Ready for some yoga quotes that are inspirational, informative, or just plain funny? We’ve collected several dozen of the most interesting yoga sayings to inform and entertain.
Our collection of yoga motivation quotes runs the full spectrum. Some yoga quotes about life come from revered figures like Gandhi and Buddha. On the opposite end, we have yoga quotes on happiness from celebrities like Sting and Madonna. And then there are funny yoga quotes from random witty folks on Twitter.
We’ve got self care quotes, quotes for positivity, yoga quotes about life, and much more! Read on for our collection of yoga sayings to entertain and inspire you. (And check out our list of the best yoga podcasts as well.)
Yoga Motivation Quotes About Life
“Your soul is your best friend. Treat it with care, nurture it with growth, feed it with love.” –Ashourina Yalda
“Close your eyes and imagine the best version of you possible. That’s who you really are. Let go of any part of you that doesn’t believe it.” –C. Assaad
“Change only happens in the present moment. The past is already done. The future is just energy and intention.” ―Kino MacGregor
“Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.” –Pema Chodron
“Have only love in your heart for others. The more you see the good in them, the more you will establish good in yourself.” –Paramahansa Yogananda
“Yoga is a light which once lit will never dim. The better your practice the brighter your flame.” –B.K.S. Iyengar
“Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal…. But don’t approach yoga with a business mind looking for worldly gain.” –Sri Pattabhi Jois
“The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.” — Sakyong Mipham
“The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime.” –Sogyal Rinpoche
“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.” –Zen Shin
“Self care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you” -Katie Reed
“In truth, yoga doesn’t take time – it gives time.” ―Ganga White
“Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.” ―Kathryn Budig
“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.” —Aadil Palkhivala
Yoga-Specific Inspirational Quotes
“It doesn’t matter how deep into a posture you go. What does matter is who you are when you get there.” –Max Strom
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” –Bhagavad Gita
“The very heart of yoga practice is abhyasa – steady effort in the direction you want to go.” –Sally Kempton
“Yoga is not about touching your toes, it’s about what you learn on the way down.” –Jigar Gor
“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
“Go from a human being doing yoga to a human being yoga.” –Baron Baptiste
“Yoga does not change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees.” –B.K.S Iyengar
“Yoga begins right where I am – not where I was yesterday or where I long to be.” – Linda Sparrowe
“Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.” –Bob Harper
Ancient & Modern Wisdom
“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.” –Gandhi
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” –Henry David Thoreau
“What you think, you become.” -Buddha
“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.” –Buddha
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” –Helen Keller
“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” –Mother Teresa
“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” -Vincent Van Gogh
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” –Maya Angelou
“If every 8-year-old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.” –The Dalai Lama
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” ―Socrates
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.” – Confucius
Yoga Instructional Quotes
“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
“Yoga is 99 percent practice and one percent theory.” –Sri Pattabhi Jois
“One of the fundamental principles of yoga: a small action done repeatedly can make an enormous difference.” –Dr. Timothy McCall
“The yoga pose you avoid the most, you need the most.” -Unknown
“A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves.” -Terri Guillemets
“Yoga is not just repetition of few postures, it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.” ― Amit Ray
Celebrity Yoga Sayings
“Yoga is almost like music in a way; there’s no end to it.” –Sting
“Yoga teaches you how to listen to your body.” –Mariel Hemingway
“Yoga kind of helps you prepare for everything. It’s like meditation. It just allows anything that’s coming at you at the end of the day to be kind of doable.” -Jennifer Aniston
“Yoga is a metaphor for life. You have to take it really slowly. You can’t rush. You can’t skip the next position. You find yourself in very humiliating situations, but you can’t judge yourself. You just have to breathe, and let go.” -Madonna
“It’s totally changed my body. When I started practicing, I instantly felt more sculpted. Yoga carves you into a different person and that is satisfying physically.” -Adam Levine
“I find that when you do any hot yoga class your muscles are more pliable and you’re stretched out easier. You come out dripping in sweat and my face is like a tomato. It’s good for your skin! I love it. I’m obsessed! It’s addictive.” -Hailey Bieber
“Every day I try to do breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga. These things sound awfully cliche, but they help me slow down and try to point to a truth.” -David Duchovny
“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
“Surely if God had meant us to do yoga, he would have put our heads behind our knees.” -Rod Stewart
“I started doing power yoga in L.A., which really makes no sense. Power yoga? It’s the opposite of what it should be. Yoga should calm you down!” -Ellen DeGeneres
“People on a spiritual path – personal growth, spiritual practice, recovery, yoga and so forth – are the last people who should be sitting out the social and political issues of our day.” –Marianne Williamson
“When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” –John Lennon
Funny Yoga Quotes and Jokes from Twitter
“I’ve got 99 problems, but I’m going to yoga to ignore them all for an hour.” –source
“Apparently in yoga when the instructor says, ‘next we go into our downward dog,’ it is frowned upon to make the ‘bowchickabowow’ sound.” –source
“*pulls out pancreas and offers to instructor* ‘I found my center’.” –source
“I only do yoga so I can hold my arms up long enough to get my hair in a ponytail.” –source
“Yoga instructor just emailed to say class is moved and thanks for our flexibility.” –source
“It would really amuse me if people shouted “ta-da!” when arriving at tadasana.” –source
“Gave my cat some almond milk and now she teaches hot yoga on Thursday nights.” –source
For more yoga info, see our list of the best Netflix and Amazon Prime yoga streaming workout videos, our post about the best yoga pants and leggings on the market, and our review of aerial yoga equipment, such as hammocks and swings.
Do you have any other funny yoga quotes or motivational yoga sayings to share?