Looking for some motivation for your daily yoga routine? We have collected 127 popular yoga quotes - just pick the one you like best to get you back on the mat.
1. “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
2. “Change is not only inevitable, but always happening. When you truly embrace this concept of change being constant, the only thing left to do is grow, detach, venture inwards, touch the spirit and find your source - the one responsible for keeping you grounded through the ever-changing seasons of life.”
- Julie Weiland
3. “Don’t move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move.”
- Osho
4. "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
5. “If you choose to see everything as a miracle, then where you are right now is perfect. There is nowhere to run to; there is nothing else to do except be in this moment and allow what is to be. From that place of radical acceptance, major change can happen. The first step in any transformational experience is acceptance and surrender to the present moment, the way that it is. From that place we have the awareness, humility and power to change what is.”
- Mastin Kipp
6. “In meditation and in our daily lives there are three qualities that we can nurture, cultivate, and bring out. We already possess these, but they can be ripened: precision, gentleness, and the ability to let go.”
- Pema Chodron
7. “The chakras are very intelligent – they are like the software of the whole computer body.”
- Dharma Mittra
8. "Follow your nature. The practice is really about uncovering your own pose; we have great respect for our teachers, but unless we can uncover our own pose in the moment, it's not practice — it's mimicry. Rest deeply in Savasana every day. Always enter that pratyahara (withdrawn state) every day. And just enjoy yourself. For many years I mistook discipline as ambition. Now I believe it to be more about consistency. Do get on the mat. Practice and life are not that different."
- Judith Hanson Lasater
9. “There will always be people who can do it better than you, but that's a good thing! Start to see competition as inspiration - without envy.”
- Kathryn Budig
10. “Why do we need money beyond a point? If we are free of ill health, enmity, and debt, is that not enough? Too much money only leads to less peace.”
- T. Krishnamacharya
11. “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
12. “Rid your body of its impurities, let your speech be true and sweet, feel friendship for the world, and with humility seek wealth and knowledge.”
- T. Krishnamacharya
13. “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
14. “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”
- B. K. S. Iyengar
15. “When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world. ”
- B. K. S. Iyengar
16. “Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat.”
- B. K. S. Iyengar
17. “Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits. Similarly, from a healthy person, smiles and happiness shine forth like the rays of the sun.”
- B. K. S. Iyengar
18. “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
19. “The ultimate goal of yoga is to always observe things accurately, and therefore never act in a way that will make us regret our actions later.”
- T.K.V. Desikachar
20. “Have only love in your heart for others. The more you see the good in them, the more you will establish good in yourself.”
- T.K.V. Desikachar
21. “The more you meditate, the more helpful you can be to others, and the more deeply you will be in tune with God.”
- T.K.V. Desikachar
22. “The sun shines down, and its image reflects in a thousand different pots filled with water. The reflections are many, but they are each reflecting the same sun. Similarly, when we come to know who we truly are, we will see ourselves in all people.”
- Ammachi
23. “True happiness is when the love that is within us finds expression in external activities.”
- Ammachi
24. “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
25. “The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.”
- Geeta Iyengar
25. “Everyone has in him something divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find it, develop it & use it. The chief aim of education should be to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use.”
- Sri Aurobindo
26. “The practice of Yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being.”
- Sri Aurobindo
27. “Yoga exercises are excellent; the speaker does them every day, for an hour or more; but that is merely physical exercise, to keep the body healthy, and so on.”
- Jiddhu Krishnamurti
28. “I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect.”
- Jiddhu Krishnamurti
29. “The attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga.”
- Yogi Bhajan
30. “By our stumbling the world is perfected.”
- Yogi Bhajan
31. “Live in the present, forget the past. Give up hopes of future.”
- Terrific Swami Sivananda
32. “This world is your body. This world is a great school, This world is your silent teacher.”
- Terrific Swami Sivananda
33. “Put you heart, mind, intellect and soul even into your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.”
- Terrific Swami Sivananda
34. “The meaning of our self is not to be found in its separateness from God and others, but in the ceaseless realization of yoga, of union.”
- Rabindranath Tagore
35. "Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are”
- Jason Crandell
36. “Yoga is not about touching your toes. It’s about unlocking your ideas about what you want, where you think you can go, and how you will achieve when you get there.”
