Yoga itself is very uplifting, with its overall intention to bring the body, mind, and soul into divine union. The practice is a wonderful element for helping you achieve a healthy, balanced life. Alongside our yoga practice, we can always use a few words of encouragement. Here are twenty-one empowering yoga quotes that are sure to encourage as well as inspire your inner yogi.
- “Real Peace is always unshakable; Bliss is unchanged by gain or loss.” -Yogi Bhajan.
- "Yoga began with the first person wanting to be healthy and happy all the time." - Sri Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras
- "Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise. Be good, do good, be kind, be compassionate." - Sri Swami Sivananda
- “Kindness and awareness work together. Through awareness we understand the underlying beauty of everything and every being.”- Amit Ray, Nonviolence: The Transforming Power
- “That's why it's called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value.”-Allan Lokos, Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living
- “When you blame, you open up a world of excuses, because as long as you're looking outside, you miss the opportunity to look inside, and you continue to suffer.” -Donna Quesada, Buddha in the Classroom: Zen Wisdom to Inspire
- “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.”-Petri Räisänen
- “I had discovered something; there was a pleasure in becoming something new. You could will yourself into a fresh shape. Now all I had to do was figure out how to do it out there, in my life.”-Claire Dederer, Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses
- “Yoga will always be transformational, even when it stops being cool. (350)”- Victoria Moran, Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit
- “To the yogi, all experience is seen as one, as a means to help him cultivate devotion. All experiences have equal meaning and value. (154)”- Prem Prakash, The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion A Modern Translation of the Narada Bhakti Sutras
- “A strong life force can be seen in physical vitality, courage, competent judgment, self-mastery, sexual vigor, and the realization of each person’s unique talents and purpose in life. To maintain a powerful life force, forget yourself, forget about living and dying, and bring your full attention into this moment.” -H.E. Davey, Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation
- “Basically, if the mind stays in the present, it’s impossible to worry. Upon careful consideration, it becomes clear that human beings are capable of worrying only about an event that has already transpired or one that may take place in the future (although the occurrence might have just happened or may be about to happen in the next instant). The present moment contains no time or space for worry.” -H.E. Davey, Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation
- “Bhramari Om Chanting or Humming Om chanting sends positive messages to the brain and the cells in our body and can actually reprogram our health and behavior.”- Amit Ray, Meditation: Insights and Inspirations
- “Our greatest opportunities are to let go and surrender to that which is greater than our egoistic needs and desires.”- Dashama Konah Gordon, Journey to Joyful: Transform Your Life with Pranashama Yoga
- “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.” -Yogi Vini
- “The only way to spread peace is to have peace inside you.” -Yogi Vini
- “When life is foggy, path is unclear and mind is dull, remember your breath. It has the power to give you the peace. It has the power to resolve the unsolved equations of life.” -Amit Ray, Beautify your Breath - Beautify your Life
- “If you want to know how to get through the growing pains in life, start by practicing how to become comfortable with discomfort. That’s the way of the Yogi” -Jaima Mavity
- “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.” -Henna Inam, Wired for Authenticity: Seven Practices to Inspire, Adapt, & Lead
- “Yoga is a lifestyle and not just a mere kind of exercise to stay fit and healthy. It is a science which unfolds the endless potentials of our mind and soul.”-Anamika Mishra
- “Have a namasté day today. Look into the eyes of everyone you meet and silently honor his or her soul. Say silently, 'I honor the light within you, which is the same as the light within me. And I know, we are one.” -Michelle S. Fondin, The Wheel of Healing: An Easy Guide to an Ayurvedic Lifestyle
When first introduced to yoga, I thought it was merely a silly, trendy, exercise. But thanks to a great yogi friend, I was able to see the importance of living a life of intention through yoga. I hope you enjoyed the quotes, and that you feel more empowered by them. Keep up your practice, and if you haven’t started yoga, start practicing. The light in me acknowledges the light in you. Namaste.
Photo Credit: Alexander Diana
