It can be hard to start something new, especially when it comes to something like exercise and meditation. It is hard to keep your motivation up when you feel like things aren’t going exactly as they should be. Here’s a list of yoga motivation quotes to give you the push you need to keep moving toward your goals.
Yoga Quotes About Change and Peace
“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.”
Gandhi
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
Gautama Buddha
“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.”
B.K.S Iyengar
“Yoga does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.”
B.K.S Iyengar
“Yoga allows you to find an inner peace that is not ruffled and riled by the endless stresses and struggles of life.”
B.K.S Iyengar
“If you choose to see everything as a miracle, then where you are right now is perfect. There is nowhere to run to; there is nothing else to do except be in this moment and allow what is to be. From that place of radical acceptance, major change can happen. The first step in any transformational experience is acceptance and surrender to the present moment, the way that it is. From that place we have the awareness, humility and power to change what is.”
Mastin Kipp
“There is always room for change, but you have to be open to that change.”
Kathryn Budig
“Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.”
Kathryn Budig
“Change only happens in the present moment. The past is already done. The future is just energy and intention.”
Kino MacGregor
“Change is not only inevitable, but always happening. When you truly embrace this concept of change being constant, the only thing left to do is grow, detach, venture inwards, touch the spirit and find your source — the one responsible for keeping you grounded through the ever-changing seasons of life.”
Julie Weiland
“All kidding aside, if everyone did yoga, we would have world peace.”
Rory Freedman
“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
“If you seek peace, be still. If you seek wisdom, be silent. If you seek love, be yourself.”
Becca Lee
“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”
Peace Pilgrim
“We all wish for world peace, but world peace will never be achieved unless we first establish peace within our own minds.”
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
General Quotes About Yoga
“Yoga means addition – addition of energy, strength and beauty to body, mind and soul.”
Amit Ray
“Yoga is not just repetition of few postures – it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.”
Amit Ray
“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 is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal….But don’t approach yoga with a business mind looking for worldly gain.”
Sri Pattabhi Jois
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
The Bhagavad Gita
“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 Räisänen
“Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.”
B.K.S lyengar
“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”
B.K.S lyengar
“Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within”
B.K.S lyengar
“Yoga does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.”
B.K.S lyengar
“Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.”
Jason Crandell
“Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.”
Bob Harper
“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
“I think it’s interesting that the opposite of being active in yoga is not being passive. It’s being receptive.”
Cyndi Lee
“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
“The yoga pose you avoid the most you need the most.” Unknown
“Yoga takes you into the present moment. The only place where life exists.”
Unknown
“Yoga is not for the flexible. It’s for the willing.”
Unknown
“You may not be able to control the whole world, but you may learn to control your inner world through yoga.”
Unknown
“Yoga adds years to your life, and life to your years.”
Unknown
“Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self-control. Energy within and energy without.”
Unknown
“In truth yoga doesn’t take time – it gives time.”
Ganga White
“Yoga is not about self-improvement. It’s about self-acceptance.”
Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
“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
“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
“Yoga begins right where I am – not where I was yesterday or where I long to be.”
Linda Sparrowe
“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.”
T.K.V. Desikachar
“Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way. With yoga, we become aware of how and where we are restricted — in body, mind, and heart — and how gradually to open and release these blockages. As these blockages are cleared, our energy is freed. We start to feel more harmonious, more at one with ourselves. Our lives begin to flow — or we begin to flow more in our lives.”
Cybele Tomlinson
“Yoga is a method to come to a nondreaming mind. Yoga is the science to be in the here and now.”
Osho
“You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.”
Sharon Gannon
Yoga Motivation Quotes About Meditation
“True meditation is about being fully present with everything that is–including discomfort and challenges. It is not an escape from life.”
Craig Hamilton
“Inhale the future. Exhale the past.”
Unknown
“Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self-control. Energy within and energy without.
Ymber Delecto
“Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.”
Jigar Gor
“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
“In meditation and in our daily lives there are three qualities that we can nurture, cultivate, and bring out. We already possess these, but they can be ripened: precision, gentleness, and the ability to let go.”
Pema Chodron
“Once you’re in touch with the life force around us, it’s natural to want to help keep it around.”
Adi Carter
“The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime.”
Sogyal Rinpoche
“Meditation is a way for nourishing and blossoming the divinity within you.”
