My favorite yoga classes to attend and teach are the ones that have a clear theme outside of the asanas or postures. Focusing on a quote or an idea helps to give the flow a purpose or an intention. Today, I am sharing more than fifty of my favorite quotes that I have used in a yoga class.

How can you use a theme to influence the yoga postures? I often like to reflect on what kind of movement comes to mind when I think of a given theme. Here are some examples:

For love and compassion, I focus on postures that expand and open the chest. When we lift the chest open in a back bend, such as camel pose, or pull the shoulders back in cobra, we are opening are hearts. It is the perfect pairing.

For a slower class, such as yin yoga, I often like to reflect on themes such as stillness, mindfulness, or letting go. This allows me to share longer stories or quotes when students are holding postures for an extended period of time. This is especially useful when you can use metaphors to drop deeper into a pose.

When I want to encourage goofiness, my quotes will reflect on self love, happiness, or the joy of a child’s mind. I can use these themes to encourage a playful, experimental practice.

Check out some of my favorite quotes:

Gratitude

“The secret to having it all is knowing you already do.” – Unknown

“Trade your expectations for appreciation and the world changes instantly.” – Tony Robbins

“Everyone gets to decide how happy they want to be because everyone gets to decide how grateful they are willing to be.” – Unknown

“Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger is grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If you do not practice gratefulness, its benefaction will do unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything. This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything.” – Alan Cohen

“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” – Tony Robbins

“Gratitude unlocked the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” – Melody Beatie

“If the only prayer you ever say is ‘thank you,’ that will be enough.” – Eckhart Tolle

“I practice gratitude to access joy.” – Brene Brown

Happiness and Joy

“Contentment, and indeed usefulness, comes as the infallible result of great acceptances, great humiliates – of not trying to make ourselves this or that, but of surrendering ourselves to the fullness of life – of letting life flow through us.” – David Grayson

“There is no path to happiness; happiness is the path.” – Gautama Buddha

“Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.” – Paramhansa Yogananda

“If you are happy, happiness will come to you because happiness wants to go where happiness is.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley

“Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.” – Ralph Marlson

Presence and Groundedness

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.” – Eckhart Tolle

“I am present within myself. I can center myself with the ease of my breath. I feel grounded, confident, worthy, and whole.” – Mala Collective

“Just like a tree, I am deeply rooted and supported by Mother Earth. I am connected to a deeper purpose.” – Mala Collective

Mindfulness and Silence

“The brain is the hardest part of the body to adjust in asanas.” – BKS Iyengar

“You must learn to get in touch with the innermost essence of your being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment.: – Deepak Chopra

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in life has a purpose.” – Elisabeth Hubler-Ross

“Mindfulness teaches you to be aware of your own negative thoughts and judgments and to let for of them, open yourself to new feelings, positive ones.” – Unknown

“Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness, it’s about creating an emotional clearing to allow ourselves to feel, think, dream, and question.” – Brene Brown

“Learning how to be still, to really be still and let let happen. That stillness becomes a radiance.” – Morgan Freeman

“Stillness is the alter of the spirit.” –  Paramhansa Yogananda

“In today’s rush, we all think too much, seek too much, want too much, and forget about the joy of just being.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Being still does not mean don’t mean. It means move in peace.” – Lao Tzu

Letting Go

“One of the most courageous decisions you’ll ever make is to finally let go of what is hurting your heart and soul.” – Brigitte Nicole

“Your peace is more important than driving yourself crazy trying to understand why something happened the way it did. Let it go.” – Unknown

“One of the hardest lessons in life is letting go. Whether it’s guilt, anger, love, loss, or betrayal. Change is never easy, we fight to hold on and we fight to let go.” – Unknown

Self Love and Acceptance

“You are a mirror reflecting a noble face. This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that.” – Rumi

“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. Assad

“Your inner light shines when you are at peace with yourself and the world around you. Let go of the struggle and feel the beauty inside you. Allow all to be and just be you.” – Unknown

“Self love is asking yourself what you need – everyday – and when making sure you receive it.” – Unknown

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha

“Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies around you, when you start imprinting your intent on the universe rather than receiving an imprint from existence.” – Unknown

Compassion and Love

“Tolerance and compassion are qualities of fearless people.” – Paulo Coelho

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Buddha

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama

“We rise by lifting others.” – Robert Ingersoll

“Let our heats and hands be stretched out in compassion towards others, for everyone is walking his or her own difficult path.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Yoga and Breath

“The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body.” – Jason Crandall

“Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way.”  – Cybele Tomlinson

“Remember, yoga is not a competition. Think of yoga as physical therapy, and abandon the competitive mind set or the need to be perfect. Practice non-violence and be kind to yourself.” – Unknown

“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

“Yoga is about self expression. It is about finding your own rhythm, your own path. Yoga allows you to be curious about who you are and at peace with all of the unexpected discoveries.” – Taryn Raine

“Falling out of a posture means you are human. Getting back into the posture means you’re a yogi.” – Bikram Choudhury

“Yoga allows you to rediscover a sense of wholeness in your life, where you do not feel like you are constantly trying to fit broken pieces together.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

“When the breathe wanders the mind is also unsteady. But when the breath is calmed, the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves love life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath.” – Hatha Yoga Prodipika

“Your practice doesn’t expect you to show up happy. It asks that you be present. It doesn’t mind is you are put together, or if you are a mess. You can arrive with a jumbled mind and a heavy heart. Your practice could care less if you can touch your toes or meditate for hours. It asks simply, that you show up.” – Unknown

“Don’t move the way fear makes you move, move the way love makes you move, the way joy makes you move.” – Osho

“Yoga begins right where I am – not where I was yesterday or where I long to be.” – Linda Sparrowe

“The yoga postures and breath are tools to rebuild and transform ourselves. The goal is not to tie ourselves in knots – we’re already tied in knots. The aim is to unite with the ultimate, loving, peaceful power of the universe.” – Max Strom

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Spread the love and share and share these quotes with your friends! Comment below: What was your favorite quote? Do you have a yoga quote you love that wasn’t mentioned? Share it in the comments!

Namaste,

Taryn