B.K.S. Iyengar quotes:

+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share
  • Hatha Yoga teaches us to use the body as the bow, asana as the arrow, and the soul the target.

  • Abhyasa (practice) is a dedicated, unswerving, constant, and vigilant search into a chosen subject pursued against all odds in the face of repeated failures, for indefinitely long periods of time.

  • The Yogi conquers the body by the practice of asanas, making the body a fit vehicle for the spirit. The Yogi knows that it is a necessary vehicle for the spirit, for a soul without a body is like a bird deprived of its power to fly.

  • It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.

  • Activity and passivity must go together in asanas.

  • The brain is the hardest part of the body to adjust in asanas.

  • Asana done from the brain makes one heavy and done from the heart makes one light.

  • That's the beauty of backbends. Emotionally we can never be disturbed, for the emotional centre becomes an extrovert. When you do Viparita Dandasana, your head looks backwards, but your conscious mind stretches everywhere. Study by observing how the mind gets regulated. You not only know the freedom in the spine, but also the freedom in the spirit.

  • Backbends are not poses meant for expressionism. Backbends are meant to understand the back parts of our bodies. The front body can be seen with the eyes, but the back body can only be felt. That's why I say these are the most advanced postures, where the mind begins to look at the back.

  • The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.

  • Do not aim low, you will miss the mark. Aim high and you will be on a threshold of bliss.

  • Asanas maintain the strength and health of the body, without which little progress can be made. Asanas keep the body in harmony with nature

  • Approach each asana with freshness every day.

  • Asanas keep your body, as well as your mind, healthy and active

  • In forward bends, one uses the outer mind while in backbends the outer mind is silenced and the inner mind is made to work.

  • Backbends are to be felt more than expressed. The other postures can be expressed and then felt. Like in meditation each person has to feel backbends.

  • Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind, and spirit.

  • You must fill every inch of your body with the asana from your chest and arms and legs to the tips of your fingers and toes so that the asana radiates from the core of your body and fills the entire diameter and circumference of your limbs. You must feel your intelligence, your awareness, and your consciousness in every inch of your body.

  • The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It's about using posture to understand and transform yourself.

  • Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intellect, and benevolence of spirit.

  • When the asana is correct, there is lightness, a freedom. Freedom comes when every part of the body is active. Let us be free in whatever posture we are doing. Let us be full in whatever we do.

  • In backbends, one touches the body physically, mentally, intellectually, consciously and spiritually everywhere.

  • I also say with backbends, you have to be cautiously bold. Not carelessly bold. You have to descend to the dictation of the spine. You cannot command from the brain to do the poses. As you play with a child, guarding the child from injuries, similarly you have to play in backbends, guarding your spine.

  • If you open the armpits, the brain becomes light. You cannot brood or become depressed.

  • If you keep your armpits open, you won't get depressed.

  • It is while practicing yoga asanas that you learn the art of adjustment.

  • The body is my temple, asanas are my prayers.

  • Asanas penetrate deep into each layer of the body and ultimately into the consciousness itself.

  • We can wash the skin of our bodies with a bath, but through asana practice we not only purify our blood and cells, we are cleansing the inner body as we practice.

  • When an asana is done correctly the body movements are smooth, there is lightness in the body and freedom in the mind.

  • As animals, we walk the earth. As bearers of divine essence, we are among the stars. As human beings, we are caught in the middle, seeking to reconcile the paradox of how to make our way upon earth while striving for something more permanent and more profound.

  • Yoga is more than physical. It is cellular, mental, intellectual and spiritual-it involves man in his entire being

  • Don't practice for cosmetic beauty, practice for cosmic beauty. Practice for inner beauty and inner light.

  • Willpower is concrete, not ethereal. When you do something, you demonstrate your willpower, and it becomes all the easier to have the same power of will the next time.

  • I think many of my students have followed the advice I gave years ago, to give more than you take.

  • The hardness of a diamond is part of its usefulness, but its true value is in the light that shines through it.

  • Faith, courage, and intelligent and uninterrupted awareness - these qualities are to be present whether one is wide awake, half asleep, or in deep slumber. An individual who lives like this performs his daily actions with a mind free from selfishness. This is poise in action. And this poise leads to that serenity which is in the truest sense a healthy mind in a healthy body.

  • When your body, mind and soul are healthy and harmonious, you will bring health and harmony to the world- not by withdrawing from the world, but by being a healthy, living organ of the body of humanity.

  • The art of teaching is tolerance. Humbleness is the art of learning.

  • Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you have to choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it

  • Why should you practice Yoga? To kindle the divine fire within yourself. Everyone has a dormant spark of divinity in him which has to be fanned into flame.

  • Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.

  • Live before you die, so that death is also a lively celebration.

  • You have to create love and affection for your body, for what it can do for you. Love must be incarnated in the smallest pore of the skin, the smallest cell of the body to make them intelligent so they can collaborate with all the other ones, in the big republic of the body. This love must radiate from you to others.

  • The highest point of yesterday should be the lowest point of today

  • Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self realization. Yoga means union - the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions.

  • When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.

  • You must purge yourself before finding faults in others. When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake. This is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement.

  • Any action done with beauty and purity, and in complete harmony of body, mind and soul, is Art.

  • Keep your attention internal, not external, not worrying about what others see, but what the Self sees.

  • 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.

  • Before peace between the nations, we have to find peace inside that small nation which is our own being.

  • Penetration of our mind is our goal, but in the beginning to set things in motion, there is no substitute for sweat.

  • If everyone practiced yoga, pharmacies would have to close.

  • A yogi never forgets that health must begin with the body. . . .Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills. . . . It is something that we must build up. You have to create within yourself the experience of beauty, liberation, and infinity. This is health.

  • Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits. Similarly, from a healthy person, smiles and happiness shine forth like the rays of the sun.

  • Intellectuals tend to be arrogant. Intelligence, like money, is a good servant but a bad master. When practicing pranayama, the yogi [makes] himself humble and without pride in his intellectual attainments.

  • 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.

  • Many ask me whether pranayama ... postpones old age. Why worry about it? Death is certain. Let it come when it comes. Just keep working. The soul has no age. It doesn't die. Only the body decays. And yet, we must never forget the body, since it is the garden we must cherish and cultivate.

  • A scientist sets out to conquer nature through knowledge - external nature, external knowledge. By these means he may split the atom and achieve external power. A yogi sets out to explore his own internal nature, to penetrate the atom (atma) of being. He does not gain dominion over wide lands and restless seas, but over his own recalcitrant flesh and febrile mind.

  • Nothing can be forced, receptivity is everything.

  • Yoga has a threefold impact on health. It keeps healthy people healthy, it inhibits the development of diseases, and it aids recovery from ill health.

  • When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the Spirit within himself finds fulfillment.

  • It took me whole decades to appreciate the depth and true value of yoga. Sacred texts supported my discoveries, but it was not they that signposted the way. What I learned through yoga, I found out through yoga.

  • Is it necessary to practice all these asanas, further and further? Is it necessary to develop scientific researches further and further? To a yogi, the body is a laboratory, a field of experiments and perpetual researches.

  • As a breeze ruffles the surface of a lake and distorts the images reflected therein, so also the chitta vrtti (fluctuations of mind) disturb the peace of the mind. The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it.

  • Do not stop trying just because perfection eludes you,

  • Your whole being should be symmetrical. Yoga is symmetry. That is why yoga is a basic art.

  • Life without tapas, is like a heart without love.

  • Do not think of yourself as a small, compressed, suffering thing. Think of yourself as graceful and expanding, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time.

  • From Freedom of the Body comes Freedom of the Mind and then Ultimate Freedom!

  • There is no progress toward ultimate freedom without transformation, and this is the key issue in all lives.

  • Health begins with firmness in the body, deepens to emotional stability, then leads to intellectual clarity, wisdom and finally the unveiling of the soul.

  • When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world.

  • Yoga is as old and traditional as civilization, yet it persists in modern society as a means to achieving essential vitality. But yoga demands that we develop not only strength in body but attention and awareness in mind.The yogi knows that the physical body is not only the temple for our soul but the means by which we embark on the inward journey toward the core.

  • The yogi cannot be afraid to die, because he has brought life to every cell of his body. We are afraid to die, because we are afraid we have not lived. The yogi has lived.

  • The primary aim of yoga is to restore the mind to simplicity and peace, and free it from confusion and distress

  • In whatever position one is in, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance. Balance is the state of the present - the here and now. If you balance in the present, you are living in Eternity.

  • You must purge yourself before finding faults in others. When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake. This is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement. Do not look at others' bodies with envy or with superiority. All people are born with different constitutions. Never compare with others. Each one's capacities are a function of his or her internal strength. Know your capacities and continually improve upon them.

  • We are creatures that are designed for continual challenge. We must grow or we begin to die....So just standing still isn't really an option. We have to move on. If not, disturbances will come.

  • Yes, flexibility of body and physical perfection for Yogasana is important. However more important is the state of your mind, Meditative mind. Your flexibility might be excellent but if your mind is not attentive, you are merely doing some physical exercise, not Yoga.

