Introduction to Tristhana Method
“When breath and movement unite, the mind finds stillness.”
Introduction
In Ashtanga Yoga, meditation doesn’t begin after practice — it is the practice.
The Tristhana Method is the heart of this living meditation. It describes the three points of attention that transform physical movement into mindful awareness:
Asana – the posture or shape of the body
Ujjayi Pranayama – the regulated breath that guides the flow
Drishti – the directed gaze or looking place
When these three work together, the body, breath, and mind begin to function as one integrated system.
What might start as a physical exercise becomes a process of inner alignment — a way of training attention, cultivating balance, and quieting the fluctuations of the mind.
1. Asana — Posture
The word asana means “seat” — a stable base for awareness.
In Ashtanga Yoga, the postures are arranged in a specific sequence designed to purify, strengthen, and balance the body.
Each shape is a container for energy and focus.
Asana practice isn’t about achieving flexibility or performing acrobatics. It’s a physical meditation that demands presence: feeling the ground beneath the feet, sensing the line of the spine, observing the rhythm of breath as the body moves.
When practiced with attention, asana becomes the training ground for stillness in motion.
The posture is the visible form of concentration.
2. Ujjayi Pranayama — The Breathing System
The breath is the bridge between the physical and the subtle.
In Ashtanga, we use ujjayi pranayama — a steady, audible breath created by gently constricting the throat to produce a soft, oceanic sound.
This breath rhythm anchors attention and regulates energy.
It creates internal heat (tapas), which supports purification and vitality, and it synchronizes every movement. Each inhale expands; each exhale grounds.
The sound of the breath becomes a mantra — a continuous hum that draws awareness inward and quiets external noise. Over time, it becomes effortless, as if the breath is moving the body rather than the other way around.
When the breath is steady, the mind becomes clear.
3. Drishti — The Looking Place
Each posture in Ashtanga has a drishti, or point of focus for the eyes.
These nine gazing points — nose, between the eyebrows, navel, thumb, hands, feet, to the right, to the left, and upward — help channel visual energy and stabilize attention.
By keeping the gaze fixed, the mind becomes less reactive.
Instead of looking around, we look through — softening the eyes and training attention to stay steady.
Drishti refines awareness, teaching us to see without distraction, to observe without judgment.
Where the eyes go, the mind follows.
Integration: The Union of the Three
When posture, breath, and gaze align, the practice becomes seamless.
Movement and stillness merge; breath and awareness synchronize.
The mind becomes absorbed not through effort, but through entrainment — everything moving in harmony.
This is Tristhana: meditation through motion.
The body becomes the object of concentration, the breath becomes the mantra, and the gaze becomes the focal point that binds attention.
Together, they lead naturally toward pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) and dhyana (absorption in meditation).
From Outer Focus to Inner Awareness
Pratyahara — Turning Inward
Pratyahara means the gentle drawing inward of the senses — the fifth limb of yoga.
In Tristhana, this happens gradually:
Asana draws attention to internal sensations, rather than external appearance.
Ujjayi breath replaces outer noise with an inner rhythm.
Drishti withdraws the gaze from the world, focusing it on a single, intentional point.
This quiets sensory distraction and turns awareness inward — not as escape, but as deeper connection.
Dharana and Dhyana — Concentration and Absorption
When attention becomes steady, pratyahara evolves into dharana (focused concentration).
When that concentration flows without interruption, it becomes dhyana (meditation or absorption).
The Tristhana method is how this happens within the body.
Through the simple repetition of posture, breath, and gaze, the practitioner experiences absorption — a deep, embodied awareness where body, breath, and mind operate as one.
Meditation doesn’t require stillness; it requires steadiness.
Conclusion
The Tristhana Method is more than technique — it’s a way of being in practice.
It teaches us to stay present through sensation, to balance effort with ease, and to find stillness through rhythm.
By uniting asana, ujjayi breath, and drishti, we train the body to be strong, the mind to be steady, and the heart to be quiet.
In time, the practice becomes a single gesture of awareness — breath as movement, movement as meditation, and gaze as devotion.
Body steady. Breath smooth. Mind still.
This is the essence of Tristhana — and the doorway to yoga itself.