182 Powerful Yogi Quotes To Inspire Your Practice

Taking up Yoga is the best thing you can do for your physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Yoga is gaining popularity among people all over the world and for all the right reasons. If you’re not already into yoga, these powerful yogi quotes might just inspire you to take up yogic practices.

A yogi is someone who practices yoga. Yoga is combined practices of the body, mind, and soul to make one master themselves.

Yoga has been an important part of Hindu culture for centuries, and in the 20th century, yoga started to gain fame in the West too. As of today, people all over the world recognize the benefits of yoga.

This article includes various yoga quotes, including popular yogisms, yoga quotes on love, yoga wisdom quotes, yoga spiritual quotes, heart-opening yoga quotes, and many more. These yogis quotes will help you better yourself in every way possible.

So whether you are looking for yoga words of inspiration, yogi love quotes, yogism quotes, or inspirational Yoga quotes for class this list of inspirational yoga words should be able to help!

Before you dive deep into these wonderful and inspirational quotes from yogis, you might want to take a look at these funny yoga quotes or Yogi Bhajan quotes too.

Powerful Yogi Quotes

If you are looking for inspirational quotes from yogis check out this list!

1. “Kindness and awareness work together. Through awareness, we understand the underlying beauty of everything and every being.”

- Amit Ray.

2. “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the ocean in a drop.”

- Rumi.

3. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

- Gandhi.

4. “We may speak about a place where there are no tears, no death, no fear, no night; but those are just the benefits of heaven. The beauty of heaven is seeing God.”

- Max Lucado.

5. “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.”

- Ludwig van Beethoven.

6. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

- Marcus Aurelius.

7. “Surrender is the most difficult thing in the world while you are doing it and the easiest when it is done.”

- Bhai Sahib.

8. “Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.”

- Paramahansa Yogananda.

9. “We have perceptions about our experience, and we judge them.”

- Dalai Lama.

10. “Yoga is the dance of every cell with the music of every breath that creates inner serenity and harmony.”

- Debasish Mridha.

11. “The next message you need is always right where you are.”

- Ram Dass.

12. “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.”  

- Joseph Campbell.

13. “Equanimity arises when we accept the way things are.”

- Jack Kornfield.

14. “Each of us is a lake of love, yet strangely enough, we are all thirsty.”

- Swami Kripalu.

15. “Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight or flight mode.”

- Melanie Haiken.

16. “I close my eyes in order to see.”

- Paul Gauguin.

17. “Having lots of money while not having inner peace is like dying of thirst while bathing in the ocean.”

- Paramahansa Yogananda.

18. “To resolve problems through negotiation is a very childish approach.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

19. “Overall, always strive to be genuine — about who you are, what you offer, and why you do what you do.”

- Amy Ippoliti.

20. “So many people… seem to struggle with being kind to themselves. This is really sad. You see, if you don’t have genuine love and kindness toward yourself, how can you extend these to others?”

- Dalai Lama.

21. “Being happy is of the utmost importance. Success in anything is through happiness.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

22. “True meditation is about being fully present with everything that is including discomfort and challenges. It is not an escape from life.”

- Craig Hamilton.

23. “The important thing is this: to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

24. “Basically, if the mind stays in the present, it’s impossible to worry.”

- H.E. Davey.

25. “Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.”  

- Walt Whitman.

26. “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

- Martin Luther.

27. “If you want to know how to work through the growing pains in life, start by practicing how to become comfortable with discomfort. That’s the way of the Yogi.”

- Jaima Mavity.

28. “Yoga will always be transformational, even when it stops being cool.”

- Victoria Moran.

29. “Detachment doesn't mean avoiding things and going to the Himalayas. It means doing what is necessary without drowning in it.”

- Sumit Singh.

30. “What I believe in touches many aspects of religious and spiritual thought. Mainly I'm influenced and inspired by the eastern Yogi's aspect of mysticism, which is, I think, the future.”

- Dave Davies.

31. “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

- Amy Ippoliti.

32. “The number of seconds the average person spends in the present moment in a year does not amount to even a single day.”

- Mokokoma Mokhonoana.

33. “Yoga is her favorite superpower.”

- Efrat Cybulkiewicz.

34. “The wound is the place where light enters you.”

- Rumi.

35. “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

- Swami Vivekananda.

36. “I'm a Yogi, not a businessman.”

