Fixing My Eyes

It occurred to me during yoga that I’ve, once again, lost my balance – balance with my Creator and who He created me to be.

In yoga, you’re told to find your “drishti.” I promise this whole post isn’t about yoga… hang with me. Drishti means “gazed view” or “point of focus.” In balancing postures, it is important to fix your gaze on something unmoving, unchanging, solid. 

This morning in a hot yoga flow, we moved into a balancing pose where finding a point of focus was essential. After settling onto one foot, I moved my gaze, lost focus, and in return, lost my balance.

Isn’t our spiritual life much like this?

Jesus is our drishti – better than a drishti. Fixing our eyes on Him is the only way to truly find balance. He is the rock on which we stand. Similar to yoga, it is possible to balance for a while without a point of focus, but eventually you will fall. Unlike yoga, our drishti is alive, active, loving, compassionate, and always working on our behalf. He is worthy of our gaze. He isn’t made up; He made us. 

To be honest, I’ve been in a season of anxiety. Anxious thoughts and lies from the enemy have come in waves. In these seasons, I am pulled away from God and pulled into my cluttered mind. 

As a Christian who loves practicing yoga, I try to enter each class with the intention of being a light and often spend the flow talking with God. Naturally I start with gratitude – for a body that can move. Then I normally get lost in the sauce and let my thoughts drift. The bowing and oms can feel idolatrous to some, but for me, they have become opportunities to pray for others in class – that they may know Jesus, and that I may carry His presence through the Spirit living in me. 

Today’s class started as it normally does in my head, with gratitude prayers. As my brain has felt most of this week, cluttered thoughts quickly filled my head. Giving myself grace when my ideally blue sky brain gets cloudy is a muscle I’ve been trying to grow. 

When we got to our balancing postures, I lost my drishti, distracted by what was around me. Oddly enough, the moment my physical balance wavered, I felt my eyes lock back with Jesus’. He reminded me where my spiritual balance comes from.

When my eyes are locked with the King’s I am reminded of my seat at His table. I am reminded of the wildflowers, my holy inheritance, and my irrevocable place in His Heavenly House.

This isn’t to say I won’t lose balance again. The enemy uses distraction against me constantly. This is simply a redeclaration of where I want my eyes to be. As we move into a new month, I am setting this intention: to fix my eyes on Jesus and to turn my gaze to Him. 

As God often does, He spoke to me through His word in my Bible reading this morning. He gave me a prayer to pray as I walk in this refreshed posture of eyes locked on the King. 

“Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. I incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from worthless things and give me life in your ways.” – Psalm 119: 35-37

With love,

Elizabeth Ann