Asana Quotes

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

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Study, Posture

  63 Copy quote

• Hatha Yoga teaches us to use the body as the bow, asana as the arrow, and the soul the target.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Yoga, Arrows, Soul

  67 Copy quote

• You must do the asana with your soul. How can you do an asana with your soul? We can only do it with the organ of the body that is closest to the soul - the heart. So a virtuous asana is done from the heart and not from the head. Then you are not just doing it, but you are in it. Many people try to think their way into an asana, but you must instead feel your way into it through love and devotion

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Heart, Thinking, People

  B.K.S. Iyengar, John J. Evans, Douglas Abrams (2006). “Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom”, p.63, Rodale

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• Asanas bring perfection in body, beauty in form, grace, strength, compactness, and the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.

  Patanjali

  Yoga, Perfection, Grace

  47 Copy quote

• The conjunction of effort, concentration and balance in asana forces us to live intensely in the present moment, a rare experience in modern life.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Effort, Balance, Modern Life

  B. K. S. Iyengar (2012). “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, p.32, HarperCollins UK

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• The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.

  T. K. V. Desikachar

  Relationship, Positive, Life Changing

  74 Copy quote

• Each asana is like a piece of music that has a certain characteristic, a certain power.

  Laura Huxley

  Pieces, Certain, Characteristics

  Source: www.whitelotus.org

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• 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.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Body, Posture, Active

  24 Copy quote

• 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.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Body, Legs, Arms

  B.K.S. Iyengar, John J. Evans, Douglas Abrams (2006). “Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom”, p.63, Rodale

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

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Prayer, Body, Temples

  B.K.S Iyengar (2001). “Astadala Yogamala Volume-2: Collected Works”, p.329, Allied Publishers

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

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Brain, Body, Hardest

  15 Copy quote

• 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

  Inspiring, Success, Yoga

  "Healthiest You Ever: 365 Ways to Lose Weight, Build Strength, Boost Your BMI, Lower Your Blood Pressure, Increase Your Stamina, Improve Your Cholesterol Levels, and Energize from Head to Toe!" by Meera Lester, p. 291, December 18, 2011.

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• Yoga ia a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are.

  Erich Schiffmann

  Inspirational, Truth, Moving

  Erich Schiffmann (2013). “Yoga The Spirit And Practice Of Moving Into Stilln”, p.4, Simon and Schuster

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• Perfection in asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached.

  Patanjali

  Perfection, Effort, Infinite

  4 Copy quote

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

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Heart, Light, Brain

  B.K.S. Iyengar (2006). “Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom”, p.41, Rodale

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

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Inspiring, Art, Yoga

  21 Copy quote

• 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.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Yoga, Simple, Practice

  "Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom".

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• In an asana, the mind has to reach inside the body to find a quiet space until a point comes where perfect balance is felt.

  Geeta Iyengar

  Inspirational, Spiritual, Yoga

  60 Copy quote

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

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Mind, Done, Movement

  B.K.S. Iyengar (2006). “Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom”, p.40, Rodale

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• The asanas are useful maps to explore yourself, but they are not the territory.

  Donna Farhi

  Yoga, Maps, Territory

  Donna Farhi (2011). “Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit: A Return to Wholeness”, p.17, Macmillan

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• 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

  Success, God, Yoga

  "Stress Out: Show Stress Who's the Boss!". Book by Sumner M. Davenport (p.9), November 11, 2009.

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• The flexibility we gain in asana is the living symbol of the suppleness we gain in relation to life’s problems and challenges.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Challenges, Gains, Problem

  B. K. S. Iyengar (1993). “Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjala : Patañjala Yoga Pradīpikā”, Thorsons Pub

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• Do not allow past experiences to be imprinted on your mind.  Perform asanas each time with a fresh mind and with a fresh approach.  If you are repeating what you did before, you are living in the memory, so you are living in the past.  That means you don't want to proceed beyond the experience of the past.  Retaining that memory is saying, 'Yesterday I did it like that.' When I ask, 'Is there anything new from what I did yesterday?' then there is progress.  Am I going forward or am I going backward? Then you understand how to create dynamism in a static asana.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Memories, Mean, Past

  6 Copy quote

• We are missing the gold if we do asanas as a physical practice only.

  Geeta Iyengar

  Practice, Missing, Gold

  45 Copy quote

• Approach each asana with freshness every day.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Approach, Freshness

  15 Copy quote