Have you settled in for a luxurious savasana and had your teacher read a life-changing quote aloud? Has a poem or short story left you elated, inspired, and more connected to your true self? In this blog post, I reveal some of my favorite quotes to end a yoga class. You can use them in conjunction with savasana or your closing ritual. Or, you can pair them with a class theme to amplify their power.

A few months back I took a class at The Yoga Shack in Sarasota, Florida. The teacher read a Mark Neppo quote–one you’ll find below–out of his book, Things that Join the Sea and the Sky. At the time, there were so many moving parts in my world. A husband who was immobile. An entire bathroom out of order, leaving holes in both the bathroom and dining room floors where plumbing repairs were underway. And, a large project at hand with a looming deadline.

In the external chaos, it was easy to be distracted. I was often pulled off-course and interrupted from my daily routine. This quote reminded me of the power in our attention, and how showing up on the yoga mat transforms our perception of ourselves and our world one breath at a time. I was reminded that I have the power to shift my focus at any moment of any day. And, to take back my power to do so!

It’s with Neppo’s writing, and these other great quotes to end a yoga class, that I hope you, too, will more fully embrace the magic and potential that is your true nature. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Ember and Earth

SPIRITUALITY QUOTES

“The highest spiritual practice is self-observation without judgment.” – Swami Kripalu

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi

“Spirituality is the deep human longing to experience the transcendent in our ordinary life–it’s the expectation to experience the extraordinary in the ordinary, the miraculous in the mundane, and the sacred camouflaged in the profane.” – Pittman McGhee, Jungian analyst, Episcopal priest, and author

“As you find the truth, you will find it in support of all existence. You will find it in every rock and tree, feel it in every song and smile, recognize it in the light behind every eye, shining toward you until you no longer refuse to see.” – Unknown

“When there is silence, once finds the anchor of the Universe within oneself.” – Lao Tzu

“Breathe, movement will come. Move, stillness will arrive. Melt, form will evolve. Be, the door will open.” – Unknown

BE YOURSELF QUOTES

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you someone else is a great accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” – Carl Jung

“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort. It’s choosing what’s right over what’s fun, fast, or easy, and it’s practicing your values–not just professing them.” – Brene Brown

“For all of these years, you’ve lived under the illusion that, somehow, you made it because you were tough enough to overpower the abuse, the hatred, the hard knocks of life. But really you made it because love is so powerful that tiny little doses of it are enough to overcome the pain of the worst thing life can dish out.” – Rachel Reiland

“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true friends; Be kind anyway. What you spent years building, someone could destroy it overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do you good anyway. Give the world your best anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”  – Mother Theresa

“Grounded confidence is the messy process of learning and unlearning, practicing and failing, and surviving a few misses. This brand of confidence is not blustery arrogance or posturing or build on BS; it’s real, solid, and build on self-awareness and practice. Once we witness how courage can transform the way we live, we can trade the limitations that keep us small for grounded confidence that lifts us up and supports our efforts to be brave.” – adapted from Brene Brown, Dare to Lead

Photo Credit: Casey Brooke Photography

PERCEPTION QUOTE

“Whenever we feel burdened and lost, or fragmented and bereft, the strength of our attention is a way back to feeling vital and alive. What this means is that as water will fill any holes, life force will fill us and animate us, if we can release our full attention. It doesn’t matter to what, just that we try one more time to be completely present and hold nothing back.

The oldest tools of presence are holding and listening. These are the instruments of attention that never seem to fail. When we can attend whatever is before us, we become immersed. And no one can be immersed without being brought alive.

There you have it. As far away as care might seem, we only have to cross the barrier of our weariness to begin again. Still, it can seem impossible when weighed down.

That’s when we need the attention of others, to be curious when we’re numb, to bring us water when we think we can’t drink, and to feed us wonder when we think there’s none left in the world. As a cut will heal, the strength of our attention will mend a cut in or our outlook, if we give ourselves to life again. – Mark Neppo

THE INVITATION

It doesn’t interest me what do you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart is longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk of looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals, or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.  Can you sit with pain, mine or your own, without being moved to hide it or feed it or fix it?

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you were telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you could be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the moon, “yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me, and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else fades away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the quiet moments of stillness.”

– Oriah Mountain Dreamer

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

As a yoga professional, you have the power to uplift and inspire your community on a regular basis. These quotes to end a yoga class can amplify your ability to do that. And,  it can remind you–and your students–of the immense power within!

Take Action Now:

  1. Download the PDF that contains these amazing quotes, so you can bring them to class easily
  2. Check out the amazing authors of these quotes, including Mark Neppo, Brene Brown, and Lao Tzu.
  3. Set 10-15 minutes aside this week to meditate on one of these quotes! Your own high vibration can positively impact those around you!