- Cyndi Lee
37. “Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.”
- B. K. S. Iyengar
38. “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
39. “Yoga is not about self-improvement, it’s about self-acceptance.”
- Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
40. “The true purpose of yoga is to discover that aspect of your being that can never be lost.”
- Deepak Chopra
41. “Yoga is about remembering that we are already one with the divinity and we’ve left it.”
- Rolf Naujokat
42. “Yoga is essentially a practice for your soul, working through the medium of your body.”
- Tara Fraser
43. “Yoga teaches you how to listen to your body.”
- Mariel Hemingway
44. “Yoga doesn’t take time, it gives time.”
- Ganga White
45. “Yoga is a powerful vehicle for change. As you build strength you start to believe in your own potential.”
- Tiffany Cruikshank
46. “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
47. “Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.”
- B.K.S. Iyengar
48. ” Body is not stiff, mind is stiff.”
- Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
49. “Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.”
- Bob Harper
50. “Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety."
- Baxter Bell
60. “Yoga is almost like music in a way; there’s no end to it.”
- Sting
61. "Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self."
- The Bhagavad Gita
62. "Yoga is not a religion. Yoga is a science, a science of well-being, science of youthfulness, science of integrating body, mind and soul."
- Amit Ray
63. "Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are." - Jason Crandell
64. "Yoga is not about self-improvement or making ourselves better. It is a process of deconstructing all the barriers we may have erected that prevent us from having an authentic connection with ourselves and the world."
- Donna Fahri
65. "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
66. "Yoga is a technology for arriving in this present moment. It is a means of waking up from our spiritual amnesia, so that we can remember all that we already know."
- Donna Fahri
67. "Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind."
- Patanjali
68. "The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind."
- Rodney Yee
69. "Doing anything with attention to how you feel is doing yoga."
- Jean Couch
70. "Yoga does not remove us from the reality or responsibilities of everyday life but rather places our feet firmly and resolutely in the practical ground of experience. We don’t transcend our lives; we return to the life we left behind in the hopes of something better."
- Donna Fahri
71. "We start to see that yoga can be an inward journey of body-mind sensitivity during both our so-called practice time and our time spent everywhere else. It is at this point that yoga is o longer relegated to an activity we do while wearing certain clothes at the yoga center or gym, but instead becomes a living vehicle for embodied wholeness, a potent path of transformation."
- Sarah Powers
72. "Yoga philosophy teaches that real man is not his body, but that the immortal I, of which each human being is conscious to some degree according to his mental evolution, is not the body but merely occupies and uses the body as an instrument."
- Swami Vishnu-devananda
73. "Yoga aims to remove the root cause of all diseases, not to treat its symptoms as medical science generally attempts to do."
- Swami Vishnu-devananda
74. "Yoga is the bringing together of that which was never separate."
- Richard Miller
75. "Through the practices of yoga, we discover that concern for the happiness and well being of others, including animals, must be an essential part of our own quest for happiness and well being. The fork can be a powerful weapon of mass destruction or a tool to create peace on Earth."
- Sharon Gannon
76. "You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state."
- Sharon Gannon
77. "A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves."
- T. Guillemets
78. "In theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice they are not.
- Yogi Berra
79. "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built."
- Rumi
80. "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 Pradipik
81. "Before you've practiced, the theory is useless. After you've practiced, the theory is obvious."
- David Williams
82. "The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind."
- Rodney Yee
83. "REAL Peace is always unshakable... Bliss is unchanged by gain or loss."
- Yogi Bhajan
84. "Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety."
- Baxter Bell
85. "Change is not something that we should fear. Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they're meant to be."
- Anon
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 realization. Yoga means union - the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions."
- B.K.S. Iyengar
87. "When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world."
- B.K.S. Iyengar
88. "IyengarYoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame."
- B.K.S. Iyengar
89. "The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren't enough."
- Amy Weintraub
90. "Yoga is the fountain of youth. You're only as young as your spine is flexible." -
Bob Harper
91. "Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom."
- Buddha quotes
92. "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 Krishna Pattabhi Jois
93. "By embracing your mother wound as your yoga, you transform what has been a hindrance in your life into a teacher of the heart."
- Phillip Moffitt
94. "Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory."
- Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
95. "Sun salutations can energize and warm you, even on the darkest, coldest winter day."
- Carol Krucoff
96. "For me, yoga is not just a workout - it's about working on yourself."
- Mary Glover
97. "The beauty is that people often come here for the stretch, and leave with a lot more."
- Liza Ciano
98. "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."
99. "Vogue and Self are putting out the message of yoginis as buff and perfect. If you start doing yoga for those reasons, fine. Most people get beyond that and see that it's much, much more."
- Patricia Walden
100. "If I'm losing balance in a pose, I stretch higher and God reaches down to steady me. It works every time, and not just in yoga."
- T. Guillemets
101. "I was in yoga the other day. I was in full lotus position. My chakras were all aligned. My mind is cleared of all clatter and I'm looking out of my third eye and everything that I'm supposed to be doing. It's amazing what comes up, when you sit in that silence. Mama keeps whites bright like the sunlight, Mama's got the magic of Clorox 2."
- Ellen DeGeneres
102. "Anyone who practices can obtain success in yoga but not one who is lazy. Constant practice alone is the secret of success."
- Svatmarama
103. "Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind."
- Patanjali
104. "Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are."
- Jason Crandell
105. "Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self control. Energy within and energy without."
- Ymber Delecto
106. "Corpse pose restores life. Dead parts of your being fall away, the ghosts are released."
- The Quote Garden
107. "Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety."
- Baxter Bell
108. "Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight or flight mode."
- Melanie Haiken
109. "Yoga accepts. Yoga gives."
- April Vallei
122. "Warrior pose battles inner weakness and wins focus. You see that there is no war within you. You're on your own side, and you are your own strength."
- The Quote Garden
110. "Mountain pose teaches us, literally, how to stand on our own two feet.... teaching us to root ourselves into the earth.... Our bodies become a connection between heaven and earth."
- Carol Krucoff
111. "The autonomic nervous system is divided into the sympathetic system, which is often identified with the fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic, which is identified with what's been called the relaxation response. When you do yoga - the deep breathing, the stretching, the movements that release muscle tension, the relaxed focus on being present in your body - you initiate a process that turns the fight or flight system off and the relaxation response on. That has a dramatic effect on the body. The heartbeat slows, respiration decreases, blood pressure decreases. The body seizes this chance to turn on the healing mechanisms."
- Richard Faulds
112. "Tree pose grows confidence."
- The Quote Garden
113. "Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God."
- Krishnamacharya
114. "For those wounded by civilization, yoga is the most healing salve."
- T. Guillemets
115. "When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others."
- Peace Pilgrim
116. "I have been a seeker and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my Soul."
- Rumi
117. "It is not arrogant or egotistical to feel good inside. You had nothing to do with it. It’s simply the honest response to clearly perceived Reality."
- Erich Schiffman
118. "Wisdom is knowing we are all One. Love is what it feels like and Compassion is what it acts like."
- Ethan Walker III
119. "Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes. "
- Thich Nhat Hanh
120. "Love is how it feels to recognize our essential unity. Awakening to oneness is the experience of Big Love. Knowing you are one with all, you find yourself in love with all."
- Timothy Freke
121. "Remember the emphasis on the heart. The mind lives in doubt and the heart lives in trust. When you trust, suddenly you become centered."
- Osho
122. "Every waking moment we talk to ourselves about the things we experience. Our self-talk, the thoughts we communicate to ourselves, in turn control the way we feel and act."
- John Lembo
123. "True meditation is about being fully present with everything that is--including discomfort and challenges. It is not an escape from life."
- Craig Hamilton
124. “Understanding without practice is better than practice without understanding. Understanding with practice is better than understanding without practice. Residing in your true nature is better than understanding or practice."
- Upanishads
125. “Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings.”
- Rumi
126. “Yoga is the unifying art of transforming dharma into action, be it through inspired thought, properly nurturing our children, a painting, a kindness or an act of peace that forever moves humanity forward. "
- Micheline Berry
127. “Habits allow us to not think about what we’re doing . . . giving us the illusion of ease. When we are under the illusion of ease, not thinking about what we’re doing. Breathing the same old way, moving the same old way, thinking the same old way we check out of the present, out of happiness itself.”
- Alex Levin