The inspiring yoga quotes in this blog post are a great reminder of the powerful and wise inner being within us all! Be inspired by them and share them with your students to amplify this truth!What I love most about yoga is that it’s a practice that uses movement and breath to expose the pure light within each of us. As children, we know our Divinity. Yet, we are not often taught, or encouraged, to listen to this inner voice of wisdom. The yoga quotes in this article are a fantastic way to not only end a yoga class, but confidently remind you of the powerful knowing that resides within us all.

As usual, I woke up this morning before anyone else in my household and quietly took a seat for meditation. My mind immediately wanted to give all of my attention to a decision that had to be made today. My thoughts began to scroll through pros and cons of each option, weighing them against opinions and expectations of others.

Yet my heart had already made a decision. I knew what was in my best and highest good. I knew what was best for my spirit, my family, my energy, and my future.

And still I found myself trying to justify this decision. I found myself role-playing the conversations that would ensue to explain my choice.

There I sat, as an observer, watching the calm, serene confidence of my heart wage a mini-battle against the mind’s fear being misunderstood or losing the love of my family.

Thanks to my yoga practice, and the confidence it has cultivated over time to trust my inner guide, I could sit in the discomfort. I was able to watch–in amusement–as my ego tried to regain control of the situation.

And, as I rose from my seat to enter the tasks of my day, I felt clarity. I felt brave for living from the inside out. And, I was energized by the appreciation of this unique life I get to live. Turning inward does this. Yoga leads to this quiet place. And it’s my hope that with these quotes and (some time on the mat) you, too, can rest in this ever-present, all-loving energy that supports you always!

Photo Credit: Indigo Photography

DISCOVER CLARITY

“Calmness of mind does not mean you should stop your activity. Real calmness should be found in activity itself.” —Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

“There is no image you can hold, No thought you can think, That encompasses the Great Self. Your essence is immortal and unchanging, Yet it is the foundation for all that moves. Rest in the shimmering emptiness,That is the source of this world, And remember who you are.” —Lorin Roche, PhD, The Radiance Sutras, 134

“I understand that no one else in the world knows what I should do. The experts don’t know… nor even the folks who love me the most. Because no one has ever lived or will ever live this life I am attempting to live, with my gifts and challenges and past and people. Every life is an unprecedented experiment. This life is mine alone. So I cease to ask other people for directions to places they have never been. I am a pioneer of my own life.” —Glennon Doyle, Untamed

“We have what we seek. It is there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to us.” —Thomas Merton

REST IN YOUR BEING-NESS

“Still the body. Still the mind. And still the voice inside. In the silence, feel the stillness move.” —Kabir

“Seated in your heart and pervading every cell of your body lies a conscious, intelligent awareness. You’re a unique individual because of your temporary, ever-changing body, breath, and mind. The outer layers of yourself surround an inner Divine light of awareness which is called Purusa or Atman, which illuminates truth, and expresses love and compassion.” —Nicholai Bachman, Path of the Yoga Sutras

“My silence, like an expanding sphere, spreads everywhere. My silence spreads like a radio song–above, beneath, left and right–within and without. And my silence spreads like a wildfire of bliss, the dark thickets of sorrow and the tall oaks of pride burn away. My silence, like the ether, passes through everything, carrying the songs of earth, atoms, and stars into the infinite expanse of the Universe.” —Pramahansa Yogananda, Metaphysical Meditations

“Your duty is to be—not to be this or that.” —Sri Ramana Maharshi

QUOTES ON COURAGE

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it! —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“When you find that your soul, your heart, every wisp of inspiration, every speck of the vast blue sky and it’s shining star blossoms, the mountains, the earth, the whippoorwill and the bluebells are tied together with one cord of rhythm, one cord of joy, one cord of unity, and one cord of Spirit, you will know what all are but waves in this Infinite Cosmic sea.” —Pramahansa Yogananda, Metaphysical Meditations

“Meditation teacher Pema Chodron once said that most people quit a meditation practice just when things are starting to get interesting. Which is to say, they quit as soon as things aren’t easy anymore, as soon as it gets painful or boring or agitating. They quit as soon as they see something in their mind that scares them or hurts them. So they miss the good part, the wild part, the transformative part–the part when you push past difficulty and enter into some raw new unexplored universe within yourself.

“And maybe it’s like that with every important aspect of your life. Whatever it is you are pursuing, whatever it is you are seeking, whatever it is you are creating, be careful not to quit too soon. As Pastor Rob Bell warns, ‘Don’t rush through the experiences and circumstances that have the most capacity to transform you.’

“Don’t let go of your courage the moment things stop being easy or rewarding. Because that moment? That’s the moment when interesting begins.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

Photo Credit: Diane Nicole Photography

TRANSFORMATION

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as in being able to remake ourselves.” —Mohandas K Ghanaian

“To be a human being means to be in perpetual becoming. If you are living bravely, your entire life will become a million deaths and rebirths. The goal is not to remain the same, but to live in such a way that each day, year, moment, relationship, conversation and crisis is the material that can be used to become a truer, more beautiful version of yourself. The goal is to surrender, constantly, who you just were in order to become who the next moment calls you to be.” —Glennon Doyle, Untamed

“After one arrives at the summit–a personal transformation of being–after becoming free of fear, doubt, confusion, and self-consciousness, there is one more step to the completion of the journey. You must return to the valley below, to the everyday world.

Who it is that returns is not the same person who began the journey in the first place. The being that comes back is quietness itself, is compassion and wisdom, is the truth of the ages. Whatever humble or elevated position that being holds within the community, he or she becomes a light for others on the path, a statement of the freedom that comes from having touched the top of a mountain.

“The return to everyday life completes the cycle. It is the cycle that brings the spirit to earth and allows the Divine to feed once again on the hopes and aspirations that exist within each human being. This is the way of the Bodhisattva, the maggid, the skayk, the enlightened soul.”  —Ram Dass, The Journey of Awakening

Photo Credit: Ember and Earth Photography

A PRAYER FOR AWARENESS

“Today, Creator of the Universe, we ask that you open our hearts and open our eyes so that we can enjoy all of your creations and live in eternal love with you. Help us see you in everything we perceive with our eyes, with our ears, with our heart, and with all our senses. Let us perceive with the eyes of love so that we find you wherever we go and see you in everything we create.

Let us see you in every cell of our body, in every motion of our mind, in every dream, in every flower, in every person we meet. You cannot hide from us because you are everywhere, and we are only one with you. Let us be aware of this truth.

Let us be aware of our power to create a life where everything is possible. Help us use our imagination to guide the direction of our life, the magic of our creation, so we can live without fear, without anger, without jealousy, without envy.

Give us a light to follow, and let today be the day that our search for happiness and love is over. Today, let something extraordinary happen that will change our life forever. Let everything we say and do be an expression of the beauty in our heart, always based on love.

Help us to be the way that you are, to love the way you love, to share the way you share, to create a masterpiece of beauty and love, the same way that all of your creations are masterpieces of beauty and love. Beginning today, and gradually over time, help us increase the power of our love so that we may create a masterpiece of art — our own life. Today, Creator, we give you all of our appreciation and love because you have given us life.

And so it is.”  —Don Miguel Ruiz,The Mastery of Love

Photo Credit: Indigo Photography

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

You are a magnificent, radiant spiritual being living a magnificent human experience. The yoga quotes above remind you of this! Allow them to uplift your spirit today, and share them with your students on the mat!

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