Yoga Practice Quotes

Without intention, all these postures, these breathing practices, meditations, and the like can become little more than ineffectual gestures. When animated by intention, however, the simplest movement, the briefest meditation, and the contents of one breath cycle are made potent. ~ Donna Farhi

Raja yoga is the mental practice and incorporates meditation, pranayama, and mudra. What are the benefits of having a raja yoga practice? The benefit is spirituality. ~ Rajashree Choudhury

Yoga means connection – connection with the Supreme Self ~ Amit Ray

The yoga we practice is not for ourselves alone, but for the Divine; its aim is to work out the will of the Divine in the world, to effect a spiritual transformation and to bring down a divine nature and a divine life into the mental, vital and physical nature and life of humanity. Its object is not personal Mukti, although Mukti is a necessary condition of the yoga, but the liberation and transformation of the human being. It is not personal Ananda, but the bringing down of the divine Ananda - Christ's kingdom of heaven, our Satyayuga - upon the earth. ~ Sri Aurobindo

When I started meditating, even doing yoga, I felt like it was hard to allow myself to develop any other kind of practice [outside of Judaism], like I was somehow being untrue to my heritage, and that was something I had to get over and was probably the greatest revelation to me. ~ Dani Shapiro

Anybody can breathe. Therefore anybody can practice yoga. ~ T. K. V. Desikachar

Being able to recognize which of your desires are vital to pursue and which ones are not is often less than easy. This is precisely why the ancient sages counseled that we practice yoga. Their point was a very practical one: You are best able to discern which of your many desires should (and should not) be responded to when your mind is calm and tranquil. ~ Rod Stryker

In yoga practice, over time you use fewer muscles more efficiently. Expansion does require energy, but it should not require a great deal of effort. ~ Brenda Strong

Food affects the mind. For the practice of any kind of yoga, vegetarianism is absolutely necessary since it makes the mind more pure and harmonious. ~ Ramana Maharshi

Gaining maturity in yoga practice involves learning to respect the paths that other people are on and acknowledging their merits, maybe even acknowledging that your own path is lacking in some area where another one excels. ~ Geeta Iyengar

Jnana yoga is a very demanding practice. It's necessary for you to become conscious of the fact that you're not human. ~ Frederick Lenz

Science of yoga and ayurveda is subtler than the science of medicine, because science of medicine is often victim of statistical manipulation. ~ Amit Ray

Knowledge of yoga is no substitute for practice. ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

When you practice yoga, first your personality changes, the faith increases, then confidence improves ~ Bikram Choudhury

Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind. ~ Patanjali

One who practices the yoga of love is like child. When the child has a problem, it cries. When it cries, someone comes and helps the child. ~ Frederick Lenz

There is more ability to meditate in a rabbit than in one thousand Buddhists. ~ Daniel Marques

See yourself in the practice you are not able to access right now. Imagine yourself in it. ~ Dharma Mittra

The quiet of the morning offers a perfect time to do a meditation and yoga practice. It also allows time to be creative or to contemplate before the business of the day. ~ Kandyse McClure

When I started, these [yoga] were very functional practices, as I said, productive to lose weight, or whatever, and now it has become a very spiritual kind of practice. ~ Karan Bajaj

Yoga is an integral part of my daily routine. That definitely helps me approach all aspects of my life from a place of mindfulness and clarity, through the meditation that usually accompanies this practice. ~ Christy Turlington

In truth, it matters less what we do in practice than how we do it and why we do it. The same posture, the same sequence, the same meditation with a different intention takes on an entirely new meaning and will have entirely different outcomes. ~ Donna Farhi

Work sustains us as bodies and it consumes a great deal of energy. The conservation of energy is the component theme of Buddhist practice and yoga. That is why people live in monasteries. ~ Frederick Lenz

The poses are learnt in Yoga Practice. Calmness and serenity is learnt in Meditation. Through this learning process, the journey of life full of love, compassion, kindness, gratitude is unlocked. ~ Purvi Raniga

My bodysuit is how I start everyday. I wear a bodysuit everyday of my life. It's how I start my yoga practice. It's underneath it all. For me, what goes under the clothes is as important as what goes on top of the clothes. It's a layering aspect, so it's inside. ~ Donna Karan

