my eyes during yoga poses?

You can in seated poses, restorative poses and Savasana. In standing balances, closing the eyes takes away one of the body's main sources of balance, so most people wobble more. Keep the eyes open with a soft, steady gaze until the pose is stable.

Where should I look in Downward Dog?

In Ashtanga, the drishti is the navel. Many other teachers suggest looking back between your feet or toward your knees. Either way, let your head hang between the upper arms so the neck stays long, and avoid lifting the chin to look forward.