Soften Your Gaze
How often do I hear this during my yoga practice? How often do I tell myself this as I work on a difficult asana (pose)?
Have you ever noticed your gaze during a difficult yoga pose? How about when faced with a difficult life situation?
Oftentimes, to keep my balance, especially on one-legged poses, I focus my gaze on one spot and stare hard at a fixed point. There are times when I keep my eyes closed, feeling for the poses. And yet, there are those times when I close my eyes for a bit, re-shift my gaze and reopen my eyes to keep me at the moment.
So how does this translate to life?
Have you ever caught yourself closing your eyes, re-shift your focus, and then reopening them softly to see the world around you? Did it change your vision of “your world”? How about the way you perceive things?
Keeping the eyes closed can be good when you want to “go inwards” but it may also be a way to escape from the world around you. I don’t judge it as good nor bad, but sometimes, you have no choice but face the world, your life, with your eyes open.
Keeping my eyes open with a soft gaze makes me aware of the present moment, without judging whatever circumstance I’m in, and empowers me to face whatever life has to offer me in the present moment.
When I harden my gaze, I focus my vision intently on one thing, concentrating on colors, forms, and details. This has been useful for one-legged poses, but with other difficult poses, not so much. When I soften my gaze, I am more focused on the pose and aware of my body and how it responds as a whole…at that moment, in that pose. When I soften my gaze, my eye relaxes, followed by my face, then my jaw (which I tend to clench), then lo and behold!, my mind begins to let go of the moment and relax as well.
With a soft gaze, you let your eyes physically relax. Instead of focusing on one thing, where you allow one thing to be at the center of your gaze, you can simultaneously take in your full field of vision. You will see how expansive the possibilities are in front of you. There is so much good in store for you if you just learn to relax how you see things. More options, more alternatives, more possibilities.
Image by PhotoSunnyDays via Shutterstock
With a soft gaze, you can find yourself receiving the messages life has to offer, compared to a fixated, single point of view. It is but human to focus and fixate on one thing and excluding everything else. In my case, the pessimist in me would focus on the negative. What could go wrong? How can I prevent it? Then my mind chatter continues at the peril of my yoga pose/flow or how I live my life in the present moment.
Soften your gaze. Be aware. Do not miss out on the present moment, where you are Divinely supported….where you are Divinely guided. Expand your vision and be aware of all the possibilities the Universe has to offer. It is yours for the taking.
Namaste…