The full ashtanga system practiced with devotion leads to freedom within one's heart. ~ K. Pattabhi Jois

Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory. ~ K. Pattabhi Jois

Yoga is the practice of radical transformation ~ Georg Feuerstein

Any spirituality can be enhanced with the practice or study of yoga. ~ Christy Turlington

The practice of Yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being. ~ Sri Aurobindo

The awareness that we cultivate is what makes yoga a practice, rather than a task or a goal to be completed. Your body will most likely become much more flexible by doing yoga, and so will your mind. ~ Cyndi Lee

Quite the mind and the soul will speak. ~ Ma Jaya

I carefully lifted out of the pose and spoke up: "Uh, Fran? When I'm doing the pose (camel), I have this feeling in my chest, kind of a scary, tight feeling."
Fran was adjusting someone across the room. She had a way of looking like a thoughtful seamstress when she made adjustments: an inch let out here, a seam straightened there, and everything would be just right. She might as well have had pins tucked between her lips and a tape measure around her neck. Without missing a beat or looking up she said, "Oh, that's fear. Try the pose again."
Fear. I hadn't even known it was there. ~ Claire Dederer

I engaged - started engaging in yoga as a physical practice, but very quickly found out there was something broader to it, and that it was actually helpful for my pain, and started to get into meditation, started to study the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and a lot of the scriptures associated with yoga, the Yoga Sutras, and very quickly came to this conclusion that this had a huge impact on my ability to lead, but, more importantly, the ability to control my sympathetic nervous system, which had a direct tie to the pain in my arm. ~ Mark T Bertolini

Yoga means addition - addition of energy, strength and beauty to body, mind and soul. ~ Amit Ray

Yoga is so universal in its principles and so holistically beneficial, it is possible for any person, young or old, religious or agnostic, to embrace and enjoy a practice. ~ Christy Turlington

Some students are in a hurry to begin "real" pranayama. They go right to the later stages without first laying a quality foundation, and their practice often suffers. First find out what is. This is also part of the answer to the question Who am I? ~ Richard Rosen

Slowing down is the precursor to Yoga practice because this simple act allows us to consider our thoughts, feelings and actions more carefully in the light of our desire to live peacefully. ~ Donna Farhi

It's a mistake to expect benefits from any pose. Expectations make you restless because if you fail to get what you expect, you feel miserable. Yoga practice is an act of adoration to the Lord. You do it because it has to be done. If you have this mental attitude, your selfishness disappears and the benefits come. ~ Dharma Mittra

Until my Yoga practice became the great facilitator of all things in my life, the integration of career, purpose and motherhood felt like an unattainable dream. ~ Brenda Strong

The real payoff of a yoga practice, I came to see, is not a perfect handstand or a deeper forward bend - it is the newly born self that each day steps off the yoga mat and back into life. ~ Rolf Gates

We are aware of yoga only as a technique to gain physical strength, flexibility, or increased health. And indeed these are potent side effects of the practice. But that is what they are: side effects. To focus on these largely insignificant manifestations is to miss the point entirely. ~ John McAfee

Yoga is the space where flower blossoms. ~ Amit Ray

A yoga session is harder than a football practice easily for me. Probably in some ways just as intense, not from a physical standpoint of hitting ,but from a game, the intensity is the same. ~ Andrew Whitworth

Yoga has expanded beyond asana for me. It's how I live my life and currently I'm throwing myself into a meditation practice. ~ Kathryn Budig

Yoga is effort. Only practice is important. The rest of knowledge is only theory. ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

Yoga, as a way of life and a philosophy, can be practiced by anyone with inclination to undertake it, for yoga belongs to humanity as a whole. It is not the property of any one group or any one individual, but can be followed by any and all, in any corner of the globe, regardless of class, creed or religion. ~ K. Pattabhi Jois

Yoga is the ultimate fusion of science and spirituality. ~ Amit Ray

Yoga practices shift our identity away from the ego-personality and its struggles so that we can begin to reconnect with the essential nature of our being, which is bliss. ~ Sharon Gannon

Accepting means you allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling at that moment. It is part of the isness of the Now. You can't argue with what is. Well, you can, but if you do, you suffer. ~ Eckhart Tolle

My yoga practice was and will always be a spiritual experience. I can honestly say, "Yoga delivered me back to GOD!" ~ Faith Hunter

