B.K.S. Iyengar Quotes

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

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

Look after the root of the tree, and the fragrant flower and luscious fruits will grow by themselves. Look after the health of the body, and the fragrance of the mind and richness of the spirit will follow.

Life without tapas, is like a heart without love.

Yes, flexibility of body and physical perfection for Yogasana is important.

However more important is the state of your mind, Meditative mind. Your flexibility might be excellent but if your mind is not attentive, you are merely doing some physical exercise, not Yoga.

Backbends are to be felt more than expressed.

The other postures can be expressed and then felt. Like in meditation each person has to feel backbends.

Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.

I also say with backbends, you have to be cautiously bold.

Not carelessly bold. You have to descend to the dictation of the spine. You cannot command from the brain to do the poses. As you play with a child, guarding the child from injuries, similarly you have to play in backbends, guarding your spine.

Change is not something that we should fear.

Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they're meant to be.

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

Before peace between the nations, we have to find peace inside that small nation which is our own being.

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.

Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit.

You must fill every inch of your body with the asana from your chest and arms and legs to the tips of your fingers and toes so that the asana radiates from the core of your body and fills the entire diameter and circumference of your limbs. You must feel your intelligence, your awareness, and your consciousness in every inch of your body.

When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God.

When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world.

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.

It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.

There is no progress toward ultimate freedom without transformation, and this is the key issue in all lives.

As a fire blazes brightly when the covering of ash over it is scattered by the wind, the divine fire within the body shines in all its majesty when the ashes of desire are scattered by the practice of pranayama.

Don't practice for cosmetic beauty, practice for cosmic beauty.

Practice for inner beauty and inner light.

In whatever position one is in, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance. Balance is the state of the present - the here and now. If you balance in the present, you are living in Eternity.

Regular practise of yoga can help you face the turmoil of life with steadiness and stability

We are creatures that are designed for continual challenge.

We must grow or we begin to die....So just standing still isn't really an option. We have to move on. If not, disturbances will come.

Life itself seeks fulfillment as plants seek sunlight.

Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit.

When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.

When an asana is done correctly the body movements are smooth, there is lightness in the body and freedom in the mind.

Do not aim low, you will miss the mark. Aim high and you will be on a threshold of bliss.

Yoga allows you to find an inner peace that is not ruffled and riled by the endless stresses and struggles of life.

It is through your body that you realize you are a spark of divinity.

You do not need to seek freedom in some distant land, for it exists within your own body, heart, mind, and soul.

The best way to overcome fear is to face with equanimity the situation of which one is afraid.

Approach each asana with freshness every day.

The light that Yoga sheds on life is something special.

It is transformative. It does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees.

Abhyasa (practice) is a dedicated, unswerving, constant, and vigilant search into a chosen subject pursued against all odds in the face of repeated failures, for indefinitely long periods of time.

The brain is the hardest part of the body to adjust in asanas.

The art of teaching is tolerance. Humbleness is the art of learning.

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

This practice of yoga is to remove the weeds from the body so that the garden can grow.

Keep your attention internal, not external, not worrying about what others see, but what the Self sees.

It is through the body that everything comes to the mind.

It is through and with your body that you have to reach realization of being a spark of divinity. How can we neglect the temple of the spirit?

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.

The lotus grows in muddy waters but this flower does not show any trace of it: So we have to live in the world.

If you have the right mind, your body can do anything.

Everybody should live quietly whether his experiences are happy or sad, whether they are successes or failures. That is contentment.

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

Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions.

As leaves move in the wind, your mind moves with your breath.

Health is not a commodity to be bargained for. It has to be earned through sweat.

As each individual is electrically alive and dynamic, so yoga is a living, dynamic force in life. In order to savor its essence, one needs a religiously attentive dynamic practice done with awareness and absorption.