  • Look after the root of the tree, and the fragrant flower and luscious fruits will grow by themselves. Look after the health of the body, and the fragrance of the mind and richness of the spirit will follow.

  • He who has learnt to control his tongue has attained self-control in a great measure. When such a person speaks he will be heard with respect and attention. His words will be remembered, for they will be good and true. When one who is established in truth prays with a pure heart, then things he really needs come to him when they are really needed: he does not have to run after them. The man firmly established in truth gets the fruit of his actions without apparently doing anything. God, the source of all truth, supplies his needs and looks after his welfare.

  • Through surrender the aspirant's ego is effaced, and . . . grace . . . pours down upon him like a torrential rain.

  • The decision to relax rather than to grip, even in the face of impatience or fear, is a conscious and brave choice.

  • When you are practicing, do not just do that for the sake of doing. Learn to reflect while you are practising. Make your mind and brain observe and relearn what you are doing. Doing is mechanical; learning is dynamic.

  • Yoga allows you to find an inner peace that is not ruffled and riled by the endless stresses and struggles of life.

  • The ultimate goal of yoga is to realize the brilliance of your soul.

  • Love begets courage, moderation creates abundance and humility generates power

  • Nothing is achieved by a mind that doubts

  • The light that Yoga sheds on life is something special. It is transformative. It does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.

  • I don't stretch my body as if it is an object. I do yoga from the self towards the body, not the other way around.

  • Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.

  • Breath is the vehicle of consciousness and so, by its slow measured observation and distribution, we learn to tug our attention away from external desires toward a judicious, intelligent awareness.

  • Life itself seeks fulfillment as plants seek sunlight.

  • Yoga is when every cell of the body sings the song of the soul...

  • The practice of yogasana for the sake of health, to keep fit, or to maintain flexibility is the external practice of yoga. While this is a legitimate place to begin, it is not the end Even in simple asanas, one is experiencing the three levels of quest: the external quest, which brings firmness of the body; the internal quest, which brings steadiness of intelligence; and the innermost quest, which brings benevolence of spirit.

  • The challenge of yoga is to go beyond our limits - within reason. We continually expand the frame of the mind by using the canvas of the body. It is as if you were to stretch a canvas more and create a larger surface for a painting. But we must respect the present form of our body. If you pull too much at once, we will rip the canvas. If the practice of today damages the practice of tomorrow, it is not correct practice.

  • One's spiritual realization lies in none other than how one walks among and interacts with one's fellow beings.

  • Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.

  • You do not need to seek freedom in a different land, for it exists with your own body, heart, mind, and soul.

  • Yoga is a way of life; it is an art, a science, a philosophy.

  • There is no difference in our souls...That is what yoga teaches. When you and I meet together, we forget ourselves -- our cultures and classes. There are no divisions, and we talk mind to mind, soul to soul. We are no different in our deepest needs. We are all humans.

  • It is through the body that everything comes to the mind. It is through and with your body that you have to reach realization of being a spark of divinity. How can we neglect the temple of the spirit?

  • Sometimes our body is willing, but our mind is weak. Sometimes our mind is willing, but our body is weak. Do not be afraid. Strive to extend your capacity but do not be disappointed with yourself. What does not challenge us, cannot change us.

  • The body is the prop for the soul. So why not let the body be propped by a wall or a block?

  • In whatever you are doing, be one: body, soul, mind. Do it beautifully and with purity.

  • Words cannot convey the value of yoga - it has to be experienced.

  • Yoga aims for complete awareness in everything you do.

  • In Savasana or in meditation, the light of the eyes is drawn towards the lotus of the heart, so that the seat of the intelligence of the head is brought into contact with the seat of the intelligence of the heart, which is called the mind. Thus one passes from the individualistic state of consciousness to the universal state of consciousness. It is the merging of the intellect of the brain with the intellect of the soul.

  • If you have the right mind, your body can do anything.

  • If you can adapt to and balance in a world that is always moving and unstable, you learn how to become tolerant to the permanence of change and difference.

  • There is no difference in souls, only the ideas about ourselves that we wear.

  • Our greed comes from our fear that we will not have enough - whether it is money or love that we grasp. Yoga teaches us to let go of these fears and so to realize the abundance around us and within us.

  • Know your capacities and continually improve upon them.

  • Yoga allows you to rediscover a sense of wholeness in your life.

  • Yoga has to be done with the intellect of the head as well as the intellect of the heart

  • Firmness in the body leads to firmness in the nervous system.

  • A stable mind is like the hub of a wheel. The world may spin around you, but the mind is steady.

  • During inhalation, the breath should move exactly like the clouds which are spreading in the sky.

+1
Share
Pin
Like
Send
Share