- Hello everyone, welcome back to Center. It's Day 18 and this is one of my favorite practices of the whole journey. I love this theme. Today we are focusing on our gaze. Let's get started. (light music) Alright, let's start in a comfortable seat of your choice. Today's practice is all about focus. This idea of having an awareness of where our attention is going and having an understanding that where our attention goes, energy flows. So we say that a lot here on the channel and in the community and you've likely already noticed that in practice, whether consciously or unconscious so we're just gonna build on that today by focusing on our Drishti or our gaze. So bring the palms together, lift the sternum to the thumbs and instead of closing your eyes today, just allow your gaze to soften down gently past your nose, which is, of course, an option I've been giving this whole time. So if you've been doing that, you're one step ahead of the game. And just start to notice how you're feeling today. Notice your breath. And inevitably you start to find a real point on the ground in your current space that you're in that you focus on. We call this focal point the Drishti, the point in which you gaze upon. It can be incredibly helpful as we move through postures that require more balance. But on a bigger, almost more philosophical plane, this practice can really serve, I believe, off the mat as we essentially train our gaze to serve us and our nervous system and our energy rather than work against us. So just notice what's coming up here. You might like notice that your eyes want to divert different places. You might notice that you're blinking (chuckles) 10 times the normal rate. You might notice that your monkey mind is just kind of wanting to fidget and that's all part of the training and I am devoting a whole day to this practice because it feels more important now, to me, than ever. So we spend so much time looking at our screens, kind of getting sucked into algorithms, pointing our attention and focus every which way from one moment to the next. This is a practice that helps us recenter, gain back that power of awareness of our attention and energy. Alright, now you can relax your eyelids here just for one more breath and this is what we call or what we're aiming for is a soft gaze. So you're not focused intently (laughs) on the point in front of you but the eyelids can kind of get heavy and there's just a soft ease to it. And if you have ever played with your peripheral vision, you notice that the soft gaze helps that as well. And if this is all very weird and strange to you, don't worry we're gonna play with it and put it into practice through shapes a plenty. Alright, now slow and steady release your hands and come forward onto all fours and take your soft gaze with you. And a little tip for your gaze practice, for your focal training is to move your gaze slowly from one thing to the next. So as you move through transitions in your practice, allow your gaze to follow at a slow pace. Alright, let's take it with us in Cat-Cow. So we know this form. Just take your gaze forward. Eyes stay open today. As you exhale, take your gaze towards your navel. Be specific. Inhale, drop the belly, gaze goes forward, out and up. And then exhale drawing the chin to the chest, gaze goes to the navel. One more time, inhale, send the gaze out as you open your chest. And this time as you exhale, draw the muscles of the core up and in and send your gaze towards your navel and hang out here. Breathe deep, crown of the head towards the ground. Inhale in. Exhale out. Good. Inhale to neutral. Curl the toes under here, listen carefully, inhale in, gaze straight down. Gaze straight down. As you exhale, lift the knees and let them hover here in Table. Recruit the abs, keep the neck long, shoulders tugging back. So we're not collapsed in the shoulders or into the weight of the palms but we're pressing away from the earth. Gaze straight down for three, breathe deep. Two and one. Slowly lower the knees. Nice and steady we're gonna uncurl the toes. And here we go, inhale, send the right toes out, gaze forward as you reach the left fingertips forward as if you're trying to shake a hand so left thumb up, left pinky down. Then exhale, gaze traces a line down the midline towards the navel, squeeze the limbs up and in. Good. Inhale, extend. And exhale, draw it up and in. Now whether you're new to the practice or practicing for a while, you can start to see how your gaze and your center could be connected here. Release and let's take it to the other side right away. Move nice and slow. Soft gaze. Connected to the movement. And then release and send it back to Extended Child's Pose or Child's Pose or any posture where you can close your eyes and just kind of think about and feel what just happened. Was that hard? Was your focus kind of diverting? And I do consider this a really sweet and somewhat intermediate or advanced practice. So taking the concept of Drishti or gaze beyond just balancing on one leg. Really using it as a centering practice. Alright, inhale see if you can open the eyes and slowly with a soft gaze rise up. Keep your focus down on the mat, curl the toes under and then send the hips up high, Downward Facing Dog. Trace a line with your focus towards your navel once again. Turn the toes in slightly. Internal rotation through the tops of the thighs, the hips. And then opposite rotation, external rotation in the shoulders as you press into the index finger and thumb. Good. Hold on to your focus. Inhale deeply. Exhale, bend the knees, draw a line with your gaze forward and then make your way to the top. Forward Fold. Again, instead of closing the eyes here just keep a soft gaze down gently past the nose. Breathe deep. Inhale in again. And exhale. Great. Draw your hands to your waist, bend your knees deeply and trace a line with your nose forward. Sending your gaze all the way forward to rise up here leading with your focus out. Press into your feet, slowly stand up, keep your gaze all the way out and see if you can find that softness, that heaviness in the eyelids. And I just want to say here as you practice this Mountain Pose with a soft gaze out, thank you for trusting me, for allowing the sound of my voice to guide you through this practice because in order to