Quotes about yoga

I'm really into fitness, so my hobbies are yoga, Pilates, and working out.

Yoga's an amazing release.

The way you treat others determines the way others treat you the way others treat you determines the way you see yourself the way you see yourself determines who you are.

You do not see anything when you experience pure consciousness you become everything.

Animals cannot have any high thoughts nor can the Angels or Devas attain to direct freedom without human birth.

Thinking goes on in your head. It is not really deep into the roots of your being it is not your totality.

Breath is your link to life the direct connection to your spirit.

Yoga teaches more than postures it teaches you how to trust.

Don't wait for life to happen life is happening now!

Yoga isn’t just about showing up on the mat. It’s about showing up in your life, in your day; it’s about opening your heart while standing firm and strong and believing in yourself.

Yoga is not just a workout, it is a natural way of enhancing flexibility, calmness, clarity, and youthfulness.

India – a land where the last thing one needs to bother with is looking good. In India – at least in the circles I moved in – it's natural to look beautiful by the smile in your heart and the way you move through the world.

Yoga exercises are the best connecting tools for unity, human dignity, health, equality, global peace and compassion.

Yoga teaches us that we can have whatever we may want in life if we are willing to provide it for others first.

Life is a series of awakenings.

If only the physical aspects of hatha yoga are used, it is called ghatastha yoga (ghata means “physical effort”). Modern expressions like “fitness yoga” and “power yoga” that flourish within gym classes are within the same category, even if they do not derive from the original exercises’ rhythm and succession. In many instances “power yoga” has a positive effect on physical health; but if there is no aim to ease the mind, to gain self-insight and control of your thoughts, and to experience the d

Authenticity is not possible without embracing the “and” within us. Our minds like to categorize things into neatly labeled boxes. Am I right, or is she right? Let’s stretch our minds to I can be right and so can she. Embracing the “and” is like yoga for the brain. When we train ourselves to hold paradoxes by stretching ourselves out of the boxes our minds create, we stretch into new possibilities and adapt more quickly in a fast-changing world.

Joy is found when you focus your energy on improving human dignity, human capacity and human values.

Everything is sorrow for the wise.

Yoga will always be transformational, even when it stops being cool. (350)

Although yoga has its origins in ancient India, its methods and purposes are universal, relying not on cultural background, faith or deity, but simply on the individual. Yoga has become important in the lives of many contemporary Westerners, sometimes as a way of improving health and fitness of the body, but also as a means of personal and spiritual development.

Some students are in a hurry to begin "real" pranayama. They go right to the later stages without first laying a quality foundation, and their practice often suffers. First find out what is. This is also part of the answer to the question Who am I?

When you listen to yourself, everything comes naturally. It comes from inside, like a kind of will to do something. Try to be sensitive. That is yoga.

If Samkhya-Yoga philosophy does not explain the reason and origin of the strange partnership between the spirit and experience, at least tries to explain the nature of their association, to define the character of their mutual relations. These are not real relationships, in the true sense of the word, such as exist for example between external objects and perceptions. The true relations imply, in effect, change and plurality, however, here we have some rules essentially opposed to the nature of

Jonathan's voice was quiet now. "Thank you for sharing this evening with me. In yoga, we say 'Namaste,' which means 'I bow to the divine in you.'" He bowed his dork-knobbed head and said, "Namaste." We bowed back and mumbled, "Namaste." On my tongue, the new word felt as though it contained its own foreign spice.

I learned early on that most yoga poses are about showing off. You find something amazing you can do, and suddenly, Shazam—you’re a guru, ready for your groupies.

Meditation is the best tool for neutralizing the voice in the head. It's a muzzle for the ego. Being mindful is an innate but underused ability we all have, the act of being aware without judging. When you repeatedly go through the cycle of trying to focus on your breath, losing that focus, and noticing and returning to the practice, you are literally building your mindfulness muscle the same way dumbbell curls build your biceps. As this mind-muscle develops, you start being way more aware of th

Most people believe that pain and suffering are synonymous—that one begets the other. A yogi recognizes that pain is an unavoidable aspect of life and that suffering is a choice. Pain is what happens when you stub your toe, suffering is what your mind does with the sensation.

