Why Drishti Matters (the fun neurology of gaze stabilization)
"Brainy What-Why-How"
Your weekly nibble of science-backed goodness to help you move better and feel unstoppable.
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What (the TL:DR)
Drishti matters.
Yeah, staring. As stupidly simple as it sounds.
Fixing your eyes on one spot turns out to be reallllly good for movement.
Our eyes are always doing more work than we realise, and keeping them fixed on one target activates parts of the brain that help organise movement, balance, and coordination.
But sometimes when we're really challenged, like learning a new handstand entry our eyes may start wandering--darting around, drifting, looking for answers-- without us even noticing.
So before you even think about setting up your muscles...
...set up your gaze.
It can genuinely make a skill feel easier.
Why (the geeky neurology)
One of your brain's full-time jobs is answering the question:
"Where am I in relation to the ground?"
To answer that question, it combines information from:
👀 your eyes (visual system)
👂 your inner ear (vestibular system)
💪 and your muscles and joints (proprioceptive system)
Your eyes are your brain's VIPs. Give it a stable reference point and suddenly your nervous system has much cleaner information to work with.
That lights up some very cool areas of your brain:
1️⃣ The flocculus. It's like the quality control manager.
Every tiny movement of your head creates an an equal and opposite movement of your eyes. That's your vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) -- you'll be familiar with it if you've taken a few classes with me.
The flocculus -- which lives in the Cerebellum -- checks whether those eye movements were accurate and fine-tunes them if they weren't.
If this is slowed or interrupted for some reason, it can be disorientating.
The cool thing is, you can train it! (see "how" below -- your brain loves homework)
2️⃣ The fastigial nucleus. Think: "mission control."
This little cerebellar legend combines information from your eyes, inner ear, and body so it can make lightning-fast adjustments to your posture and balance. ( ⬅️ basically it helps stop gravity from winning)
3️⃣ Your brainstem
The brainstem takes info from the eyes, and info from the vestibular system, to decide how much muscle activation is needed to stop you from falling over.
4️⃣ The cortex
The cortex (the wrinkly part of the brain) joins the party too, using all of that information to predict movement and help organise your next action.
All because you stared at one spot.
SO WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
Movement isn't just about having strong muscles.
It's about your brain feeling confident enough to let those muscles do their job.
When your brain gets clearer information, it can make better decisions.
If you ever feel like your balance is off because
you wobble more than you like
your reactions feel slow
you feel weirdly uncoordinated
it feels like you're always fighting with your own body
Then looking at these systems -- the eyes and inner ear -- may be more worthwhile than assuming the bottleneck is in your muscles.
How (apply it to your life)
Whether it's a handstand or another balance that challenges you..
set up your gaze before you move.
For example, I tell my handstand students:
"before you even THINK about jumping up, set up your fingers, your shoulders, your ribs, and your gaze".
Like...leave your brain with one less problem to solve, eh?
Want to experiment?
Test your balance in your favourite balance pose
Find a dot on the wall, and keep your eyes glued to it. Without letting your eyes leave the dot, turn your head left and right for 10-20 seconds.
Retest your balance
You've just given your VOR a little workout. 🧠 🏋️♀️ Did it help your balance?
Steady gaze, steady brain, steady you,
Adell xx
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