In the course of an individual being's evolution we will practice each of these yogas. One path is not superior to another. ~ Frederick Lenz

Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements. Once you understand the grammar of yoga; you can write your poetry of movements. ~ Amit Ray

Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it's unequaled. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

What kind of a world do we live in that has room for dog yoga but not for Esperanto? ~ Arika Okrent

Practice doing yoga with an innocent mind. Then, you will be able to cognize the things happening in your body ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

What kind of Yoga do you want to practice, the Yoga of getting or the Yoga of giving? ... One enslaves, the other liberates. ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

You're never too old - or too young
to start practicing yoga! ~ Kathryn E. Livingston

I try to be consistent, so I practice yoga and Pilates to help keep my body and mind balanced. ~ Miranda Kerr

My yoga practice, I do it because when I get on my mat, I know I'm going to be transformed. I know that whatever stresses are in my life or whatever worries I have or whatever monkey mind is happening for me, when I get off the mat, I'm going to be transformed. ~ Michael Franti

You cannot be who you are not.
Simply rest, sit still and unknot.
You may even try to emulate and inspire,
But it's the inner self that you'll transpire. ~ Ana Claudia Antunes

You can set your intention to better understand your soul, your spirit, through daily practices like prayer, yoga and meditation, etc. ~ Rob Bell

Clear perception is the cornerstone and an absolute necessity for living your best life - and that's exactly what the focus of a yoga practice should be all about. ~ Rod Stryker

Who is the witness of all this?
Who is looking behind your eyes?
Who is the witness of the coming & going of thoughts?
Who is the witness of the coming & going of sensations?
Who is the witness of every experience or phenomenon you perceive?

Just stay there, with that witness,
that background where everything appears & disappears. ~ SantataGamana

That's why it's called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value. ~ Allan Lokos

Nowadays, the practice of yoga stops with just asanas. Very few even attempt dharana and dhyana (deeper meditation) with seriousness. There is a need to search once more and reestablish the practice and value of yoga in modern times. ~ Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

It is our duty to use whatever corrective tools and disciplines are available to us to resolve errors that might be compromising our health. In this way, we work to create optimal health in both mind and body to benefit our yoga practice. It is ill advised to use a spiritual goal to bypass what is our duty to correct with human effort. If ~ Shankaranarayana Jois

This is what our yoga practice is trying to accomplish. Not white light descending from heaven and engulfing you, not energy released from the base of your spine going up through your crown chakra so you become a human lightening bolt, not a halo floating on top of your head. Simply heightened states of awareness, enlightenment, becoming more and more aware which gives more and more insight, which brings wisdom and gives choice. With that wisdom and choice, we become the masters of our destiny and at peace in our life. ~ Bryan Kest

You have to get serious about your practice! ~ Dharma Mittra

Yoga is bringing fitness in body, calmness in mind, kindness in heart and awareness in life. ~ Amit Ray

Practice love and self-acceptance and you'll have an absolutely beautiful life. ~ Frederick Lenz

Through daily yoga practice we can become present to our own fundamental goodness and the goodness of others ~ Donna Farhi

I always try to practice what I preach. I meditate for fifteen minutes every day and do yoga several times a week. ~ Arianna Huffington

On the occasion of yoga day, I want to offer you the simplest form of yoga: Namaskar - Yoga for all. ~ Sadghuru

Staying in the Beingness.
Without judgement.
This is where the real progress happens. ~ SantataGamana

Practicing yoga during the day is a matter of keeping your eyes on the road and one ear turned toward the infinite. ~ Erich Schiffmann

Your attention has to be on your Spirit. ~ Nirmala Srivastava

There is no control and perfection is arrogant. Practice messiness, letting go, and doing things badly. ~ SARK

On the practice green, I hit a lot of four-footers with my right hand only. But whatever grip I'm using, you can bet I'm feeling good about it. Otherwise, I'd change. That's how I avoid slumps. ~ Louis Oosthuizen

I discovered that being thankful and experiencing the power and presence of Jesus Christ are tightly entwined. As we practice thankfulness, we experience more of God's transforming grace, God's thereness. ~ Mark Buchanan

