Here are 100 motivational and inspirational yoga quotes from renowned masters that will inspire your daily yoga practice.
yoga quotes
1. “Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the most valuable inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow” – Swami Satyananda Saraswati
2. “Here and now is where yoga begins” – The Yoga Sutras
3. “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” – The Bhagavad Gita
4. “Rise above the deceptions and temptations of the mind. This is your duty. You are born for this only; all other duties are self-created and self-imposed owing to ignorance.” – Swami Sivananda
5. “Yoga means to be in perfect tune. Your body, mind and spirit and the existence are in absolute harmony. When you fine-tune yourself to a point where everything functions so beautifully within you, the best of your abilities will naturally flow out of you.” – Sadhguru
6. “Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” – Rumi
7. “The practice of Yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being.” – Sri Aurobindo
8. “The attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga.” – Yogi Bhajan
9. “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” – B.K.S Iyengar
10. “Dedication to the upliftment of others, seeing others in oneself and oneself in others; this is the ultimate yoga. This is the path and this is the yoga of the next century, call it ‘freedom yoga’.” – Swami Satyananda
11. “My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.” – Rumi
12. “Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked.” – Patanjali
13. “Your own Self-realisation is the greatest service you can render the world.” – Ramana Maharishi
14. “The Stone of Guilt in the River of the Mind is a block in the flow of intelligence.” – Swami Nithyananda
15. “The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.” – Ramakrishna Paramahansa
16. “Yoga is a method to come to a non-dreaming mind. Yoga is the science to be in the here and now.” – Osho
17. “Thoughts are giant-powers. They are more powerful than electricity. They control your life, mould your character, and shape your destiny.” – Sivananda Saraswati
18. “Where is the delusion when truth is known? Where is the disease when the mind is clear? Where is death when the Breath is controlled? Therefore, surrender to Yoga.” – T. Krishnamacharya
19. “No one succeeds without effort. Those who succeed owe their success to perseverance.” – Ramana maharishi
20. “Surrender is the ultimate technique to merge with existence.” – Swami Nithyananda
21. “Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
22. “Concentration of the mind is in a way common to both Knowledge and Yoga. Yoga aims at union of the individual with the universal, the Reality. This Reality cannot be new. It must exist even now, and it does exist.” – Ramana Maharishi
23. “Yoga is the science that empowers every being to realise his or her highest state of possibility. Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word “yug” that means union. It takes us from being human to being divine – to the state of Sadashivoham – the state of being eternally divine and in union with the Source.” – Swami Nithyananda
24. “As a yoga practitioner, both dynamism – your work, accomplishments and ambitions – and yogic life must be practised side by side.” – Swami Satyananda
25. “Anyone who practices can obtain success in yoga but not one who is lazy. Constant practice alone is the secret of success.” – Hatha Yoga Pradipika
26. “We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
27. “Practicing yoga and learning about yourself is like entering a big dark room and turning the lights on one by one. People want instant transformation. Yoga is not for these people. It is for people who are patient and willing to work hard to overcome their limitations.” – Swami Niranjanananda
28. “The very way you breathe, sit, stand, eat, walk, work – everything can become yoga. You can use any process of life to transcend your limitations.” – Sadhguru
29. “One aspect of the yoga way is to provide us tools and techniques to lead a stress-free and tension-free life. On the other hand, yoga is also the greatest wealth of humankind, I would say.” – Sri Sri Ravishankhar
30. “The purpose of yoga is to stop the misery before it comes” – Patanjali
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31. “By following the path of yoga, one day you will become a true soldier. You will defeat your inner enemies and achieve real freedom.” – Swami Satyananda
32. “Yoga is not just an exercise, it is how skilfully you can communicate and how skilfully you can act in any given situation. – Sri Sri Ravishankhar
33. “Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.” – BKS Iyengar
34. “The very heart of yoga practice is ‘abyhasa’ – steady effort in the direction you want to go.” – Sally Kempton
35. “Yoga means addition – addition of energy, strength and beauty to body, mind and soul.” – Amit Ray
36. “Calming the mind is yoga. Not just standing on the head.” – Swami Satchidananda
37. “Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.” – Patanjali
38. “Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.” – Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
39. “Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.”– Bob Harper
40. “Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self-control. Energy within and energy without.” – Ymber Delecto
41. “A mind free from all disturbances is yoga.” – Patanjali
42. “The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body.” – Jason Crandell
43. “Yoga does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.” – BKS Iyengar
