Once you don the yoga uniform (lycra pants with some dizzying pattern) and start spending serious time on the mat, your attitude changes. You start seeing yoga woven into your life.
There’s Tree Pose at the park, Warrior Pose when you need some courage, and a timely reminder to breathe in compassion, exhale the chaos when you’re stuck behind the jerk with 22 items in the 10 or fewer express line.
When you read a really awesome quote from literature, you see the subtle yogic correlation in that, too. Here are 12 quotes from literature that are (secretly) about yoga…
1.
Because once you’ve gotten past your fear of falling, and nailed some ridiculously tough asanas, you realize anything is indeed possible. Side Crow? A cinch for you, yoga master.
2.
Yoga teaches us to respect all people, regardless of our differences. Those heart-opening sequences work on the body and soul.
3.
This is our plea to yoga, because the more we surrender to the practice, the more we understand that it’s all we need. We are free from all other earthly entanglements, trinkets, and tangible treasures.
4.
We learn to nurture ourselves with the yoga practice. In that act of self-love, we become the best versions of ourselves, and are able to gift that beauty to those around us.
5.
Humility. It happens when we meet our limitations on the mat. And just as we fancy ourselves yoga gods and goddesses, Kino MacGregor shows up to show us just how much we have to learn.
6.
Yoga helps us accept life as it is, and ourselves as we are. Therefore we do not feel the need to hide behind lies. We are fearless and free, unencumbered by the opinions of others.
7.
We are uniquely awesome, and wonderfully radiant. As we tap into our souls during yoga and meditation, our perspective shifts and we begin to see the beauty that’s hidden behind our adorned layers.
8.
Yoga teaches us to reach inside ourselves, to explore beneath the surface, and to tame our thoughts. Pranayama, meaning “to extend the vital life force,” is the breathwork we use to transform our breathing and state of mind simultaneously.
9.
The stresses of life may bring us to our mat — the place where we can literally lay it all down. And when we arise, we are stronger in body and spirit.
10.
Yoga teaches us to look forward to aging, to the movement of life, and the dance of time. There were birthdays I spent lamenting the past, but yoga has taught me to instead be grateful and expectant. Each day I learn and grow, and therefore, life gets better.
11.
Be here now. It’s a mantra I pull out when I find myself stressing about something beyond this moment — some deadline that’s looming or bill coming due. I remind myself that all I really have is this moment. Nothing else matters. Honor time.
12.
Gratitude. Need I say more?
At first glance, these quotes from literature don’t seem to have anything at all to do with yoga. But as we delve more deeply into our yogic experience, we see that everything we do and all that exists in our world is connected to yoga. Life becomes an amazing adventure, with yoga woven through every aspect like a luminous thread.
What quotes inspire you? Share with us below!