It has been said that the body is the temple of the spirit and the mind is the altar within that temple. When we practice hatha yoga we allow ourselves to come fully into the temple of the body—not simply as a tourist wishing to admire the fine architecture, but as a seeker on a pilgrimage of deep devotion and reverence.Meditation is the devotional practice of placing on the altar of the mind that which is sacred, holy, and revered. Just as you would not place garbage on the altar of a great tem

While religions and mystical traditions attempt to address the same spiritual questions with which all human beings wrestle, a religious person demands answers to questions that have no answers and attempts to demand harmony from the paradox of life. The result is less wisdom and varying degrees of bothinternal and external chaos. A mystic, on the other hand, contemplates and makes peace with unanswered questions. The great paradox is that sitting quietly with unanswered questions is the doorway

I understand that for beginners it isn't that easy to sit down, close your eyes, and settle into stillness. Your thoughts have gotten used to making SO MUCH NOISE! They have enjoyed too much influence over you to simply fade the first time you try.

After my first experience via yoga, I became incredibly focused on experiencing that sense of stillness again. The stillness that reminded me that I could be a better person, a better friend, a better citizen of the world, as well as a better businessman.

The beautiful thing about meditation is that it allows you to access that cool guy or girl inside of you that's waiting to come out. You'll be able to access the part of you that people like to be around. The part of you that feels upbeat about things. That feels like you're moving toward your goals without frustration and anxiety. That feels ecstatic to be alive! The more I meditate, the more I have these moments.

Just as the light bulb allows the electricity within it the opportunity to express its power, the body allows prana—life energy—to express itself. In yoga, our goal is to slowly increase the wattage of the subtle body, allowing prana to flow within us and through us, leaving health and balance in its wake.

The great spiritual tension between the contemplative life of the monk andspiritual activism in the world dissolves entirely with one word—namaste: thelight in me bows to the light in you.When meditation reveals the light in ourselves, we naturally want to bow tothe light in all beings—to act on their behalf in reverence and devotion.When we truly see the light in another being, our own light shines forth, dissolving the seemingly eternal ache in our hearts and the near constant struggle of the

Do numbers hold spiritual significance? Perhaps they do. For me, the most powerful numbers are two and six because when you multiply those numbers, you get the exact amount of square feet required to roll out a yoga mat. Even after years of practice, I’m continually astounded that all I really need to heal my body, open my heart, and still my chaotic mind is twelve square feet.

To the unaware person, karma is the prison in which the mind is held hostage. Because of karma, an unaware person is doomed to repeat the past in perpetuity as the seeds planted yesterday bear bitter fruit tomorrow. But to the mindful person, karma offers the promise of freedom. Mindfulness allows us to change our mind in the present, plantingnew seeds that will bear sweet fruit.

A Kula or spiritual community is like a nudist camp for the soul. Not only are we given the permission to remove our robes of guilt, our suits of shame, and our masks of false identity—we are encouraged to do so. To become naked and hold nothing back is to become truly beautiful.

On a physical level, water is often called the universal solvent because of its ability to dissolve almost anything at the molecular level. On a spiritual level it is the breath which acts as a universal solvent, because there is no trauma so great, no wound so deep, no delusion so convincing, that deep and mindful breathing will not dissolve it.

True spiritual virtues can have no opposite, but they can wear masks and costumes.Joy often masquerades as anger; innocence often dresses up as guilt; lovepretends to be fear. At the end of the day, we discover that we don’t need tobe fearful of these internal monsters—we simply need to unmask them.

Forcing Your body into a yoga pose is like brushing your teeth with a wire brush. You may get rid of the plaque but gingivitis will be the least of your concerns.

Resolutions, like all spiritual virtues, can be misused by the ego when mindfulness is absent. There are few things that will keep you in the bondage of habit like a grand resolution. It is like an empty box wrapped in the best ofintentions, yet lacking anything of substance.

Jacob offered Ann pot, this time from a bowl. She shook her head no.“You gotta keep doing it and eventually it will start to feel good, and your body will adapt,” he encouraged. It was the same thing her mom’s yoga instructor had said to her once and her answer was the same both times.

The heart of a yogi should always bear good-will and thoughts that benefit others.

Despite an ever increasing diversity when it comes to yoga brands, there are only four major paths in yoga and they have the same end goal; enlightenment. The end goal can be likened to the top of a pyramid. Even though people may start climbing the pyramid from different sides, at the end they will reach the same goal and thusly achieve unity.

Keep it small. Keep it simple. Give it time. An exercise program such as yoga is a slow process. It is slow by design. But, in order to secure the gains and add to them, you have to keep it up. And guess what, the more you do it, the more your desire to do it grows. It is the same with building core spiritual muscles. You may have a period of intense growth—perhaps some adversity that drives you to your knees and calls forth the blessings of heaven. But to secure those gains, we must continue to

...it's most important to accept that your yoga poses may not look like everyone else's. That's okay. Just adapt the poses to your current state of being.

Poor breathing is to low energy as bad air filter is to low car performance.

