B.K.S. Iyengar Quotes

People say that steadiness of mind is an end; no, it is a beginning. I am there; I can explain everything up to that point. Then I struggle to discover what comes after, so this steadiness is not an end, it is the beginning and the instrument.

Regarding perfection, that's a very difficult question. I can say that I have superseded most in my sadhana [practice]. I am in it, and my mind and my intelligence gets better in my sadhana, and it reaches a certain place. When I stretch, I stretch in such a way that my awareness moves, and a gate of awareness finally opens... My body is a laboratory, you can say. I don't stretch my body as if it is an object. I do yoga from the self towards the body, not the other way around.

Yoga is the golden key that unlocks the door to peace, tranquility and joy.

Yoga is the rule book for playing the game of Life, but in this game no one needs to lose. It is tough, and you need to train hard. It requires the willingness to think for yourself, to observe and correct, and to surmount occasional setbacks. It demands honesty, sustained application, and above all love in your heart.

The yogi cannot be afraid to die, because he has brought life to every cell of his body. We are afraid to die, because we are afraid we have not lived. The yogi has lived.

Focus on keeping your spine straight. It is the job of the spine to keep the brain alert.

Asanas keep your body, as well as your mind, healthy and active

As a well cut diamond has many facets, each reflecting a different color of light, so does the word yoga, each facet reflecting a different shade of meaning and revealing different aspects of the entire range of human endeavor to win inner peace and happiness.

Learning is as much an art as teaching

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

Sometimes our body is willing, but our mind is weak. Sometimes our mind is willing, but our body is weak. Do not be afraid. Strive to extend your capacity but do not be disappointed with yourself. What does not challenge us, cannot change us.

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.

Move from the known to the unknown.

Yoga is meant for the purification of body and its exploration as well as for the refinement of the mind.

When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the Spirit within himself finds fulfillment.

If everyone practiced yoga, pharmacies would have to close.

There is only one reality, but there are many ways that reality can be interpreted.

Anything physical is always changing, therefore, its reality is not constant, not eternal.

Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits. Similarly, from a healthy person, smiles and happiness shine forth like the rays of the sun.

Nothing can be forced, receptivity is everything.

It is never too late in life to practice yoga

If you balance in the Present, you are living in Eternity

I am standing on my own altar; The poses are my prayers.

One day you too may experience what I have experienced. So right away go and practise.

Do not allow past experiences to be imprinted on your mind. Perform asana each time with a fresh mind and with a fresh approach.

Backbends are not poses meant for expressionism. Backbends are meant to understand the back parts of our bodies. The front body can be seen with the eyes, but the back body can only be felt. That's why I say these are the most advanced postures, where the mind begins to look at the back.

The practice of asanas purges the body of its impurities, bringing strength, firmness, calm, and clarity of mind.

Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.

Giving does not impoverish us nor does withholding enrich us.

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.

Change leads to disappointment if it is not sustained. Transformation is sustained change, and it is achieved through practice.

If you can adapt to and balance in a world that is always moving and unstable, you learn how to become tolerant to the permanence of change and difference.

Pranayama teaches the aspirant to regulate his breathing and thereby control the mind.

Health begins with firmness in the body, deepens to emotional stability, then leads to intellectual clarity, wisdom and finally the unveiling of the soul.

A lamp does not flicker in a place where no wind blows; so it is with a yogi, who controls his mind, intellect and self, being absorbed in the spirit within him.

Balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life.

Extension brings space, space brings freedom, freedom brings precision. Precision is truth.

The body is the prop for the soul. So why not let the body be propped by a wall or a block?

By drawing our senses of perception inward, we are able to experience the control, silence, and quietness of the mind.

Life without tapas, is like a heart without love.

Happy is the man who knows how to distinguish the real from the unreal, the eternal from the transient and the good from the pleasant by his discrimination and wisdom.

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

Any action done with beauty and purity, and in complete harmony of body, mind and soul, is Art.

As breath stills our mind, our energies are free to unhook from the senses and bend inward.

I think overall the majority of people who are practicing it as a subject are following the right line. For the aberration, don't blame yoga or the whole community of yogis

You must be as joyful when you fail again and again as you are joyful when you succeed. It is often when you fail that you move toward the goal without being aware of it. You must feel joy even when you have not fully succeeded but only moved toward achievement of your goal.

If the foundation is firm the building can withstand calamities. The practice of yoga is the foundation so that the self is not shaken under any circumstances.

Asanas maintain the strength and health of the body, without which little progress can be made. Asanas keep the body in harmony with nature