Do not think of yourself as a small, compressed, suffering thing. Think of yourself as graceful and expanding, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time.
When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.
The study of asana is not about mastering posture.
It’s about using posture to understand and transform yourself.
Look after the root of the tree, and the fragrant flower and luscious fruits will grow by themselves. Look after the health of the body, and the fragrance of the mind and richness of the spirit will follow.
The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.
The primary aim of yoga is to restore the mind to simplicity, peace, and poise, to free it from confusion and distress.
Balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life.
Sometimes our body is willing, but our mind is weak. Sometimes our mind is willing, but our body is weak. Do not be afraid. Strive to extend your capacity but do not be disappointed with yourself. What does not challenge us, cannot change us.
Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.
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.
A stable mind is like the hub of a wheel. The world may spin around you, but the mind is steady.
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.
Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit.
Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.
You do not need to seek freedom in some distant land, for it exists within your own body, heart, mind, and soul.
You must purge yourself before finding faults in others. When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake. This is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement. Do not look at others’ bodies with envy or with superiority. All people are born with different constitutions. Never compare with others. Each one’s capacities are a function of his or her internal strength. Know your capacities and continually improve upon them.
We can rise above our limitations, only once we recognize them.
The lotus grows in muddy waters but this flower does not show any trace of it: So we have to live in the world.
You must be as joyful when you fail again and again as you are joyful when you succeed. It is often when you fail that you move toward the goal without being aware of it. You must feel joy even when you have not fully succeeded but only moved toward achievement of your goal.
When you are practicing, do not just do that for the sake of doing. Learn to reflect while you are practising. Make your mind and brain observe and relearn what you are doing. Doing is mechanical; learning is dynamic.
You must fill every inch of your body with the asana from your chest and arms and legs to the tips of your fingers and toes so that the asana radiates from the core of your body and fills the entire diameter and circumference of your limbs. You must feel your intelligence, your awareness, and your consciousness in every inch of your body.
Don’t practice for cosmetic beauty, practice for cosmic beauty. Practice for inner beauty and inner light.
Learning is as much an art as teaching
Yes, flexibility of body and physical perfection for Yogasana is important. However more important is the state of your mind, Meditative mind. Your flexibility might be excellent but if your mind is not attentive, you are merely doing some physical exercise, not Yoga.
Nothing is achieved by a mind that doubts