44. “Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.” – Patanjali
45. “The meaning of our self is not to be found in separateness from God and others, but in the ceaseless realisation of yoga, of union.” – Rabindranath Tagore
46. “True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life. Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; yoga cares about the person you are becoming. Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose, and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied.” – Aadil Palkhivala
47. “The obstacles that distract thought are disease, apathy, doubt, carelessness, indolence, dissipation, false vision, failure to attain a firm basis in yoga, and restlessness.” – Patanjali
48. “Yoga is a dance between control and surrender — between pushing and letting go — and when to push and to let go becomes part of the creative process, part of the open-ended exploration of your well-being.” – Joel Kramer
49. “Yoga allows you to find an inner peace that is not ruffled and riled by the endless stresses and struggles of life.” – B.K.S Iyengar
50. “Yoga is a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are.” – Erich Schiffmann
51. “Yoga teaches you how to listen to your body.” – Mariel Hemingway
52. “Yoga Nidra is the yoga of aware sleep. In this lies the secret of self-healing. Yoga Nidra is a pratyahara technique in which the distraction of the mind are contained and the mind is relaxed.” – Swami Satyananda Saraswati
54. “Yoga is a tool to find ultimate expression to life. Every human being must explore and know this. Otherwise, life becomes very limited and accidental. But once you start activating your inner energies, your capabilities happen in a different sphere altogether.” – Sadhguru
55. “In the practice of Yoga one can emphasize the body, the mind or the self and hence the effort can never be fruitless.” – T. Krishnamacharya
56. “Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal…. But don’t approach yoga with a business mind looking for worldly gain.” – Sri Pattabhi Jois
57. “The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.” – T.K.V. Desikachar
58. “When this body has been so magnificently and artistically created by God, it is only fitting that we should maintain it in good health and harmony by the most excellent and artistic science of Yoga.” – Geeta Iyengar
59. “Yoga is not a work-out, it is a work-in. And this is the point of spiritual practice; to make us teachable; to open up our hearts and focus our awareness so that we can know what we already know and be who we already are.” – Rolf Gates
60. “That’s exactly how it is in yoga. The places where you have the most resistance are actually the places that are going to be the areas of the greatest liberation.” – Rodney Yee
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61. “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.” –Tara Fraser
62. “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” – Rumi
63. “Yoga is the heritage of the past and the culture of tomorrow.” – Swami Satyananda
64. “Yoga is not a religion. It is a science, science of well-being, science of youthfulness, science of integrating body, mind and soul.” – Amit Ray
65. “Anyone who practices yoga can obtain success in yoga but not one who is lazy. Constant practice alone is the secret of success.” – Svatmarama
66. “Yoga says instinct is a trace of an old experience that has been repeated many times and the impressions have sunk down to the bottom of the mental lake. Although they go down, they aren’t completely erased. Don’t think you ever forget anything. All experiences are stored in the chittam; and, when the proper atmosphere is created, they come to the surface again. When we do something several times it forms a habit. Continue with that habit for a long time, and it becomes your character. Continue with that character and eventually, perhaps in another life, it comes up as instinct.” – Swami Satchidananda
67. “The purpose of karma yoga is to transcend the bondage of selfish genes through the service of others.” – Amit Ray
68. “Here is, in truth, the whole secret of Yoga, the science of the soul. The active turnings, the strident vibrations, of selfishness, lust and hate are to be stilled by meditation, by letting heart and mind dwell in spiritual life, by lifting up the heart to the strong, silent life above, which rests in the stillness of eternal love, and needs no harsh vibration to convince it of true being.” – Patanjali
69. “A human is not a being; he is a becoming. He is an ongoing process – a possibility. For this possibility to be made use of, there is a whole system of understanding the mechanics of how this life functions and what we can do with it, which we refer to as yoga.” – Sadhguru
70. “This calm steadiness of the senses is called yoga. Then one should become watchful, becomes yoga comes and go.” – Katha Upanishad
71. “Teaching yoga itself is great karma yoga, because it reconnects people to the source.” – Amit Ray
72. “Illness begins with "I", Wellness begins with "we.” – Swami Sivananda
73. “The longest journey begins with a single step.” – Patanjali
74. “Continence is a very important part of yoga. If a handful of people come forward with strong wills, nothing is impossible. One Buddha changed half the globe; one Jesus, three quarters of the world. We all have that capacity.” – Swami Satchidananda
75. “Yoga is not just repetition of few postures – it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.” – Amit Ray
76. “Both renunciation and the yoga of action lead to the supreme good. But of these two, performance of action is superior to the renunciation of action.” – Krishna, The Gita.