keep practicing this type of focus in your training you can't really always look at the screen. So look when you need to. Always look when you need a demo. Keep the body safe but when you don't need to look, you can practice with this soft focus, with this Drishti. Alright, inhale, you're gonna send the fingertips all the way up. Send your gaze down past your nose and find a little focal point on the ground. Can be a little speck of something or a corner or a crack. Deep breath in. Exhale, draw the navel in and up and we're just gonna lift up onto the toes, hold on to your Drishti. Lift up as high as you can go. Engage the legs. Good, and then lower down. Repeat. Inhale in. Exhale, draw the navel in and lift up as if someone was gently pulling you up from the fingertips. Hold on to that focal point. Keep holding onto it as you release. And then one more time, inhale in. Exhale, contract the abs and slowly lift up, hold onto that Drishti. And then release. Interlace the fingertips, elbows come wide here and we're gonna take it for a slow circle, dropping the left elbow down and around and then repeating. And just notice where your eyes go here. See if you can bring it down gently past the nose. And then reverse the circle. Nice and then we'll release that nice and slow we're gonna come to the center of the mat, turn to one side, walk the feet out nice and wide. Toes are gonna turn out. Feet are gonna be a little bit wider than your hips. Alright, hands come back to the waistline to start. And we're gonna slowly bend the knees, drop the center down and then lift it up. Drop the center down, bend the knees. And then lift it up. Now send your gaze down gently past your nose, drop. And lift. And lower. And lift. And the next time you lower, stay there. Hold onto your Drishti. Use the sound of my voice to guide you so hold on to that focus down gently past the nose. Find something. And then you're gonna lift the right heel, just the right heel. And lower. Try to stay low in this deep bend here and then lift the left heel. And lower. Now as things get more challenging, just notice what happens with your eyes. See if you can hold on to that Drishti and keep the center low. Right heel lifts. Breathe. Left heel lifts. Breathe. Right heel lifts. Stay low. Left heel lifts. Great, now both heels lift, option to bring the palms together at the heart. Hold on to that focus. Soften your gaze, keep the center low, get a little lower. Again, when things get challenging keep that gaze soft. Relax the shoulders. Maybe get an inch or two lower for three. Two. And one, release, ah. You can look at the screen. Inhale, reach the fingertips up high or maybe you look up towards the sky. Exhale, you're gonna send your right toes towards the front right corner of the mat, fingertips out wide. Turn the left toes in towards the front left corner of the mat and here we are, Warrior II. Bend that front knee and send your focus out beyond the right fingertips. Nice. Inhale in. And exhale to release and we're gonna come back to that same shape we're in. So turn both toes out. Hands come to the heart right away. This time inhale in, lift the sternum to the thumbs. Exhale, sink low. Fire up those quads, hamstrings, glutes. Find your Drishti. Nice. Then this time we're gonna send the fingertips out in front, left elbow over the right. Inhale, lift the elbows up. Exhale, sink deep into this shape, bending the knees a little more. Dropping your center and just find a soft focus just past the bind of your elbows here on the left side. Eagle Arms. And sink a little lower. Option, you don't have to take it, just an option to lift one heel. And then release. And then the other. And then release. And then both heels. Sink low, again, this is just an option. Press into the ball joint of your pinky toe if the heels are lifted. Great. Everyone release everything, straighten the legs, bring the fingertips out, Star Pose. Take up space. Inhale in. And then exhale, Warrior II to the back. So bend the left knee, send your focus out beyond the left fingertips. Inhale in. And exhale to bring it back to center, toes turn out, heels in. Last time here in Goddess Pose or Horse Pose. Lift the chest, inhale in. Exhale, sternum to thumbs so palms come together and we sink down low. Good. Then send the fingertips out. This time right elbow on top or opposite elbow on top. We inhale to lift the elbows, shoulders down and back and your gaze follows. And then exhale to sink a little lower. Draw the elbows in line with your heart center, gaze down gently past the bind. Stay low in your Goddess Pose or your Horse Pose. Option to lift one heel. And lower. Keep that soft gaze. Lift the other heel. And lower. And last one, you got this. Inhale. Exhale, lift both heels and hover here for a breath. And then slowly release everything. Everyone straighten the legs, Star Pose. Take up space. Inhale in. Exhale, clap the palms together up and overhead. (claps) Beautiful, and then slowly slither the palms back down to the heart. Great. We're gonna bring the feet together nice and easy and we're gonna take the gaze down gently past the nose. Inhale in here. Exhale to relax the shoulders. Inhale in again. And exhale to bow the head to the hands. Now you can close your eyes here and with the eyes closed here just feel your footing, feel your feet on the ground. And just notice where you are. Observe your breath as we start to wind it down here. We'll continue to build on this practice tomorrow and in the coming days. And of course, if there's anything, any other movement or breath work your body is craving on the mat before you roll it up, listen to your body. We're gonna inhale, reach the fingertips all the way up, open your eyes. Exhale, Forward Fold. Then open your eyes, bring the hands to the waistline. Feel that big stretch in the low back as you bend your knees and one final time we're gonna follow the gaze all the way forward as we rise back to standing out. And this time maybe all the way up towards the sky, a little gentle back bend. And then we'll bring it back to center. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. Slowly bring the palms together, the thumbs up to third eye and let's close with one final breath. In together. And out together. Awesome work. I'll see you tomorrow. (light music)