Nasikagra Drishti or Agochari Mudra means “Nose tip gazing”. In Sanskrit, ‘Nasika’ means the nose and ‘agra’ means the end or the tip. ‘Drishti’ means the sight. Thus, Nasikagra Drishti literally means gazing at the tip of the nose. Nasikagra Drishti is a powerful practice to develop concentration and is used in conjunction with many meditation techniques.
Nasikagra Drishti is similar to Sambhavi Mudra in practice, except that the eyes focus on the tip of the nose, instead of the eye brow center.
How to do Nasikagra Drishti (Nose Tip Gazing)?
- Sit in a comfortable meditative pose with spine erect. Padmasana, Siddhasana, Vajrasana, Sukhasana, Ardha Padmasana, Swastikasana, etc. can be used as a sitting posture. It can be practiced also by sitting on a chair if you are not able to sit in any classical meditation pose.
- Keep the gaze straight and breathe normally. Relax the shoulders and place the palms on your knees.
- Now, slowly move your eyes and try to look at the tip of the nose. Keep the gaze there for few seconds to start with. Hold the breath to get more concentration. Release the eyes when you feel pain or discomfort.
- Repeat the process as many times as possible. With practice you can keep the eyes focused on the nose tip for long period of time. When practicing for longer duration, one need not hold the breath. The breathing can be normal, but will usually slow down while practicing concentration.
- Do not strain the eyes. Once can increase the duration over a period of months.
Benefits of Nasikagra Drishti (Nose Tip gazing)
- Nasikagra Drishti helps to develop concentration and is used as part of many meditation techniques.
- It helps to strengthen the eye muscles. Initially, the eyes may pain within few seconds of practice. Later you can maintain it for hours.
- Nasikagra Drishti can activate the Mooladhara Chakra.
- Nasikagra Drishti takes the practitioner to higher state of consciousness during meditation.