Practicing yoga is more than just a form of exercise – it is an art, a way of life. Ask anyone who practises regularly and they will likely be able to spend hours explaining what a life-changing activity it is, both for the mind and body, as well as overall wellness. It’s about so much more than stretching, heavy breathing and fancy poses – it’s a learning curve that seeks to enlighten, a reminder of how strong your body can become through perseverance, of how capable it is in challenging its flexibility and how resilient you truly are. It promotes a stillness of the mind, humility, patience and strength.
For anyone struggling with day-to-day burnout, yoga could be that little piece of calm that you are craving at the moment. To get you into the spirit of things, here are over 80 uplifting and inspirational yoga quotes that may inspire you to start your yoga journey today. And for those that have already embraced yoga into their lives and want to share images of some of their beautiful poses and achievements, we’ve got you covered with beautiful yoga captions for Instagram or for your own personal journal. Whatever stage you’re at in your personal yoga practice, there is something here for you.
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Empowering Yoga Quotes
Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.
– Jason Crandell
Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.
– The Bhagavad Gita
Anybody can breathe, therefore anyone can practice yoga.
– T.K.V Desikachar
Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.
– Jigar Gor
While doing yoga we are more ourselves, and more than ourselves.
– Valerie Jeremijenko
It doesn’t matter how deep into a posture you go, what matters is who you are when you get there.
– Max Storm
The practice of yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being.
– Sri Auribindo
Yoga is not about self-improvemnet, it’s about self-acceptance.
– Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured, and endure what cannot be cured.
– B. K. S. Iyengar
Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self-control. The energy within and energy without.
– Ymber Delecto
Yoga begins right where I am- not where I was yesterday or where I long to be.
– Linda Sparrowe
Letting go is the hardest asana.
– Unknown
Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal.
– Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
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
Quotes on Yoga Day
Yoga gives the perfect platform to explore in deep about who you actually are.
– Unknown
Yoga is that light, which, if you can lit once; will never get dimmed, the more you practice, the brighter the flame will be.
– B.K.S. Iyengar
Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements. Once you understand the grammar of yoga; you can write your poetry of movements.
– Unknown
Yoga is the methodology with which to unveil the miracle that exists right in front of our faces and inside ourselves.
– Rodney Yee
Yoga is not just a workout – it’s about working on yourself.
– Mary Glover
Sun salutations can energize and warm you, even on the darkest, coldest winter day. Let this Yoga Day energize your life throughout the year.
– Unknown
A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves.
– Terri Guillemets
Yoga is almost like music in a way; there’s no end to it.
– Sting
In our uniquely human capacity of connect movement with breath and spiritual meaning, yoga is born.
– Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
If every eight-year-old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.
– Dalai Lama
Change only happens in the present moment. The past is already done. The future is just energy and intention.
– Kino MacGregor
Rare Yoga Quotes
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
Yoga is not a command performance. It is an invitation to explore.
– Danna Faulds
Yoga is like a geologist for the soul; it can show you where to dig, and what to dig for, but the digging you must do yourself.
– Unknown
Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.
– Bob Harper
Mastery of yoga is really measured by how it influences our day-to-day living, how it enhances our relationships, how it promotes clarity and peace of mind.
– T. K. V. Desikachar
Yoga is the dance between the light and the dark within you. The light is what brings you back to the mat and the darkness is what you uncover there. Don’t be afraid of this darkness; these are only shadows and though you’ll have to walk down some pretty dark alleys, remember you are grounded in the light and that light will set you free.
– Unknown
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
Yoga: hanging out with your soul.
– Unknown
Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way.
– Cybelle Tomlinson
Remember, yoga is not a competition. Think of yoga as physical therapy, and abandon the competitive mind set or the need to be perfect. Practice non-violence and be kind to yourself.
– Unknown
Yoga is about self expression. It is about finding your own rhythm, your own path. Yoga allows you to be curious about who you are and at peace with all of the unexpected discoveries.
– Taryn Raine
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
Yoga is the practice of tolerating the consequences of being yourself.
– Bhagavad Gita
Yoga for men helps you cultivate joy, peace, radical self-acceptance and vibrant health.
– Unknown
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 has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.
– Baxter Bell
Yoga Captions for Instagram and Funny Yoga Quotes
Yoga hair, don’t care.
– Unknown
Keep calm, we’re doing yoga.
– Unknown
Yoga happens beyond the mat, anything you do with attention to how you feel is doing yoga.
– Unknown
Everyday is Yoga Day.
– Unknown
Yoga: I’m down, dog.