- Bikram Choudhury.

37. “One of the best ways to start being impatient is to stop meditating.”

- Mokokoma Mokhonoana.

38. “Yoga does not start or end on your mat, but is present in every breath you take.”

- Evita Ochel.

39. “The heart of a Yogi should always bear good-will and thoughts that benefit others.”

- Amit Ray.

40. “Monks are not expected to speak about themselves; the message is important, not the person.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

41. “Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.”

- Samuel Ullman.

42. "Just breathe."

- Jason Kunta.

43. “Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.”

- Jigar Gor.

44. “If a man is to live, he must be all alive, body, soul, mind, heart, spirit.”

- Thomas Merton.

45. “I do not view myself as a psychedelic person but as a Yogi.”

- Peter Max.

46. "The longest journey of any person is the journey inward."

- Kimberly Mikesh.

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

- Cybele Tomlinson.

48. “In the world, there are countless Sadhus, Mahatmas, Mahapurushas, Saints, Yogis, and Walis, though the number of genuine ones is very, very limited.”

- Meher Baba.

49. “Don’t move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move.”

- Osho.

50. “Yoga is a light which once lit will never dim, the better your practice, the brighter your flame.”

- B.K.S. Iyengar.

51. “Silence is not silent. Silence speaks. It speaks most eloquently. Silence is not still. Silence leads. It leads most perfectly.”

- Sri Chinmoy.

52. “We all wish for world peace, but world peace will never be achieved unless we first establish peace within our own minds.”

- Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.

53. “I am what we call a 'Karma Yogi' in Sanskrit. A Karma Yogi is somebody who believes in data. I collect a lot of data.”

- N. R. Narayana Murthy.

54. “In truth, Yoga doesn’t take time – it gives time.”

- Ganga White.

55. “Change only happens in the present moment. The past is already done. The future is just energy and intention.”

- Kino MacGregor.

56. “Fools laugh at others. Wisdom laughs at itself.”

- Osho.

57. “Yoga means addition. Addition of energy, strength and beauty to body, mind and soul.”

- Amit Ray.

58. “Age has no reality except in the physical world.”

- Gabriel García Márquez.

59. “There is a light  in this world.”

- Richard Attenborough.

60. “Yoga is not just repetition of few postures, it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.”

- Amit Ray.

61. “Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible.”

- Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.

62. “Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.”

- Roy T. Bennett.

63. “As you breathe in, cherish yourself. As you breathe out, cherish all beings.”

- Dalai Lama.

64. “Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh.

65. “Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.”

- Kathryn Budig.

66. “Mindfulness helps us to go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh.

67. “God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.”

- Elbert Hubbard.

68. “Step out of the circle of time and into the circle of love.”

- Rumi.

69. “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.

Spiritual Yogi Quotes

The yogic discipline is very spiritual in nature. Yoga is very important for anyone who is embarking on a spiritual journey. To help you realize the profoundness of this journey that few undertake, here are some spiritual Yogi quotes.

70. “When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest state of spiritual union.”

- Lord Krishna.

71. “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.

72. “For a Siddhar Yogi, time is precious.”

― Nandhi Tapas Yogi.

73. “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

74. “The darker the night, the brighter the stars,

The deeper the grief, the closer is God!”

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

75. “The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.”  

- Henri J.M. Nouwen.

76. “Life finds its purpose and fulfillment in the expansion of happiness.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

77. “It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us.”

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

78. “The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime.”

- Sogyal Rinpoche.

79. “Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

80. “Real Peace is always unshakable; Bliss is unchanged by gain or loss.”

- Yogi Bhajan.

81. “When we meditate to expand our consciousness, we perceive reality from an evolved perspective.”

- Nandhi TapasYogi.

82. “When you blame, you open up a world of excuses, because as long as you're looking outside, you miss the opportunity to look inside, and you continue to suffer.”

- Donna Quesada.

83. “Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”

-Hermann Hesse.

84. “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the now the primary focus of your life.”

- Eckhart Tolle.

85. “When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.”

- Stephen Richards.

86. “The only way to spread peace is to have peace inside you.”

- Yogi Vini.

87. “When the breath control is correct, mind control is possible.”

- Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois.

88. “The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can’t be organized or regulated. It isn’t true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth.”

- Ram Dass.

89. “Spiritual process is not about chanting a mantra or closing your eyes, spiritual process is essentially about enhancing your perception.”