The more you know, the more you don't know," the further you go in your training, learning, and experience as a yoga teacher, the more you'll realize that there's an infinite universe of knowledge and wisdom to bring to the practice.

Ten minutes of deep relaxation five times a day would change anyone's life, whether or not he or she suffered from colitis.

Pain and Happiness are the coverings over reality

Do you know what is God? – Life power undergoing various changes in the process of yoga as depicted, gets up in the Cerebrum – This is God.

All kidding aside, if everyone did yoga, we would have world peace.

Overall, always strive to be genuine — about who you are, what you offer, and why you do what you do.

Drinking tea is as sacred as doing yoga. Sleeping silently, relaxed, is as sacred as prayer. Looking at a tree, talking to a friend, walking early in the morning, working in the factory or in the office, is as holy as anything else. This is the understanding that is needed for Tao to happen.

yoga is the science of reality

Life has two phases one is light and one is darkness. When we are in dark, we can see everything in the light. But when we are in light we can't see what's in dark.

The body is not a product. It is an experience.

... it was once necessary to proclaim the entire doctrine of Yoga in the fewest possible words.... I did so.“Sit still. Stop thinking. Shut up. Get out!”The first two of these instructions comprise the whole of the technique of Yoga. The last two are of a sublimity which it would be improper to expound in this present elementary stage.

She tried to do what the Equinox yoga instructor said to do and thank each thought for coming then let it float away, but the thoughts were not floating away and she couldn't force them away, not even here, where she was supposed to be able to escape.

Barbican Yoga Cave is a oasis for stress bust

Our anxieties were driving us to become other people—he was Earner; I was Mother, like characters in some phenomenally boring Ionesco play.

The only way to experience true wellbeing is to turn inward. This is what yoga means - not up, not out, but in. The only way out is in.

The time is changing and not only the policy makers of India, but the whole world is realizing the importance of Ayurveda. Who could have thought some years back that people with up-bringing in cosmopolitan culture would prefer bottle gourd juice or gooseberry juice over carbonated soft-drinks in the near future.

On the occasion of yoga day, I want to offer you the simplest form of yoga: Namaskar - Yoga for all.

The real difference between yoga and religion is this: Religion says believe, do not doubt, often citing the word of God and promises of an eternal afterlife, reciting dogma (unsubstantiated pre-modern myths), while yoga only points the way and urges its students to practice and experience for themselves. In this way yoga is very scientific in its approach to self-knowledge, transcendence and enlightenment. Its message is: Try the practice for yourself and only then can you truly believe.

When you open to the world, the world opens to you.

Success is directly proportional to one's ability to turn inward. Yoga is a journey that facilitates the process of reaching inward. Deeper you reach within your inner cosmos, greater will be your understanding of and influence in the outer world. It is this understanding and influence that determines the degree of your success.

For reasons unknown, the philosophical aspect of the yoga movement has had to make way for the yoga fit revolution; today’s image of a yogi is a slender and scantily clad young female doing postures on the cover of a bestselling magazine, whereas the older image was of an Indian man with long beard sitting in a cave wearing a loin cloth.

The yogic scriptures paint a picture of perfection, and perfection can be your aim, but I can tell you sad stories about myself and others who have entered into a state of premature holiness with unpleasant consequences.

The purpose of Hatha Yoga is to establish a body that is less susceptible to outside influences – a stable platform to build on.

Acharya Balkrishna on Yog"Who will not be delighted to behold the exotic scenery and flora of the barren lands of Himalayas. Similar is the power of Yog which beautifies the deserted life and fructifies hope in the shattered hearts. By taking refuge in Yog, the fallow mind will blossom into flowers indeed.

•Don't do yoga to get peace. It is possibly occultic. It seems innocent, but it can open a door to Satan in your life. I know this from personal experience. Seek God for peace, not things of this world.

A yogi realizes the divinity in him and the divinity that is present in this world. In his own heartbeat and his own regular breath he feels the flow of all the seasons and the throbbing touch of universal life.

Not everything that is related to yoga is equally beneficial.

Seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the fires of divine wisdom.

What we see in the world around us is just a reflection of what is inside of us.

Ethical vegetarians eat only plant-based food in order to show compassion toward animals and other humans and to benefit the planet.

Acharya Balkrishna" on the Origin of Yog and its Greatness"Standing upright facing all storms and tempests like Devalaya, Yog too is like a monument, established like saints and sages, reaching where all the trials and turbulences cease. Even adversities strengthen the bricks and a stone of this temple – such is the power of Yog. The same way, the evasive flow of time might seldom limit the greatness of Yog and Yogis.