– Unknown
Yoga keeps me zen-tered.
– Unknown
Sorry for what I said before yoga.
– Unknown
Yoga class helps me calm down from the agonising stress of trying to get to yoga class on time.
– Unknown
I’ve got 99 problems, but I go to yoga to forget them all.
– Alexa Roye
Sometimes in yoga I feel like a graceful swan. Other times I feel like a baby giraffe trying to use its legs.
– Unknown
Yoga Quotes on Happiness
We all want happiness, and yoga is the way for that much needed happiness factor in life.
– Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
You can’t buy happiness. But you can buy yoga classes. And that’s basically the same thing.
– Unknown
Find happiness within nature and yourself. For a healthy and peaceful life, make yoga a habit.
– Unknown
Yoga is the gateway of happiness that body needs in daily life.
– Unknown
Yoga began with the first person wanting to be healthy and happy all the time.
– Sri Swami Satchidananda
Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind.
– Patanjali
To perform every action artfully is yoga.
– Swami Kripalu
Yoga Quotes about Balance
Yoga is all about creating balance.
– Unknown
Some days you eat salads and go do yoga, some days you eat cupcakes and refuse to put on pants. It’s called balance.
– Unknown
Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.
– B. K. S. Iyengar
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
In movement there is balance. In balance there is movement. Yoga is all about balance. Within and Without. Above, Below. Front, Behind. Male, Female, In, Out.
– Mark Whitwell
Yoga is like life. It’s a balance of holding on and letting go.
– Velia Notebook
Yoga is about rising to a new level of balance and competence in all aspects of life.
– Sadhguru
Falling out of balance doesn’t matter really and truly. How we deal with that moment and how we find our way back to centre, every day, again and again – that is the practice of yoga… it’s about trusting that you will find your way.
– Cindi Lee
Yoga Quotes about Peace
Yoga is not just moving your body from head to toes but experiencing an untouched dimension of life through your inner peace and calmness.
– Unknown
Yoga is the golden key that unlocks the door to peace, tranquillity, and joy.
– B. K. S. Iyengar
Peace is our very nature, and yoga leads you to inner peace.
– Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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
All kidding aside, if everyone did yoga, we would have world peace.
– Rory Freedman
Yoga is the unifying art of transforming dharma into action, be it through inspired thought, properly nurturing our children, a painting, a kindness or an act of peace that forever moves humanity forward.
– Micheline Berry
Yoga Quotes about the Body
The yoga pose you avoid the most you need the most.
– Unknown
The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind.
– Rodney Yee
Yoga is the art work of awareness, on the canvas of body, mind and soul.
– Amit Ray
Yoga means addition – addition of energy, strength, and beauty to body, mind and soul.
– Amit Ray
The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body.
– Jason Crandell
Yoga is the art work of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.
– Amit Ray
Yoga is when every cell in the body sings the song of the soul.
– B. K. S. Iyengar
In the practice of yoga one can emphasize the body, the mind or the self and hence the effort can never be fruitless.
– T. Krishnamacharya
The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.
– Sakyong Mipham
Yoga must not be practiced to control the body: it is the opposite, it must bring freedom to the body, all the freedom it needs.
– Vanda Scaravelli
“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
Yoga Thoughts
Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.
– Unknown
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
True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life. Yoga is not to be performed; it is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; it 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 with listening. When we listen, we are giving space to what is.
– Richard Freeman
Yoga is not for the flexible. It’s for the willing.
– Unknown
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
Yoga exists in the world because everything is linked.
– T. K. V. Desikachar
Here and now is where yoga begins.
– The Yoga Sutras
Without proper breathing, the yoga postures are nothing more than calisthenics.
– Rachel Schaeffer
Calming the mind is yoga. Not just standing on the head.
– Swami Satchidananda
Yoga should be practiced with firm determination and perseverance, without any mental reservation or doubts.
– Bhagavad Gita
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
Featured image courtesy of Eva Milano of Elevate Calm.
If you’re a lover of quotes and want to read more, be sure to check out our other quotes articles, including luxury quotes for everyday life, skincare quotes to remind you to care for your skin, and perfume quotes that share the magic of scent.
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Sarah is a syndicated freelance writer and editor of Dukes Avenue. She founded Dukes Avenue in 2018 as a creative outlet while working at a London hedge fund. What initially started as a small blog has become a widely read luxury lifestyle online publication targeted at the modern woman, with content curated to inspire readers to live their best and most fulfilled lives. Sarah has lived in London, Malta, and, most recently, the United Arab Emirates and uses her travels and experiences to inspire much of the content.