- Sadhguru.

90. “Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance.”

- Osho.

91. “You’ll be calm the day you learn to sit alone and do nothing.”

- Maxime Lagacé.

92. “The knowledge from an enlightened person breaks on the hard rocks of ignorance.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

93. “Our greatest opportunities are to let go and surrender to that which is greater than our egoistic needs and desires.”

- Dashama Konah Gordon.

94. “Love is the bridge between you and everything.”

- Rumi.

95. “Don’t try to steer the river.”

- Deepak Chopra.

96. “When you listen to yourself, everything comes naturally. It comes from inside, like a kind of will to do something. Try to be sensitive. That is Yoga.”

- Petri Räisänen.

97. “Problems or successes, they all are the results of our own actions. Karma.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

98. “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”

- The Bhagavad Gita.

99. “Wisdom is knowing we are all One. Love is what it feels like and Compassion is what it acts like.”

- Ethan Walker III.

100. “The kingdom of heaven is like electricity. You don't see it. It is within you.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

101. “Yoga is the unifying art of transforming dharma into action, be it through inspired thought, properly nurturing our children, a painting, a kindness or an act of peace that forever moves humanity forward.”

- Micheline Berry.

102. “This calm steadiness of the senses is called Yoga. Then one should become watchful, because Yoga comes and goes.”

- Katha Upanishad.

103. “The constitution of the universe is total natural law. 'Natural law,' we say from the field of science. 'Will of God,' we say from the field of religion. It's the same thing.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

104. “Religion is a comprehensive concept.”

- Yogi Adityanath.

105. “Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.”

- Bhagavad Gita.

106. “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.

107. “Ego says, 'Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace.' Spirit says, 'Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place.'”

- Marianne Williamson.

108. “Man is lost and is wandering in a jungle where real values have no meaning.”

- Sai Baba.

109. “The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.”

- Henri J.M. Nouwen.

110. “Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”

- Rumi.

111. “The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece.”

- M. Scott Peck.

112. “The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness.”

– Sakyong Mipham.

113. “I think a spiritual journey is not so much a journey of discovery. It’s a journey of recovery. It’s a journey of uncovering your own inner nature. It’s already there.”

- Billy Corgan.

114. “Being spiritual is a far more intelligent way to exist. It means being in tune with the intelligence of the Creator.”

- Sadhguru.

115. “Yoga should be practiced with firm determination and perseverance, without any mental reservation or doubts.”

- Bhagavad Gita.

116. “Whatever we put our attention on will grow stronger in our life.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

117. "Be where you are, not where you think you should be."

- Sammy Aguero.

118. “I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.”

- Rumi.

119. “The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”

- Buddha.

120. “See the light in others and treat them as if that is all you see.”

- Dr. Wayne Dyer.

121. “Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.”

- Rumi.

122. “There is one unity, unified wholeness, total natural law, in the transcendental unified consciousness.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Inspiring Yogi Quotes

To get you going with your yoga practices, here are some inspirational quotes from yogis that you will love.

123. "Yoga began with the first person wanting to be healthy and happy all the time."

- Sri Swami Satchidananda.

124. “That's why it's called a practice. We have to practice a practice if it is to be of value.”

- Allan Lokos.

125. “Watch how your enthusiasm can light up another’s fire. This is how we wake up the world.”

- Amy Ippoliti.

126. “Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force.”

- Franklin D. Roosevelt.

127. “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace & gratitude.”

- Denis Waitley.

128. “Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

- Rumi.

129. “I have faith that God will show you the answer.”

- Nicholas Sparks.

130. “My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”

- Albert Einstein.

131. “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

- C.S. Lewis.

132. “The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.”

- Anais Nin.

133. “I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose.”

- R.J. Anderson.

134. “I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings.”

- Gandhi.

135. “Some of the stuff about Yogi energy is really fascinating.”

- Kathy Acker.

136. “It doesn’t matter what it looks like; it matters what it feels like.”

- Bryan Kest.

137. “Every moment is a fresh beginning.”

- T.S. Eliot.

138. “Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness.”

- Indra Devi.

139. “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.

140. “Yoga science is not just a scholarly pursuit. It is a moment by moment and thought by thoughts practical guide for living.”

- Leonard Perlmutter.

141. “Yoga does not just change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees.”

- B.K.S Iyengar.

