|
celebrating 15 years online 1998-2013
Quotations about Yoga
When this body has been so magnificently and artistically created by God, it is only fitting that we should maintain it in good health and harmony by the most excellent and artistic science of Yoga. ~Geeta Iyengar Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind. ~Patañjali Asanas attune the body to meditation, just as a guitar is tuned before a performance. ~Author Unknown Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are. ~Jason Crandell, quoted in Yoga Journal, November 2005 Yoga is difficult for the one whose mind is not subdued. ~Bhagavad Gita Yoga is essentially a practice for your soul, working through the medium of your body. ~Tara Fraser Yoga doesn't take time, it gives time. ~Ganga White Yoga has a sly, clever way of short-circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety. ~Baxter Bell, quoted in "Worry Thwarts," Yoga Journal, March 2006 In this fast-paced, constantly moving world, practicing yoga allows me time to stop and just be aware of where I am and how I feel. It is a time to be one with my body, and let go of all the distractions and worries of the outside world. ~Jonathan Urla, Yogilates Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight-or-flight mode. ~Melanie Haiken, "Worry Thwarts," Yoga Journal, March 2006 The practice of Yoga brings us face to face with the extraordinary complexity of our own being. ~Sri Aurobindo 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 ultimate essence of yoga is the contact and the union between the individual consciousness and the divine consciousness. ~Raphael, Essence and Purpose of Yoga: The Initiatory Pathways to the Transcendent Practicing yoga during the day is a matter of keeping your eyes on the road and one ear turned toward the infinite. ~Erich Schiffmann The autonomic nervous system is divided into the sympathetic system, which is often identified with the fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic, which is identified with what's been called the relaxation response. When you do yoga — the deep breathing, the stretching, the movements that release muscle tension, the relaxed focus on being present in your body — you initiate a process that turns the fight-or-flight system off and the relaxation response on. That has a dramatic effect on the body. The heartbeat slows, respiration decreases, blood pressure decreases. The body seizes this chance to turn on the healing mechanisms. ~Richard Faulds When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world. ~B.K.S. Iyengar Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God. ~Tirumalai Krishnamacharya Hatha is the sanctuary for those suffering every type of pain. It is the foundation for those practicing every type of Yoga. ~Svatmarama, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translated from Sanskrit by Brian Dana Akers (yogavidya.com) One succeeds in all Yogas through energetic practice—even if one is young, old, very old, sick, or weak. ~Svatmarama, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translated from Sanskrit by Brian Dana Akers (yogavidya.com) For those wounded by civilization, yoga is the most healing salve. ~Terri Guillemets What we're trying to do in yoga is to create a union, and so to deepen a yoga pose is to actually increase the union of the pose, not necessarily put your leg around your head. ~Rodney Yee Sun salutations can energize and warm you, even on the darkest, coldest winter day. ~Carol Krucoff I was in yoga the other day. I was in full lotus position. My chakras were all aligned. My mind is cleared of all clatter and I'm looking out of my third eye and everything that I'm supposed to be doing. It's amazing what comes up, when you sit in that silence. "Mama keeps whites bright like the sunlight, Mama's got the magic of Clorox 2." ~Ellen DeGeneres Holding an asana like Warrior One, with my legs stretched in a lunge and my arms reaching up, I feel grounded and free at the same time. I can sense my body acting as a conduit between the earth and the sky, and feel my breath flowing with this sacred energy. ~Jonathan Urla, Yogilates Warrior pose battles inner weakness and wins focus. You see that there is no war within you. You're on your own side, and you are your own strength. ~Terri Guillemets Mountain pose teaches us, literally, how to stand on our own two feet.... teaching us to root ourselves into the earth.... Our bodies become a connection between heaven and earth. ~Carol Krucoff Mountain pose is an affirmation. You can conquer anything with your natural boldness and resolute strength. Only you can reach the peak of your success. ~Terri Guillemets All unimportant matters drop off you in ragdoll pose. Very few things are genuinely important. The Truth sways before you. ~Terri Guillemets Tree pose grows confidence. ~Terri Guillemets Chair pose is a defiance of spirit, showing how high you can reach even when you're forced down. ~Terri Guillemets Corpse pose restores life. Dead parts of your being fall away, the ghosts are released. ~Terri Guillemets Yoga practitioners advise the times around sunrise and sunset, well before eating a meal, as the best time for yoga and meditation practice. The science of biometeorology (the study of natural forces on human and animal life) tells us that the sun has a tremendous impact upon the lives of plants, animals, and human beings. Even our blood chemistry changes with the rising and setting of the sun! Therefore, there may be a chemical basis for the thousands of years of belief, in every spiritual tradition, that to meditate and pray at sunrise and sunset is somehow more effective, more auspicious. ~Vimala Schneider McClure, A Woman's Guide to Tantra Yoga We are aware of yoga only as a technique to gain physical strength, flexibility, or increased health. And indeed these are potent side effects of the practice. But that is what they are: side effects. To focus on these largely insignificant manifestations is to miss the point entirely. ~John McAfee The asanas are useful maps to explore yourself, but they are not the territory. ~Donna Farhi The harmonizing of opposing forces is a key aspect of yoga — hot energy is united with cool energy, strong with soft, and masculine with feminine. ~Tara Fraser It was obvious to me that for optimal fitness, yoga and Pilates belonged together.... Yogilates was born from my desire to create an accessible and effective regimen that contained the best of both techniques and would be ideal for everyone.... ~Jonathan Urla, Yogilates Yoga accepts. Yoga gives. ~Terri Guillemets Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it's unequaled. ~Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Before you've practiced, the theory is useless. After you've practiced, the theory is obvious. ~David Williams, Ashtanga yoga teacher in Maui, Hawaii; quoted from yoga.com I tried yoga once but took off for the mall halfway through class, as I had a sudden craving for a soft pretzel and world peace. ~Terri Guillemets The last time I opened my chakra so I could feel my peace, I got thrown right out of the pub. ~Terri Guillemets
| |||||||||||||||||||||||