1.“The very heart of yoga practice is abhyasa – steady effort in the direction you want to go.”
2.“Yoga is not just repetition of few postures – it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.”
3.“This yoga should be practiced with firm determination and perseverance, without any mental reservation or doubts.”
4.“It would be a shame to lose the precious jewel of liberation in the mud of ignorant body building.”
5.“One of the fundamental principles of yoga: a small action done repeatedly can make an enormous difference.”
6.“The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.”
7.“Yoga is the art work of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.”
8.“Make yourself so happy so that when others look at you they become happy too.”
9.“If I’m losing balance in a pose, I stretch higher and God reaches down to steady me. It works every time, and not just in yoga.”
10.“Anyone who practices can obtain success in yoga but not one who is lazy. Constant practice alone is the secret of success.”
11.“Do not aim low, you will miss the mark. Aim high and you will be on a threshold of bliss.”
12.“Once you’re in touch with the life force around us, it’s natural to want to help keep it around”
13.“It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.”
14.“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.”
15.“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
16.“Have only love in your heart for others. The more you see the good in them, the more you will establish good in yourself.”
17.“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.”
18.“Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal…. But don’t approach yoga with a business mind looking for worldly gain.”
19.“Clinging to life, flowing by its own potency [due to past experience], exists even in the wise.”
20.“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”
21.“An image that arises on hearing mere words without any reality [as its basis] is verbal delusion.”
22.“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.”
23.“The hardness of a diamond is part of its usefulness, but its true value is in the light that shines through it.”
24.“Where is the delusion when truth is known? Where is the disease when the mind is clear? Where is death when the Breath is controlled? Therefore surrender to Yoga.”
25.“An object is known or unknown dependent on whether or not the mind gets colored by it”
26.“There is only one reality, but there are many ways that reality can be interpreted.”
27.“You do not need to seek freedom in a different land, for it exists with your own body, heart, mind, and soul.”
28.“When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world.”
29.“The union of nature and soul removes the veil of ignorance that covers our intelligence.”
30.“Spirituality is not some external goal that one must seek, but a part of the divine core of each of us, which we must reveal.”
31.“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.”
32.“Any action done with beauty and purity, and in complete harmony of body, mind and soul, is Art.”
33.“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built.”
34.“No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come.”
35.“It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.”
36.“Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.”
37.“Remember the emphasis on the heart. The mind lives in doubt and the heart lives in trust. When you trust, suddenly you become centered.”
38.“By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.”
39.“The purpose of life is to watch and experience living. To enjoy living every moment of it. And to live in environments, which are calm, quiet, slow, sophisticated, elegant. Just to be. Whether you are naked or you have a golden robe on you, that doesn’t make any difference. The ideal purpose of your life is that you are grateful – great and full – that you are alive, and you enjoy it.”
40.“Anyone can practice. Young man can practice. Old man can practice. Very old man can practice. Man who is sick, he can practice. Man who doesn’t have strength can practice. Except lazy people; lazy people can’t practice Ashtanga yoga.”
41.“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends limitations; your consciousness expands in every direction; and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
42.“Crying is one of the highest devotional songs. One who knows crying, knows spiritual practice. If you can cry with a pure heart, nothing else compares to such a prayer. Crying includes all the principles of Yoga.”
43.“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.”