B K S Iyengar Quotes

#1. In yoga . . . many may take one path as a key in order to experience self-realisation while others take another path, but I say that there is absolutely no difference between the various practices of yoga." - B. K. S. Iyengar, The Tree of Yoga, p. 15

Georg Feuerstein

#2. Feeling the movement of movements is wandering to the past or future. Living in the movements of movement is being in the present.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#3. As the trunk is one but the branches are many, yoga is one but adaptations may vary.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#4. As a mighty river which when properly harnessed by dams and canals, creates a vast reservoir of water, prevents famine and provides abundant power for industry; so also the mind, when controlled, provides a reservoir of peace and generates abundant energy for the human uplift.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#5. But a yogi never forgets that health must begin with the body. Your body is the child of the soul. You must nourish and train your child. Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills. It has to be earned through sweat.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#6. During inhalation, the breath should move exactly like the clouds which are spreading in the sky.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#8. Life without tapas, is like a heart without love.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#9. 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.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#10. Asanas keep your body, as well as your mind, healthy and active

B.K.S. Iyengar

#11. When the mind is controlled and still what remains is the soul

B.K.S. Iyengar

#12. There is a universal reality in ourselves that aligns us with a universal reality that is everywhere.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#13. Yoga is firstly for individual growth, but through individual growth, society and community develop.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#14. Life itself seeks fulfillment as plants seek sunlight.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#16. Our greed comes from our fear that we will not have enough - whether it is money or love that we grasp. Yoga teaches us to let go of these fears and so to realize the abundance around us and within us.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#17. How can you know God if you don't know your big toe?

B.K.S. Iyengar

#18. If you open the armpits, the brain becomes light. You cannot brood or become depressed.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#19. Awareness must be like the rays of the sun: extending everywhere, illuminating all.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#20. The whole thrust of yogic philosophical and scientific inquiry has therefore been to examine the nature of being, with a view to learning to respond to the stresses of life without so many tremors and troubles.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#22. Not all practitioners can jump to that highest level. They have to climb, step by step from the physical sphere to reach the spiritual sphere. If it is treated as exercise it is not the fault of yoga but of the practitioners.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#23. When we free ourselves from physical disabilities, emotional disturbances, and mental distractions, we open the gates to our soul.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#24. To do is hard, but to teach is still harder. Do not teach only to teach. Teach to improve the pupil. To be a teacher requires tremendous, vigorous discipline on oneself. We are teachers because somebody demands it from us. But the teacher should first rub his own self, and teach afterwards

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#26. When you are practicing, do not just do that for the sake of doing. Learn to reflect while you are practising. Make your mind and brain observe and relearn what you are doing. Doing is mechanical; learning is dynamic.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#27. We can rise above our limitations, only once we recognize them.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#28. The material body has a practical reality that is accessible. It is here and now, and we can do something with it. However, we must not forget that the innermost part of our being is also trying to help us. It wants to come out to the surface and express itself.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#29. Yoga releases the creative potential in life.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#31. Knowledge of yoga is no substitute for practice.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#32. In whatever you are doing, be one: body, soul, mind. Do it beautifully and with purity.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#33. 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.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#34. After a session of yoga, the mind becomes tranquil and passive.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#35. As we explore the soul, it is important to remember that this exploration will take place within nature (the body), for that is where and what we are.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#36. Our Parusa or Universal Soul is an abiding reality. It is logical, but remains conceptual to our minds under we experience it;s realization within ourselves.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#37. 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.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#38. By persistent and sustained practice, anyone and everyone can make the yoga journey and reach the goal of illumination and freedom.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#39. The physical body is not only a temple for our soul, but the means by which we embark on the inward journey toward the core.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#40. You do not need to seek freedom in a different land, for it exists with your own body, heart, mind, and soul.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#41. The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#42. True concentration is an unbroken thread of awareness.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#43. The mind is the king of the senses, and the breath is the king of the mind

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#47. Practice doing yoga with an innocent mind. Then, you will be able to cognize the things happening in your body

B.K.S. Iyengar

#48. Yoga is an interior penetration leading to integration of being, senses, breath, mind, intelligence, consciousness, and Self. It is definitely an inward journey, evolution through involution, toward the Soul, which in turn desires to emerge and embrace you in its glory.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#49. We often fool ourselves that we are concentrating because we fix our attention on wavering objects.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#51. I can remain thoughtfully thoughtless, It is not an empty mind.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#52. It took me whole decades to appreciate the depth and true value of yoga. Sacred texts supported my discoveries, but it was not they that signposted the way. What I learned through yoga, I found out through yoga.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#53. When stability becomes a habit, maturity and clarity follow.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#54. It is not yoga that injures, but the way one does yoga that leads to injury.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#55. 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.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#57. Do not live in the future, only the present is real

B.K.S. Iyengar

#58. First yoga deals with health, strength and conquest of the body. Next, it lifts the veil of difference between the body and the mind. Lastly, it leads the Sadhaka to peace and unalloyed purity.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#59. To my father, Bellur Krishnamachar, my mother, Seshamma, and my birthplace, Bellur

B.K.S. Iyengar

#60. As long as you do not live totally in the body, you do not live totally in the Self.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#62. The pose begins when you want to leave it.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#63. A good teacher helps you explore the maximum.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#64. Without education, confidence does not come.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#65. 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.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#66. 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.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#68. Giving does not impoverish us nor does withholding enrich us.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#69. Training of the mind and body leads to awareness of the soul

B.K.S. Iyengar

#70. It is while practicing yoga asanas that you learn the art of adjustment.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#71. Life means to be living.Problems will always be there. When they arise navigate through them with yoga- don't take a break.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#72. 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.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#73. Asana done from the brain makes one heavy and done from the heart makes one light.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#74. Don't practice for cosmetic beauty, practice for cosmic beauty. Practice for inner beauty and inner light.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#75. When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#76. People remind me of my age, but while practicing I am beyond my body and its age.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#77. Move from the known to the unknown.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#78. The battle of yoga is with the body and with the ego. You must conquer your ego, or small self, so that you can let your soul, your big Self, be victorious.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#79. Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#81. Yoga is the method by which the restless mind is calmed And the energy directed into constructive channels.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#82. The aim of yoga is to calm the chaos of conflicting impulses

B.K.S. Iyengar

#83. You exist without the feeling of existence.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#84. In forward bends, one uses the outer mind while in backbends the outer mind is silenced and the inner mind is made to work.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#85. Yoga is effort. Only practice is important. The rest of knowledge is only theory.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#86. Action is movement with intelligence. The world is filled with movement. What the world needs is more conscious movement, more action.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#88. Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you have to choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it

B.K.S. Iyengar

#89. Is it necessary to practice all these asanas, further and further? Is it necessary to develop scientific researches further and further? To a yogi, the body is a laboratory, a field of experiments and perpetual researches.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#91. The highest point of yesterday should be the lowest point of today

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#93. The union of nature and soul removes the veil of ignorance that covers our intelligence.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#94. The body has to be invaded by the intelligence; each part has to become intelligent.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#96. One's spiritual realization lies in none other than how one walks among and interacts with one's fellow beings.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#97. To be dull is easy,
to be active requires
tremendous work.

B.K.S. Iyengar

#98. Yoga is the music of the soul. So do continue, and the gates of the soul will open.

B.K.S. Iyengar

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

B.K.S. Iyengar

#100. Willpower is nothing but willingness to do.

B.K.S. Iyengar