77. “The activities of the liberated soul transcend the pairs of opposites.” – Patanjali
78. “The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It’s about using posture to understand and transform yourself.” – BKS Iyengar
79. “If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples, you will experience Yoga.” – Swami Satchidananda
80. “Asanas bring perfection in body, beauty in form, grace, strength, compactness, and the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.” – Patanjali
81. “When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath.” – Hatha Yoga Pradipika
82. “A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Zen shin
83. “If you are in a state of all-inclusive passion, we call this yoga.” – Sadhguru
84. “There is always room for change, but you have to be open to that change.” – Kathryn Budig
85. “Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.” – Rumi
86. “Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one’s being, from bodily health to self-realisation. Yoga means union – the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balance attitude in a day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
87. “Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbounded consciousness. Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind” – Patanjali
88. “Crave for a thing, you will get it. Renounce the craving, the object will follow you by itself.” – Swami Sivananda
89.“Change only happens in the present moment. The past is already done. The future is just energy and intention.” ― Kino MacGregor
90. “He is unaffected by Karma, although engaged in action, who has yoked himself to the way of Yoga, whose mind is purified, whose self has triumphed and whose senses have been subdued, and whose self has, indeed, become the self of all beings. Although acting he remains unaffected by Karma.” – Krishna, The Gita.
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91. “Yoga is not just exercise system. Yoga is the Science of obliterating the boundaries of individuality to know the universality of one’s existence.” – Sadhguru
92. “You cannot always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside.” – Wayne dyer
93. “Yoga is the cessation of the movements of the mind. Then there is abiding in the Seer’s own form.” – Patanjali
94. “The moment you understand yourself as the true Self, you find such peace and bliss that the impressions of the petty enjoyments you experienced before become as ordinary specks of light in front of the brilliant sun.” – Swami Satchidananda
95. “If you really pay attention to life, life will blossom within you. If you do not pay attention, you are somewhere else, and then life could go wrong.” – Sadhguru
96. “Move your joints every day. You have to find your own tricks. Bury your mind deep in your heart, and watch the body move by itself.” — Sri Dharma Mittra
97. “The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” – Sakyong Mipham
98. “Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind.” – Patanjali
99. “When your happiness is dependent upon what is happening outside of you, constantly you live as a slave to the external situation.” – Sadhguru
100. “What you seek is seeking you.” – Rumi
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Ked Suri, Founder of The Yogi Press
Ked was born and raised in Barcelona. He considers himself a blend of East and West, keeping from each world what is most exceptional.Yoga has played an important part of his life since his early years; he was initiated at the Bihar School of Yoga at the age of seven and experienced ashram life every year whilst growing up, spending much time with swamis, yogis and renunciates. Get in touch with him.
Yogi Inspiration
Ked Suri
b.k.s. iyengar, bks iyengar, iyengar yoga, iyengar quotes, yoga quotes
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