108+ Best Yoga Quotes for Your Practice

Yoga is an ancient practice that benefits your mind, body, and soul. Read the best yoga quotes for inspiration, peace, and joy.

Yoga dates back thousands of years to India.

It’s a spiritual practice that you can do for mental and physical benefits.

Yoga builds your strength, makes you more flexible, and relieves stress.

It also helps you gain mental clarity, feel calm, and be present.

Whether new to it or it’s a long-time practice, read the following yoga quotes for inspiration.

Inspirational yoga quotes

1. “Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbounded Consciousness. Our essential nature is usually overshadowed by the activity of the mind.” -Patanjali

2. “Yoga will uplift you if you are feeling sluggish or down, relax you if you feel high-strung, and soften your edges if you are feeling angry.” -Mandy Ingber

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

4. “Peace is our very nature, and yoga leads you to inner peace.” -Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

5. “Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness.” -Indra Devi

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

7. “Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.” -Jigar Gor

8. “It doesn’t matter how deep into a posture you go, what matters is who you are when you get there.” -Max Strom

9. “Yoga disciplines both the mind and the souls and not just your body. It helps me in having a constant positive outlook in life. I would love my family to adopt this form of fitness as well.” -Jacqueline Fernandez

10. “Yoga is almost like music in a way; there’s no end to it.” -Sting

11. “While doing yoga we are more ourselves, and more than ourselves.” -Valerie Jeremijenko

12. “Yoga is not about self-improvement; it’s about self- acceptance.” -Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa

13. “Yoga does not just change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees.” -B. K. S. Iyengar

14. “Yoga is the journey of the self through the self to the self.” -Vyasa

15. “As a longtime practitioner of yoga and a person who’s been involved in physical fitness my whole life, I can tell you, yoga helps you achieve altered states of consciousness. It is not just stretching. The only way you can say that it’s stretching is if you haven’t done it, or that you haven’t done it rigorously for a long period of time.” -Joe Rogan

16. “I regularly do yoga and believe it has been keeping me healthy physically and mentally since long time.” -Vivek

17. “The practice of yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being.” -Sri Aurobindo

18. “Yoga is the ultimate practice. It simultaneously stimulates our inner light, and quiets our over-active minds.” -Elise Joan

19. “Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.” -Bob Harper

20. “You spend so much time in your head in life. And what yoga does is, it asks you to allow your head to be quiet, to allow it to be still, just for an hour and a half. Just deal with your body and your breath. And it’s a great workout. I love it.” -Colin Farrell

21. “The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are. your body and your mind.” -Rodney Yee

22. “Through practice comes Yoga, through Yoga comes knowledge, through knowledge love, and through love bliss.” -Swami Vivekananda

23. “Calming the mind is yoga. Not just standing on the head.” -Swami Satchidananda Saraswati

24. “I bend so I don’t break.” -Unknown

25. “I really love yoga. I love the mindfulness of it, where not only are you exercising your body, but you’re also building that mind/body connection as far as being aware of every movement – what your body’s doing, how your body’s feeling.” -Miranda Rae Mayo

26. “Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived.” -Aadil Palkhivala

27. “Anybody can breathe. Therefore anybody can practice yoga.” -T. K. V. Desikachar

28. “When we are aligned, everything can flow, and life and yoga becomes effortless.” -Rebecca Hall

29. “Yoga is the space where flower blossoms.” -Amit Ray

30. “I don’t do yoga to look good. I do it to feel good. And then you look good in the end.” -Lea Michele

31. “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

32. “Yoga is the study of balance, and balance is the aim of all living creatures: it is our home.” -Rolf Gates

33. “A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves.” -Terri Guillemets

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

35. “I think yoga builds strength, flexibility, and calming of the mind – which is never a bad thing.” -Joyce DiDonato

36. “Yoga kind of helps you prepare for everything, honestly. It’s like meditation. It allows anything that’s coming at you at the end of the day to be doable.” -Jennifer Aniston

