In forward bends, one uses the outer mind while in backbends the outer mind is silenced and the inner mind is made to work.
Classics postures, when practiced with discrimination and awareness, bring the body, mind, and consciousness into a single, harmonious whole.
A good teacher helps you explore the maximum.
When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.
By persistent and sustained practice, anyone and everyone can make the yoga journey and reach the goal of illumination and freedom.
Life without tapas, is like a heart without love.
Where does the body end and the mind begin? Where does the mind end and the spirit begin? They cannot be divided as they are inter-related and but different aspects of the same all-pervading divine consciousness.
As a fire blazes brightly when the covering of ash over it is scattered by the wind, the divine fire within the body shines in all its majesty when the ashes of desire are scattered by the practice of pranayama.
As a mighty river which when properly harnessed by dams and canals, creates a vast reservoir of water, prevents famine and provides abundant power for industry; so also the mind, when controlled, provides a reservoir of peace and generates abundant energy for the human uplift.
Yoga is a means and an end.
In each pose there should be repose.
When stability becomes a habit, maturity and clarity follow.
Move from the known to the unknown.
Persistent practice alone is the key to yoga. As you take pains to learn, continue with devotion what you have learn.
A yogi’s brain extends from the bottom of the foot to the top of his head.
Your body is the child of your soul.
Regulate the breathing, and thereby control the mind.
Love begets courage, moderation creates abundance and humility generates power. Courage without love is brutish. Abundance without moderation leads to over-indulgence and decay. Power without humility breeds arrogance and tyranny.
As a well cut diamond has many facets, each reflecting a different color of light, so does the word yoga, each facet reflecting a different shade of meaning and revealing different aspects of the entire range of human endeavor to win inner peace and happiness.
We can rise above our limitations, only once we recognize them.
Our flawed mechanisms of perception and thought are not a cause for grief, but an opportunity to evolve, for an internal evolution of consciousness that will also make possible, in a sustainable form, our aspirations toward what we call individual success and global progress.