142. “To the Yogi, all experience is seen as one, as a means to help him cultivate devotion. All experiences have equal meaning and value.”

- Prem Prakash.

143. “Yoga is not about what you do. It is about how you do it.”

- Adriene Mishler.

144. “Authenticity is not possible without embracing the 'and' within us.”

- Henna Inam.

145. “Yoga is a lifestyle and not just a mere kind of exercise to stay fit and healthy.”

- Anamika Mishra.

146. “Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light.”

- Yogi Bhajan.

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

- Linda Sparrowe.

148. “I have been a seeker and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my soul.”

- Rumi.

149. “Yoga is a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are.”

- Erich Schiffmann.

150. “The reward for doing Yoga well is simple—you work to do a better job at living a fulfilling life.”

- Randal Williams.

151. “I was in Yoga the other day. I was in full lotus position. My chakras were all aligned.”

- Ellen DeGeneres.

152. “Yoga is the fountain of youth. You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.”

- Bob Harper.

153. “Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.”

- Jason Crandell.

154. “The very heart of Yoga practice is ‘abyhasa’ steady effort in the direction you want to go.”

- Sally Kempton.

155. “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this day before.”

- Maya Angelou.

156. “One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity.”

- Steve Maraboli.

157. “Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it…”

- Wilferd Peterson.

158. “Yesterday, I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise so I am changing myself.”

- Rumi.

159. “Yoga calms me down. It’s a therapy session, a workout, and meditation all at the same time!”

- Jennifer Aniston.

160. “I will breathe. I will think of solutions. I will not let my worry control me. I will not let my stress level break me. I will simply breathe and it will be okay because I don’t quit.”

- Shayne McClendon.

161. “I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.”

- St. Thomas Aquinas.

162. “Everyday is an opportunity for a new life. Everyday, you stand at the tipping point of your life. And on any one day, you can change the future – through the way you feel.”

- Rhonda Byrne.

163. “Carve out and claim the time to care for yourself and kindle your own fire.”

- Amy Ippoliti.

164. “I let go attachment-repulsion. I do my duties without seeking rewards.”

- Kumar Anu.

165. “Become a vessel for the divine.”

- Amy Ippoliti.

166. "A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms."

- Mark Kingsley.

167. “Yogis are not against pleasure. It is just that they are unwilling to settle for little pleasures. They are greedy.”

- Sadhguru.

168. “It’s never too late. It’s never too bad. And you’re never too old or too sick to start from scratch once again.”

- Bikram Choudhury.

169. “How hurtful it can be to deny one’s true self and live a life of lies just to appease others.”

- June Ahern.

170. “All of us, at different times of life, are looking for answers. It happened to me a decade ago and led me to the path of wanting to know more. I read Osho, Sadhguru, Deepak Chopra, and Parmananda Yogi. I haven't found the ultimate answer. The journey is the answer.”

- Kirti Kulhari.

171. “I let people make remarks about me, but it doesn't touch me, all those remarks.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

172. “Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being changed. Because you’ve changed, by believing. Once you’ve changed, other things start to follow. Isn’t that the way it works?”

- Diane Duane.

173. “Vijji was not an accomplished Yogi. She did what she did with just the sheer intensity of her emotions.”

- Sadhguru.

174. “It was in 1967, and I was on a spiritual pilgrimage to India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. That was before the Beatles saw him, by the way, when not too many people knew of him. Anyway, I visited the Taj and noticed its wonderful sound.”

- Paul Horn.

175. “I am under no illusion that Yoga is the solution to all issues! That's why I am a very open-minded Yogi.”

- Mandy Ingber.

176. “Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.”

-Jane Goodall.

177. “Just think of any negativity that comes at you as a raindrop falling into the ocean of your bliss.”

- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

178. “The ultimate goal of Yoga is to always observe things accurately, and therefore never act in a way that will make us regret our actions later.”

- T.K.V. Desikachar.

179. “The path of Yoga is the path of self-discovery. As our self-image disintegrates, we contact our true self. Life becomes a great joy.”

- Amrit Desai.

180. “The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.”

- Carl Jung.

181. “The true purpose of Yoga is to discover that aspect of your being that can never be lost.”

- Deepak Chopra.

182. “Yoga is not about self improvement, it’s about self acceptance.”

- Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 180+ powerful yogi quotes, then why not take a look at these yin yang quotes or world peace quotes for more inspirational quotes?