43 Yoga Quotes to Inspire Your Practice

As both a yoga instructor and a writer, I love to share yoga quotes with my students. I find that inspirational yoga quotes can sometimes be just what you need to find a deeper connection to your practice, or provide a link between what’s happening on your mat to what’s going on in your life.

Quotes about yoga can serve as an introduction to using mantras in your practice, or help you stay inspired and motivated, whether you’re new to yoga or you’ve been doing downward dogs for decades. Yoga is a mind-body practice — no matter which type of yoga you do — and it’s helpful to give your mind something to focus on as you move on your mat.

The kinds of quotes I share with my students vary from class to class. Sometimes I share funny yoga quotes to lighten the mood during a challenging flow, and sometimes I share more profound quotes on balance and how to make the most out of the practice. I frequently read from the classic Yoga Sutras, and other times I select a more modern source. When my students are in restorative yoga poses that are held for 5 minutes or longer, I like to read passages from whatever inspirational book I’m reading at the time (Brené Brown and Jen Sincero are always well-received).

Here are 43 of our favorite yoga quotes to motivate and inspire you, whatever your mood may be. Pick some favorites and think of them the next time you go to a yoga class, whether that’s at a studio or at home.

1. “Yoga is a light, which once lit will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter your flame.” —B.K.S. Iyengar

2. “Move your joints every day. You have to find your own tricks. Bury your mind deep in your heart, and watch the body move by itself.” —Sri Dharma Mittra

3. “Yoga is the ultimate practice. It simultaneously stimulates our inner light and quiets our overactive minds. It is both energy and rest. Yin and Yang. We feel the burn and find our bliss.” —BODi Supertrainer Elise Joan

4. “The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body.” —Jason Crandell

5. “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, Fire of Love

6. “I had discovered something; there was a pleasure in becoming something new. You could will yourself into a fresh shape. Now all I had to do was figure out how to do it out there, in my life.” —Claire Dederer, Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses

7. “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

8. “Change only happens in the present moment. The past is already done. The future is just energy and intention.” —Kino MacGregor

9. “I think it’s interesting that the opposite of being active in yoga is not being passive. It’s being receptive.” —Cyndi Lee

10. “Learning to be present with yourself and to abide in that which is steady and comfortable does not allow space for self-judgment. When you live this way, you are practicing yoga: you are living fully.” —Judith Hanson Lasater, Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life

11. “Yoga begins with listening. When we listen, we are giving space to what is.” —Richard Freeman

12. “If we practice yoga long enough, the practice changes to suit our needs. It’s important to acknowledge that the practice isn’t meant to be one practice for everybody. The beautiful thing about yoga is that there are so many different approaches. As we go through our life cycles, hopefully we are able to find a practice that suits us. And if you practice yoga long enough, that will change many times. What exactly that looks like is going to be different for each person.” —Tiffany Cruikshank, founder of Yoga Medicine

13. “The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” —Sakyong Mipham

14. “My biggest struggles have been my biggest teachers.” —Kathryn Budig

15. “Yoga does not transform the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.” —B.K.S. Iyengar

16. “Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.” —Jason Crandell

17. “The very heart of yoga practice is ‘abyhasa’ — steady effort in the direction you want to go.” —Sally Kempton

18. “In asana practice we learn to cherish each breath, to cherish every cell in our bodies. The time we spend on the mat is love in action.” —Rolf Gates

19. “The yoga pose you avoid the most you need the most.” —Anonymous

20. “ …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

21. “I bend so I don’t break.” —Anonymous

22. “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

23. “That’s exactly how it is in yoga. The places where you have the most resistance are actually the places that are going to be the areas of the greatest liberation.” —Rodney Yee

24. “Remember, it doesn’t matter how deep into a posture you go — what does matter is who you are when you get there.” —Max Strom

25. “Sometimes in yoga I feel like a graceful swan. Other times I feel like a baby giraffe trying to use its legs.” —Anonymous

26. “When we have the confidence to be truly, unabashedly, and radically ourselves, we breathe life into who we were meant to be. We burn with a desire to ecstatically share our unique and priceless gifts with the world.” —Elise Joan

27. “Yoga is not for the flexible. It’s for the willing.” —Anonymous

28. “Balancing in yoga and life is a reflection of our inner state. Can we dance with change? Can we fall and try again with playfulness? Do we have the focus, skill, and attunement to find the still point within it all?” —Shiva Rea

29. “Yoga. Because punching people is frowned upon.” —Anonymous

30. “When we push for immediate results and instant healing, we never inhabit the important in-between phase, which is where much of the learning and growth actually happen.” —Bo Forbes, Yoga for Emotional Balance

31. “Yoga is a dance between control and surrender — between pushing and letting go — and when to push and when to let go becomes part of the creative process, part of the open-ended exploration of your being.” —Joel Kramer

32. “The yoga pose is not the goal. Becoming flexible is not the goal. Standing on your hands is not the goal. The goal is serenity. Balance. Truly finding peace in your own skin.” —Rachel Brathen, Yoga Girl

33. “Yoga is not about self-improvement. It’s about self-acceptance.” —Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa

34. “Here and now is where yoga begins.” —The Yoga Sutras

35. “Yoga exists in the world because everything is linked.” —T. K. V. Desikachar

36. “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” —The Bhagavad Gita

37. “Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.” —Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

38. “The soul is here for its own joy.” —Rumi

39. “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, Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Lifestyle

40. “The attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga.” —Yogi Bhajan

41. “Yoga adds years to your life and life to your years.” —Alan Finger

42. “Yoga is essentially a practice for your soul, working through the medium of your body.” —Tara Fraser

43. “Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.” —Patanjali