Inspiring Yoga and Meditation Quotes

by Donna Freeman | Meditation, Teen Yoga

Sometimes we all need a little inspiration to guide our lives, our thoughts, our yoga and meditation practice. I’ve collected inspiring messages and quotes for as long as I can remember, posting them inside my school locker, writing them in my personal journal and using them to direct my yoga classes. I trust you will enjoy this collection. You may also want to check out our Inspiring Words Pinterest Page.

1. “Our bodies are our gardens—our wills are our gardeners.“ Shakespeare
2. “He who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything.“ Arabian Proverb
3. “The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime.“ Sogyal Rinpoche
4. “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, he turned into a butterfly.” Proverb
5. “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I cam changing myself.” Rumi
6. “The attitude of gratitude is the highest yoga.” Yogi Bhajan
7. “The part can never be well unless the whole is well.” Plato
8. “You can’t lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself.” Gene Mauch
9. “You only lose what you cling to.” Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha
10. “The quieter you become the more you are able to hear.” Rumi
11. “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Wayne Dyer
12. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” Eleanor Roosevelt
13. “Do not ask for less responsibility to be free and relaxed—ask for more strength!“ Shengyan
14. “The creation of a thousand forest is in one acorn.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
15. “Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.” Jason Crandell
16. “We don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self who is eternally at peace.” Eat, Pray, Love
17. “The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind.“ Rodney Yee
18. “Your problem isn’t the problem. Your reaction is the problem.” Anonymous
19. “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” BKS Iyengar
20. “Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.” Bob Harper
21. “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Anonymous
22. “The beauty is that people often come here for the stretch, and leave with a lot more” Liza Ciano
23. “Don’t just do something—sit there!” Unknown Yoga Quote
24. “The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” Thich Nhat Hanh
25. “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.“ Krishnamacharya
26. “Don’t waste a good mistake. Learn from it.” Robert Kiyosaki
27. “Yoga is invigoration in relaxation. Freedom in routine. Confidence through self control. Energy within and energy without.” Ymber Delecto
28. “Whenever you see a successful person you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.” Vaibhav Shah
29. “What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” Oscar Wilde
30. “Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.” Baxter Bal
31. “You can do anything, but not everything. Anonymous
32. “Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.” Jason Crandell
33. “Through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose.” Eknath Easwaran
34. “Do not speak unless it improves on silence.” Buddhist proverb
35. “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” The Bhagavad Gita
36. “Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” Buddha
37. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.” Robert Collier
38. “Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.” Mary Radmacher
39. “Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things.” Matthieu Ricard
40. “Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.” Dalai Lama
41. “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.” BKS Iyengar
42. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live. “ Jim Rohn
43. “The yoga pose that you avoid the most you need the most.” Anonymous
44. “Take the time to just do nothing. It will open up a completely new world of insight for you.” Scott Shaw
45. “All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.” Michael John Bobak
46. “Intelligence comes into being when the mind, the heart and the body are really harmonious.” J Krishnamurti
47. “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” Deepak Chopra
48. “Make the driving force in your life love.” Dr. Oz
49. “Happiness is an inside job.” William Arthur Ward
50. “Meditation is to be aware of every thought and of every feeling, never to say it is right or wrong, but just to watch it and to move with it.” Krishnamurti
51. “Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” Margaret Lee Runbeck
52. “Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.” Rumi
53. “Suffering usually relates to wanting things to be different from the way they are.” Allan Lokos
54. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Jim Ryun
55. “Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours.” Swedish Proverb
56. “Silence is not silent. Silence speaks. It speaks most eloquently. Silence is not still. Silence leads. It leads most perfectly.” Sri Chinmoy
57. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” Bruce Lee
58. “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” Gautama Buddha
59. “Yoga is almost like music in a way; there’s no end to it.” Sting
60. “Even if things don’t unfold the way you expected, don’t be disheartened or give up. One who continues to advance will win in the end.” Daisaku Ikeda
61. “We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.” Hermann Hesse
62. “Creating space frees the spirit to bring in what it truly desires.” Deb Reble
63. “Don’t move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move.” Osho
64. “She was unstoppable, not because she did not have failures and doubts, but because she continued on despite of them.” Beau Toplin
65. “Surely there is something in the unruffled calm of nature that overawes our little anxieties and doubts; the sight of the deep blue sky and the clustering stars above seems to impart a quiet tot he mind.” Tryon Edwards
66. “Therefore, it is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions.” Deiter F. Uchtdorf
67. “Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul to another.”George Elliot
68. “The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” G.K. Chesterton
69. “Life is meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” Eleanor Roosevelt
70. “Nothing ever is, but is always becoming.” Plato