I'm a soccer mom. I'm T-ball, soccer, karate, homework, keeping them on their schedules. I love being the snack mom, when I get to bring the cut oranges. I have one of those coolers with wheels. I'm at every game, every practice, sitting on my blanket. I love it. ~ Pamela Anderson

The main point of any spiritual practice is to step out of the bureaucracy of ego. This means stepping out of ego's constant desire for a higher, more spiritual, more transcendental version of knowledge, religion, virtue, judgment, comfort, or whatever it is that the particular ego is seeking. One must step out of spiritual materialism. ~ Chogyam Trungpa

We aim for the practice of Christianity in their everyday life and dealings, and not merely the profession of its theology on Sundays. ~ Robert Baden-Powell

As a Jew and a psychologist, I understand the stress that religious communities feel in connection with questioning of circumcision ... I raise these questions out of deep caring and compassion, for our community generally, and our male infants in particular. We are inflicting, generally, unrecognized harm with circumcision, and the perpetuation of this harm is far greater a concern than the discomfort that comes from confronting the advisability of this practice. Many Jews who do not circumcise in North America, South America, Europe, and Israel support this view. ~ Ronald Goldman

Your body exists in the past and your mind exists in the future. In yoga, they come together in the present. ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

The power of self-kindness can help us to heal our chronic shame and self-loathing. In a world that is often mean-spirited and cruel, a daily practice of kindness and warm-heartedness can make all the difference. ~ Christopher Dines

We must bring light to as many people as possible. Who has time to indulge in self-pity or guilt? In advanced self-giving you have no time for this. You just push these emotions out. ~ Frederick Lenz

System administration is where theory meets practice with a vengeance. ~ Steve Simmons

Practice the non-practice practice. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Thinking globally while acting locally is the habitual practice of many women all around the world. It is a habit we can preserve, revive, and practice consciously and articulately so that we and the women around us will take heart, develop pride in womanhood, and thrive. ~ Dee L.R. Graham

I think there should be holy war against yoga classes. ~ Werner Herzog

I have been practising since I was 4 or 5 years old, but that wasn't really practice. I was just having fun ... I just loved to play hockey. ~ Sidney Crosby

Everything that we enjoy is a result of someone's hard work. Some work is visible and other work goes unseen, but both are equally important. Some people stop working as soon as they find a job. Regardless of the unemployment statistics, it is hard to find good people to work. Many people don't understand the difference between idle time and leisure time. Idle time amounts to wasting or stealing time; leisure time is earned. Procrastinating amounts to not working.
Excellence is not luck; it is the result of a lot of hard work and practice. Hard work and practice make a person better at whatever he is doing. ~ Shiv Khera

I practice really hard, every day. I started that about 13 or 14 years ago; it's a discipline now. But the writing is a whole other thing. It'll come from handling a guitar, mostly; thinking up little guitar riffs. I was born and raised a rock 'n' roll guy, and that's the rock 'n' roll ethic, at least through my experience. ~ John Fogerty

It is my contention that no other invention of man has brought greater chaos to humanity than the practice of religion. ~ Paul Winchell

Minding the gap is a daring strategy. We have to pay attention to the space between where we're actually standing and where we want to be. More importantly, we have to practice the values that we're holding out as important in our culture. Minding the gap requires both an embrace of our own vulnerability and cultivation of shame resilience - we're going to be called upon to show up as leaders and parents and educators in new and uncomfortable ways. We don't have to be perfect, just engaged and committed to aligning values with action. ~ Brene Brown

I don't know about habit, we've had a practice of it for as long as I've been doing this program [the Rush Limbaugh show], and a lot of the motivation for it is defensive. ~ Rush Limbaugh

I practice the martial arts. I don't practice MMA. MMA is my job, MMA is a new sport. Martial arts is the knowledge from the ages. ~ Anderson Silva

She [Mandy Ingber] brought yoga into my life. It completely changed my life ... It's one of the most fun workouts I've ever had ... So have fun and work hard because it will totally pay off. ~ Jennifer Aniston

You're what," I asked, "Catholic? Fascist? Both?" It just popped out. I was out of practice with intellectuals of the right - I couldn't remember how to behave. All at once, in the distance, we heard a kind of sustained crackling. "What was that, do you think?" asked Alice. "It sounded like shooting," she added, hesitantly. We fell silent, ~ Michel Houellebecq