37. “Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.” -B. K. S. Iyengar

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

39. “I love yoga because it allows me to slow down and experience how good it feels to be in relationship to my body. It teaches me patience, acceptance, and how to receive.” -Mandy Ingber

40. “I love yoga because it’s very calming for your body and your spirit. It gives you that meditative state, and it’s 90 minutes where you can get away from the world and just be, and exist in the moment. I need yoga. It’s part of my life, and I can’t imagine not doing it.” -Nina Dobrev

41. “It’s been my experience that the longer I do yoga, the more I want to know, the more I am able to understand and the less judgmental I am.” -Ali MacGraw

42. “The very heart of yoga practice is abhyasa – steady effort in the direction you want to go.” -Sally Kempton

43. “When you listen to yourself, everything comes naturally. It comes from inside, like a kind of will to do something. Try to be sensitive. That is yoga.” -Petri Raisanen

44. “Yoga has given me the ability to be more focused and make better decisions that come from a clear place.” -Adam Levine

45. “Yoga is a way of getting totally drunk – not on alcohol but on life.” –Sadhguru

46. “All that we are, is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.” -Buddha

47. “Not only is yoga excellent for flexibility, but it is also a great tool for longevity and injury prevention, as it allows for internal body awareness.” -Kyle Shewfelt

48. “Yoga has allowed me to bring my complete spirit together, which allows me to do less, which is more.” -Giancarlo Esposito

49. “More yoga in the world is what we need.” -Diane Lane

50. “Yoga gave me relief like nothing else. It made me a better person and a better mother.” -Michelle Williams

51. “Yoga practice can make us more and more sensitive to subtler and subtler sensations in the body. Paying attention to and staying with finer and finer sensations within the body is one of the surest ways to steady the wandering mind.” -Ravi Ravindra

52. “Yoga begins right where I am – not where I was yesterday or where I long to be.” -Linda Sparrowe

53. “Yoga can benefit you no matter what mood you find yourself in.” -Mandy Ingber

54. “Yoga has brought me closer to myself. It’s helped me realize the interconnectedness of the mind, body and spirit.” -Christy Turlington

55. “Yoga is not about what you do. It is about how you do it.” -Adriene Mishler

56. “Without proper breathing, the yoga postures are nothing more than calisthenics” -Rachel Schaeffer

57. “Although yoga has its origins in ancient India, its methods and purposes are universal, relying not on cultural background, faith or deity, but simply on the individual.” -Tara Fraser

58. “Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.” -K. Pattabhi Jois

59. “Yoga is immediately rewarding, whatever your level, because it’s not about being able to attain the perfect lotus position. Each day, there is an improvement on the day before. It’s not competitive; it’s not a race. With yoga, the journey is the destination.” -Trudie Styler

60. “Yoga is not for the flexible. It’s for the willing.” -Unknown

61. “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured, and endure what cannot be cured.” -B. K. S. Iyengar

62. “Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way.” -Cybele Tomlinson

63. “Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight or flight mode.” -Melanie Haiken

64. “Yoga has sly, clever ways of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.” -Baxter Bell

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

66. “Letting go is the hardest asana.” -Unknown

67. “I think yoga has given me better posture. People don’t realise how strong it makes you. You have to use your body weight to hold yourself. As you get older, you’re supposed to lift weights, but I find that kind of boring. Yoga is lifting my own body.” -Andie MacDowell

68. “The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” -Sakyong Mipham

69. “You don’t have to be flexible to do yoga, you just have to be willing to shake the dust off and see what happens.” -David Good

70. “Yoga accepts. Yoga gives.” -April Vallei

71. “The asanas are useful maps to explore yourself, but they are not the territory.” -Donna Farhi

72. “For me, yoga is not just a workout – it’s about working on yourself.” -Mary Glover

73. “Yoga allows you to be curious about who you are and at peace with all of the unexpected discoveries.” -Taryn Raine

