Top 250 B.K.S. Iyengar Quotes (2024 Update)
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151. “When the mind is controlled and still what remains is the soul.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

152. “As long as you do not live totally in the body, you do not live totally in the Self.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

153. “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

154. “The supreme adventure in a man’s life is his journey back to his Creator.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

155. “Asanas penetrate deep into each layer of the body and ultimately into the consciousness itself.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

156. “Samadhi is an opportunity to encounter our imperishable Self before the transient vehicle of body disappears, as in the cycle of nature, it surely must.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

157. “There is a universal reality in ourselves that aligns us with a universal reality that is everywhere.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

158. “One’s spiritual realization lies in none other than how one walks among and interacts with one’s fellow beings.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

159. “You exist without the feeling of existence.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

160. “We need sound bodies so we can develop sound minds.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

161. “The needs of the body are the needs of the divine spirit which lives through the body.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

162. “If you open the armpits, the brain becomes light. You cannot brood or become depressed.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

163. “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.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

164. “Fear and fatigue block the mind. Face both, then courage and confidence flows into you.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

165. “The breath must be enticed or cajoled, like catching a horse in a field, not by chasing after it, but by standing still with an apple in one’s hand.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

166. “Yoga uses the body to discipline the mind and to reach the soul.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

167. “The union of nature and soul removes the veil of ignorance that covers our intelligence.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

168. “The Yogi conquers the body by the practice of asanas, making the body a fit vehicle for the spirit. The Yogi knows that it is a necessary vehicle for the spirit, for a soul without a body is like a bird deprived of its power to fly.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

169. “People remind me of my age, but while practicing I am beyond my body and its age.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

170. “I can remain thoughtfully thoughtless, It is not an empty mind.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

171. “A good teacher helps you explore the maximum.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

172. “As animals, we walk the earth. As bearers of divine essence, we are among the stars. As human beings, we are caught in the middle, seeking to reconcile the paradox of how to make our way upon earth while striving for something more permanent and more profound.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

173. “To master fear is the most important battle to win.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

174. “After a session of yoga, the mind becomes tranquil and passive.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

175. “We are a little piece of continual change, looking at an infinite quantity of continual change.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

176. “The supreme adventure in a man’s life is his journey back to his Creator. To reach the goal he needs well developed and co-ordinated functioning of his body, senses, mind, reason and Self.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

177. “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

178. “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

179. “Yoga is a means and an end.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

180. “Approach each asana with freshness every day.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

181. “Without education, confidence does not come.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

182. “Yoga is more than physical. It is cellular, mental, intellectual and spiritual-it involves man in his entire being.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

183. “Firmness in the body leads to firmness in the nervous system.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

184. “I don’t bring yesterday’s poses to today’s practice. I know yesterday’s poses, but when I practice today I become a beginner. I don’t want yesterday’s experience. I want to see what new understanding may come in addition to what I felt up to now.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

185. “Activity and passivity must go together in asanas.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

186. “The yogi uses all his resources – physical, economic, mental or moral – to alleviate the pain and suffering of others. He shares his strength with the weak until they become strong. He shares his courage with those who are timid until they become brave by his example. He denies the maxim ‘survival of the fittest’, but makes the weak strong enough to survive. He comes a shelter to one and all.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

187. “If everyone practiced yoga, pharmacies would have to close.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

188. “If we become aware of its limitations and compulsions, we can transcend them.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

189. “Give more than you receive. That is the principle I tell all my students.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

190. “The body has to be invaded by the intelligence; each part has to become intelligent.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

191. “Asana has two facets, pose and repose. Pose is the artistic assumption of a position. ‘Reposing in the pose’ means finding the perfection of a pose and maintaining it, reflecting in it with penetration of the intelligence and with dedication.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

192. “We must create a marriage between the awareness of the body and that of the mind. When two parties do not cooperate, there is unhappiness on both sides.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

193. “What I was is unimportant, what I am now is important.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

194. “Learning is as much an art as teaching.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

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

— B.K.S. Iyengar

196. “An opening is like a doorway, and there is no such thing as a doorway that you can only go through one way. Yes, we are trying to penetrate in, but what is trying to come out to meet us? It.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

197. “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

198. “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.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

199. “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

200. “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.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar