50 Quotes About Meditation and Yoga

EcoSalon’s favorite quotes to meditate on.

We tend to think of meditation in only one way. But life itself is a meditation. –Raul Julia

A good meditation, even when it is interrupted by occasional nodding, is much more beneficial than many outward religious exercises. –Johannes Tauler

My sole literary ambition is to write one good novel, then retire to my hut in the desert, assume the lotus position, compose my mind and senses, and sink into meditation, contemplating my novel. –Edward Abbey

Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way. With yoga, we become aware of how and where we are restricted — in body, mind, and heart — and how gradually to open and release these blockages. As these blockages are cleared, our energy is freed. We start to feel more harmonious, more at one with ourselves. Our lives begin to flow — or we begin to flow more in our lives. Cybele Tomlinson

I mean the whole thing about meditation and yoga is about connecting to the higher part of yourself, and then seeing that every living thing is connected in some way. –Gillian Anderson

If we know the divine art of concentration, if we know the divine art of meditation, if we know the divine art of contemplation, easily and consciously we can unite the inner world and the outer world. –Sri Chinmoy

Meditation is painful in the beginning but it bestows immortal bliss and supreme joy in the end. –Swami Sivananda

Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured. –B.K.S. Iyengar

No great work has ever been produced except after a long interval of still and musing meditation. –Walter Bagehot

Mindful meditation has been discovered to foster the ability to inhibit those very quick emotional impulses. –Daniel Goleman

My workout is my meditation. –Kyle MacLachlan

When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath. Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Generally we waste our lives, distracted from our true selves, in endless activity. Meditation is the way to bring us back to ourselves, where we can really experience and taste our full being. –Sogyal Rinpoche

Meditation is the soul’s perspective glass. –Owen Feltham

Sleep is the best meditation. –Dalai Lama

Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation. –Bhagavad Gita

Meditation is such a more substantial reality than what we normally take to be reality. –Richard Gere

Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it.  Yoga is universal… But don’t approach yoga with a business mind looking for worldly gain. –Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation. –Milarepa

To perform every action artfully is yoga. –Swami Kripalu

There are different things one can do to establish and hasten the peace process. Meditation is one way. –Mike Love

Yoga began with the first person wanting to be healthy and happy all the time. –Sri Swami Satchidananda

The more intense the nature of a man, the more readily will he find meditation, and the more successfully will he practice it. –James Allen

We could say that meditation doesn’t have a reason or doesn’t have a purpose. In this respect it’s unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don’t do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment. –Alan Watts

If you want to find God, hang out in the space between your thoughts. –Alan Cohen

After a few years of meditation practice we can even learn how to occasionally ignore ourselves. And what relief that can be! –Wes Nisker

The first recipe for happiness is: Avoid too lengthy meditation on the past. -Andre Maurois

This life that has been given to us as a gift, as such a precious gift. To really try to understand it, really try to recognize it, is the greatest meditation. Through the media of this Knowledge we can tap into our inner sources that are so beautiful. –Prem Rawat

Through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose. –Eknath Easwaran

I do yoga so that I can stay flexible enough to kick my own arse if necessary. – Betsy Cañas Garmon

All of man’s difficulties are caused by his inability to sit, quietly, in a room by himself. –Blaise Pascal

Some people think that meditation takes time away from physical accomplishment. Taken to extremes, of course, that’s true. Most people, however, find that meditation creates more time than it takes. –Peter McWilliams

When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. –Bhagavad Gita

Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man. –Benjamin Franklin

Sun salutations can energize and warm you, even on the darkest, coldest winter day. –Carol Krucoff

Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. –Buddha

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. –Diana Robinson

Meditation gives us peace of mind without a tranquilizer. And unlike a tranquilizer, the peace of mind that we get from meditation does not fade away. It lasts for good in some corner of the inmost recesses of our aspiring heart. –Sri Chinmoy

Transcendental Meditation has given me a perspective on agitation… That it’s a temporary state of mind and I don’t necessarily need to take it that seriously. I used to think that TM was for weird old hippies… But then I heard that David Lynch was involved, and that made me curious. –Moby

Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace. –Bhagavad Gita

The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren’t enough. –Amy Weintraub

I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind. –Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better, it’s about befriending who we are. –Ani Pema Chodron

If I’m losing balance in a pose, I stretch higher and God reaches down to steady me. It works every time, and not just in yoga. –Terri Guillemets

Don’t just do something – sit there! –Author Unknown

Whatever forms of meditation you practice, the most important point is to apply mindfulness continuously, and make a sustained effort. It is unrealistic to expect results from meditation within a short period of time. What is required is continuous sustained effort. –Dalai Lama

If it weren’t for my mind, my meditation would be excellent. –Ani Pema Chodron

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few. –Shunryu Suzuki

Work is not always required. There is such a thing as sacred idleness. –George MacDonald

The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this lifetime. –Sogyal Rinpoche

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50 Quotes About Meditation And Yoga

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Jessica Marati

Jessica Marati currently resides in New York City and covers travel and sustainability for EcoSalon. Catch her weekly column, Behind the Label.