1,338 Quotes About Yoga

Attachment is the act of trying to control, manipulate, or sculpt the outside world in such a way that we lose sight of our true nature. Nonjudgmental observation allows a yogi to experience the external world as a mirror reflecting back one’s true nature.

When we practice a yoga posture designed to challenge our balance, the use of a gazing point or drishti is a most effective way to maintain physical equanimity. The act of gazing without judgment or attachment is easily the most effective way to bring stability and balance to the pose. Likewise, whenthe poses of life rob us of our equanimity, gazing at the situation without attachment—without judgment—is the most effective tool we have to restore the mind to harmony.

Meditation alone cannot heal the world, but it can and does speed up the healing process.

Jesus wisely counseled his followers to search for the kingdom of heaven within themselves; but to go within, one needs a door, a key, and the courage to turn the knob. Spiritual practice gives you all three.

It may seem humble to belittle yourself, but it is every bit as arrogant as grandiosity. Just as it is impossible to be more than you were created to be, it is also impossible to be less. When we pretend to be more or less, we are destined to search for wholeness everywhere except where it actually resides—within.

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.

Gratitude is both a vaccine and an antidote for grief. Grief may be an inevitable fact of life, but gratitude has the power to transform the experience of grief from agonizing suffering to profound joy.

Non-attachment doesn’t mean you forgo possessions, pleasure, or comfort. It simply means you are at peace when those things fail to show up in your life. It means that while you can enjoy moments of ease, you are equally at peace when pain, hardship, and struggle define a given moment.

Meditation is the alchemist of the soul. It transforms disappointment into acceptance; betrayal into forgiveness; scarcity into abundance; loneliness into self acceptance; fear into love; despair into hope; anxiety into peace; and apathy into compassion.