Yoga is about more than just the body. There’s a deeply spiritual side to yoga that nurtures the mind. To help you on your way with your yoga practice, I’ve pulled together some favorite yoga quotes for inspiration.
For fitness, health, and well-being, it’s all too easy to focus on what we eat and how much we move. We overlook how important the mind is to our physical well-being.
Hopefully, these empowering yoga quotes will help you pause for thought, provide inspiration to your yoga practice, and daily motivation to get on the mat. Be inspired as a yogi by these quotes and face the world with renewed vigor.
For me, these inspirational quotes for yoga transcend all religious boundaries. I’ve saved the best yoga quotes for the end of the post and I’ve finished the list with a quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
I doubt he expected his words to be included in a list of yoga quotes but read to the bottom of the list… you’ll find his words truly reflect your journey through life and progress through your yoga practice.
Yoga Quotes About Life
Often in life, we’re too quick to judge and too quick to make assumptions. Use these quotes for yoga to find perception before acting:
- “We have perceptions about our experience, and we judge them: “This is good.” “This is bad.” “This is neutral…” Then we have responses: fear, frustration, anger. We realize that these are just different aspects of the mind. They are not the actual reality.” – Dalai Lama
- “Yoga does not transform the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
- “Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.” – Jigar Gor
- “Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness.” – Indra Devi
- “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.” – Aadil Palkhivala
- “Yoga science is not just a scholarly pursuit. It is a moment by moment and thought by thoughts practical guide for living.” – Leonard Perlmutter
Inspirational Quotes For Yoga Practice
Reluctant to get your mat out? Let these yoga quotes inspire you!
- “Yoga begins right where I am – not where I was yesterday or where I long to be.” – Linda Sparrowe
- “The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It’s about using posture to understand and transform yourself.” – B.K.S Iyengar
- “Yoga is not about what you do. It is about how you do it.” – Adriene Mishler
- “Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight or flight mode.” – Melanie Haiken
- “Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
- “Yoga should be practiced with firm determination and perseverance, without any mental reservation or doubts.” – Bhagavad Gita
Great Yoga Quotes For Inspiration
These quotes for yoga will inspire and nourish you throughout your day.
- “Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible.” – Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
- “Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind.” – Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras
- “Yoga reveals to you the beauty of mindfulness and takes you into the essence of an endless present moment.” – Debasish Mridha
- “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
- “Yoga began with the first person wanting to be healthy and happy all the time.” – Sri Swami Satchidananda
- “Yoga is when every cell in the body sings the song of the soul.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
- “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
Yoga Quotes About Love
Nourish the soul with these yoga quotes about love. Love yourself first before you can love others.
- “Don’t move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move.” – Osho
- “Each of us is a lake of love, yet strangely enough, we are all thirsty.” – Swami Kripalu
- “So many people… seem to struggle with being kind to themselves. This is really sad. You see, if you don’t have genuine love and kindness toward yourself, how can you extend these to others?” – Dalai Lama
- “Your soul is your best friend. Treat it with care, nurture it with growth, feed it with love.” – Ashourina Yalda
- “I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings.” – Gandhi
- “You have to be you and that can only happen if you love yourself.” – Yogi Bhajan
Empowering Yoga Quotes
Take these empowering yoga quotes and become the person you’re meant to be…
- “You are the sky, everything else is just the weather.” – Pema Chodron
- “It’s not life that matters, it’s the courage you bring to it.” – Yogi Bhajan
- “When the breath control is correct, mind control is possible.” – Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
- “Surrender is the highest power to gain all that you want to gain.” – Yogi Bhajan
- “Yoga is the art work of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.” – Amit Ray
About Change
Some of us love change and some of us avoid it at all costs. These yoga quotes about change help us to understand it and not be afraid of it…
- “Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise so I am changing myself.” – Rumi
- “The true purpose of yoga is to discover that aspect of your being that can never be lost.” – Deepak Chopra
- “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
- “The path of yoga is the path of self-discovery. As our self-image disintegrates, we contact our true self. Life becomes a great joy.” – Amrit Desai
About Balance
These yoga quotes about balance show that it’s about more than standing still in tree pose…
- “Yoga is not about self improvement, it’s about self acceptance.” – Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
- “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
- “The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” – Sakyong Mipham
- “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
- “When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.” – Peace Pilgrim
- “Mindfulness helps us to 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
- “The quality of our breath expresses our inner feelings.” – T.K.V. Desikachar
- “It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
About Kindness
Sadly there is never enough kindness in this world. Share these yoga quotes about kindness as little reminders…
- “As you breathe in, cherish yourself. As you breathe out, cherish all beings.” – Dalai Lama
- “Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”- Rumi
- “The true miracle lies in our eagerness to allow, appreciate, and honour the uniqueness, and freedom of each sentient being to sing the song of their heart.” – Amit Ray
- “If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” – Rumi
Best Yoga Quotes
These are my favorites, my best yoga quotes. I’d love you to add your favorite yoga quotes in the comments…
- “It doesn’t matter what it looks like; it matters what it feels like.” – Bryan Kest
- “The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” – Sakyong Mipham
- “Yoga is the dance of every cell with the music of every breath that creates inner serenity and harmony.” – Debasish Mridha
- “Every moment is a fresh beginning.” – T.S. Eliot
- “Expect nothing and appreciate everything” – Unknown
- “Make yourself so happy so that when others look at you they become happy too.” – Yogi Bhajan
- “Once you’re in touch with the life force around us, it’s natural to want to help keep it around.” – Adi Carter
- “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
- “When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful.” – Yogi Bhajan
- “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi
- “You are made for perfection, but you are not yet perfect. You are a masterpiece in the making.” – Desmond Tutu
Thoughts From Love Life Be Fit
Do you see what I mean about the quote by Desmond Tutu? It’s a fitting end to these quotes for yoga inspiration. I’m motivated to get my mat out right now!