Without education, confidence does not come.

Yoga is just gymnastics for uncoordinated people.

Yoga practices shift our identity away from the ego-personality and its struggles so that we can begin to reconnect with the essential nature of our being, which is bliss.

We create the world we live in. If we want to change what we don't like in the world, we must start by changing what we don't like about ourselves.

Matter is a medium of communication between minds, and everything that exists in the mind can also exist in the body. Furthermore, the body—being the expression of a mental state is developed as a manifestation of the mind.

Many of us attend a few yoga classes and find that we like the glimpse of another way of life that yoga offers. We are delighted by the way we feel after class and we are pleasantly surprised as certain behaviors start to fall away. Perhaps we no longer need coffee in the morning; or staying out late at night becomes less attractive; or we find ourselves calmer and more compassionate. Suddenly we're convinced that we've hit upon a painless way to solve all our problems. Sadly, this is not the ca

Through the deeply theraputic practice of asana, we begin to purify our karmas, thereby healing our past relationships with others and reestablishing a steady and joyful connection with the Earth, which means all beings.

Things that we do every day make up who we are and the results we have in our life. Bank accounts collect from constant deposits and good health is achieved or maintained from what we put into our bodies daily.

My Maman told me that only the crazy ones and the passionate ones accomplish anything in life.

Is there cure of love? I Think not, but David you can tame it, I mean Yoga.Says Bhutta

care for your body as you care for your home, and care for your home as you care for your body.

…When you’re in the darkness, know that the light will come. We are light and dark, sun and moon, male and female, yin and yang; life is composed of opposites, in a continuing cycle of change…. When you are in the light, don’t step back into the darkness. Live in that light, and breathe it in fully. I’ve spent so much of my life going over and over the sadness and fear of the past. But we don’t need to go there when we’re not there. When we are in the light, be here, now.

It’s not just about recognizing how ‘precious’ every moment is, or about ‘living for today.’ It’s about finding the sacred center of now, and living there, moment to moment, always.

Vairâgya or renunciation is the turning point in all the various Yogas. The Karmi (worker) renounces the fruits of his work. The Bhakta (devotee) renounces all little loves for the almighty and omnipresent love. The Yogi renounces his experiences, because his philosophy is that the whole Nature, although it is for the experience of the soul, at last brings him to know that he is not in Nature, but eternally separate from Nature. The Jnâni (philosopher) renounces everything, because his philosoph

I just know about sweat and frustration. And that what I once thought was impossible somehow doesn't always stay that way permanently. One day it's suddenly easy and accessible, and mostly because I've stopped struggling against it. I've just accepted where I am, keep showing up, and then the change just happens.

Controlling the position of one's body and keeping a straight back are not contemplation, but can in fact become an obstacle to contemplation. ...when leaving the body 'uncontrolled' is spoken of, what is meant is simply allowing the body to remain in an authentic, uncorrected condition, in which it is not necessary to modify or improve anything. This is because, since all our attempts at correcting the body come from the reasoning mind, they are all false and artificial.

Abhinavagupta does not prescribe a hermit’s life for that Shiva yogin, who is free to live without restrictions, to remain in the household, and to participate in pleasures of the senses and the mind within the limits of the currently acceptable social standards. In other words, one is free to live a normal life and at the same time to pursue some method of Trika yoga. As soon as the seeker’s practice in yoga yields the experience of Self-bliss, worldly enjoyments automatically lose their power

Maybe it’s something to do with the movements: the Cat and then the Cow, the twist to the left and then to the right, the reaching up, and then bending to the ground, the constant training of the body to move one way, and then to move in the opposite way. Hatha: sun, moon opposites, dark and light, yin and yang. This must be key in the way yoga shapes the mind and heart, in the way it helps one to understand that every movement has a counter movement, that every action has an opposing action, th

All of the blissful and beautiful aspects of the Absolute are present in each and every person and living thing, but they remain dormant because they are hidden behind the mask of maya. In other words, we are all blinded to this inner bliss and beauty by our limited sense of who we are, and by the habit of directing so much of our attention out into the world. Everyone can have momentary glimpses of inner bliss when they experience something that is extremely pleasing to the senses and the mind.

According to the Trika system, yoga is that theological practice which helps in attaining the realization of absolute unity between the practitioner and Absolute Reality, that is, between the yogin and God. As it says in the Malinitantra:The unity of one (a finite being) with another (Almighty God) is called yoga by Shiva yogins (Malinivijayatantra, IV.4).Practitioners of yoga are advised to realize their forgotten true nature and to recognize themselves as none other than the Absolute, Paramasi