Amit Ray
“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
Buddha
Yoga Motivation Quotes About the Body
“The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.”
B.K.S Iyengar
“Your body can do it. It’s your mind you need to convince.”
B.K.S Iyengar
“The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.”
B.K.S Iyengar
“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
“Close your eyes and imagine the best version of you possible. That’s who you really are. Let go of any part of you that doesn’t believe it.”
C. Assaad
“Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel.”
Kevin Trudeau
“The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body.”
Jason Crandell
“The best thing you could do is master the chaos in you. You are not thrown into the fire; you are the fire.”
Mama Indigo
“Yoga teaches you how to listen to your body.”
Mariel Hemingway
“Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.”
Pema Chodron
“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
“The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.”
Sakyong Mipham
“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
“Yoga is the artwork of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.”
Unknown
Yoga Motivation Quotes About Practice
“Anyone who practices can obtain success in yoga but not one who is lazy. Constant practice alone is the secret of success.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika
“That’s why it’s called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value.”
Peace Pilgrim
Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.
Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
“Calming the mind is yoga. Not just standing on the head.”
Swami Satchidananda
“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.”
Elise Joan
“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
“Follow your nature. The practice is really about uncovering your own pose; we have great respect for our teachers, but unless we can uncover our own pose in the moment, it’s not practice — it’s mimicry. Rest deeply in Savasana every day. Always enter that pratyahara (withdrawn state) every day. And 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
“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
“It doesn’t matter if things aren’t perfect. My practice is my time to feel alive, loved and free.”
Unknown
“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
Yoga Quotes With Inspiration
“You will never influence the world by trying to be like it.”
Unknown
“I was looking for someone to inspire me, motivate me, support me, keep me focused… Someone who would love me, cherish me, make me happy, and I realized all along that I was looking for myself.”
Unknown
“Sometimes in yoga I feel like a graceful swan. Other times I feel like a baby giraffe trying to use its legs.”
Unknown
“When you are looking in the mirror, you are looking at the problem. But, remember, you are also looking at the solution.”
Unknown
“Throw your hair in a bun, downward dog like a boss, and handle it.”
Unknown
“Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendless toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked.”
Unknown
“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.”
Zen Shin
“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
“You either get bitter or get better. It’s that simple. You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you.”
Josh Shipp
“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.”
Rumi
“Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.”
Rumi
“It is not arrogant or egotistical to feel good inside. You had nothing to do with it. It’s simply the honest response to clearly perceived Reality.”
Erich Schiffman
“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“There will always be people who can do it better than you, but that’s a good thing! Start to see competition as inspiration — without envy.”
Kathryn Budig
“Your life is a sacred journey. It is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path… exactly where you are meant to be right now… And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing, of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love.”
Caroline Adams
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”
Zig Ziglar
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”
Aristotle
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”
Jimmy Johnson
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Frequently Asked Questions About Yoga and Motivation
Where do you find motivational yoga quotes?
You can find motivational yoga quotes just about anywhere. You can find them in books, magazines, documentaries, even Pinterest. No matter what you are going through or need a quote for, you will be able to find the perfect one out there for you.
How can I stay motivated?
If you are feeling unmotivated to practice yoga, there are some things you can do to kick your motivation back into gear. One thing you can do Is shorten your practices. Instead of doing a full practice, try cutting down to only 10 or 20 minutes, 30 minutes max. This will be plenty of time to help your body feel the effect of a full practice without doing a full session. Even if you just do a short, seated session you will feel more relaxed.
Find a regular and consistent time to dedicate to your practice. Put this time in your calendar so you always know that it is time to practice. Do not schedule anything else during this time and keep your distractions to a minimum. Focus all of your energy on relaxing.
You can also try practicing yoga somewhere else than on your mat. This will help you gain a wider sense of your practice and what you are hoping to gain from it. Yoga teaches you how to breathe properly and how to calm yourself when you are starting to get worked up or angry. Use these skills when you feel yourself start to get angry or frustrated, you will realize how beneficial yoga has been for you.
A Final Word From Energetic Lifestyle
Starting and sticking with a new daily habit can be challenging, especially one that takes as much patience and time as yoga. You may think that you can’t practice yoga because you don’t have the time, or the patience, or the ability to sit still long enough. Just like everything, yoga takes practice and motivation to get used to. These quotes will help you find the motivation to start, and keep the motivation going when it is starting to lack.