74. “Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self-control. The energy within and energy without.” -Ymber Delecto

75. “To perform every action artfully is yoga.” -Kripalvananda

76. “I find the practice of yoga very spiritual and taking the time to just be and to reflect through meditation and chanting helps me to connect to a higher energy.” -Miranda Kerr

77. “Your soul is your best friend. Treat it with care, nurture it with growth, feed it with love.” -Ashourina Yalda

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

79. “Yoga always helps me slow down, be present, and be grateful for my health and well-being.” -Jamie Anderson

80. “Yoga is the perfect way to de-stress and work out at the same time.” -Shannon Elizabeth

81. “Yoga is self-conquest. Self-conquest is God-realisation. He who practises yoga does two things with one stroke: he simplifies his whole life, and he gets free access to the Divine.” -Sri Chinmoy

82. “Yoga means union, in all its significances and dimensions.” -Indra Devi

83. “I think yoga gives me awareness not just about my body from the outside but also about my internal organs. I feel it’s very important because it teaches you self-realization of your body.” -Jasmin Bhasin

84. “Balancing in yoga and life is a reflection of our inner state.” -Shiva Rea

85. “In truth, yoga doesn’t take time – it gives time.” -Ganga White

86. “Yoga is a metaphor for life. You have to take it really slowly. You can’t rush. You can’t skip to the next position. You find yourself in very humiliating situations, but you can’t judge yourself. You just have to breathe, and let go. It is a workout for your mind, your body and your soul.” -Madonna

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

88. “The attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga.” -Yogi Bhajan

89. “When the breath wanders, the mind is also unsteady. But when the breath is calmed, the mind too will be still.” -Swami Swatmarama

90. “Yoga adds years to your life and life to your years.” -Alan Finger

91. “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

92. “The beautiful thing about yoga is that there are so many different approaches.” -Tiffany Cruikshank

93. “Yoga will always be transformational, even when it stops being cool.” -Victoria Moran

94. “Yoga is a method to come to a non-dreaming mind. Yoga is the science to be in the here and now.” -Osho

95. “That’s why it’s called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value.” -Allan Lokos

96. “Yoga means addition – addition of energy, strength and beauty to body, mind and soul.” -Amit Ray

97. “When you stop and really look, you see that you are supported continuously in literally countless ways. This is the highest lesson of yoga, the truth of interbeing, of no separation.” -Frank Jude Boccio

98. “The pose begins when you want to leave it.” -B. K. S. Iyengar

99. “You may not be able to control the whole world, but you may learn to control your inner world through Yoga.” -Debasish Mridha

100. “Yoga is the dance of every cell with the music of every breath that creates inner serenity and harmony.” -Ewnetu Bereda

101. “The yoga pose you avoid the most you need the most.” -Unknown

102. “Yoga doesn’t ask you to be more than you are. But it does ask you to be all that you are.” -Bryan Kest

103. “Yoga isn’t just about the body, it’s also about the mind and it’s a technique that has really helped me. You do have to focus because there’s some positions that can really hurt you at times if you aren’t focused and breathing right.” -LeBron James

104. “Yoga is a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are.” -Erich Schiffmann

105. “All kidding aside, if everyone did yoga, we would have world peace.” -Rory Freedman

106. “Yoga teaches you how to listen to your body.” -Mariel Hemingway

107. “Yoga does not always cure stress. It neutralizes it through increasing awareness and by changing self-perception.” -Debasish Mridha

108. “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

109. “Yoga is the path towards being boundless.” -Sadhguru

110. “The pose begins when you want to get out of it.” -Baron Baptiste

Final thoughts

A yoga practice does wonders for your mind, body, and spirit.

Now that you’ve read the yoga quotes, you have the inspiration to roll out your mat and practice it.

There are many types of yoga. Some are relaxing, while others are energizing.

So, choose one that fits what you need at this moment.

Related: Deepak Chopra Quotes

Featured image by David Em/Relaxation Hero.