101 Perfect Quotes For A Quote Themed Yoga Class  

Quote Weaving

There are millions of quotes you can choose from. I love using quotes as quick & easy yoga class themes. Sometimes it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it’s ok to find a quote you like and use that as your yoga class theme.

Just make sure you weave the quote into your yoga class lots of times during the class.

Don’t just mention the quote once at the beginning of the class.

Repeat the quote over and over and over again and over again. It’s impossible to say your quote too many times during a class.The quote becomes a mantra. And mantras need repetition for them to gain sticking power.

101 Quotes You Can Use For A Quote Themed Yoga Class

General Yoga Quotes 

“You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.”

“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”

“When asked what gift he wanted for his birthday, the Yogi replied: “I wish no gifts, only presence.”

“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.”

~ Hatha Yoga Pradipika

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

~ B.K.S. Iyengar

“Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.”  ~  Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois

“If I’m losing balance in a pose, I stretch higher and spirit reaches down to steady me. It works every time, and not just in yoga.”

“Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.”  ~ Baxter Bell  

“Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight or flight mode.”  ~ Melanie Haiken

Bhagavad Gita Quotes

The Bhagavad Gita is the distilled spiritual essence of Vedas and Upanishads. It was written in approximately 4000-5000 B.C.

“Action should culminate in wisdom.” ~ Bhagavad Gita

“Established in Self-Realization, one is not moved even by the greatest calamity.” ~ Bhagavad Gita

“Today I have described the same ancient science to you, because you are my sincere devotee and friend. Karma-yoga is a supreme secret indeed.” ~ Bhagavad Gita

“The pleasure one enjoys from [spiritual] practice results in cessation of sorrow.” ~ Bhagavad Gita

“The wise should work without attachment, for the welfare of the society.” ~ Bhagavad Gita

When you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you life in the wisdom of the Self.”~ Bhagavad Gita

Emotional IQ Quotes 

“A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor.” ~ Nathan Gilkarov

I wrote a blog in 2012 about eustress which is perfect for this quote – the blog post has a free downloadable Eustress yoga class handout. Eustress is good stress. Good stress gives you a feeling of fulfilment or other positive feelings. It is a process of growing mentally, emotionally and spiritually. By changing your perception of stress (mindset), you can instantly change any stress you feel into GOOD stress. Instead of viewing the stress as bad, you have the option of morphing it into a life challenge to embrace and tackle head on.

“Peace is every step. The shining red sun is my heart.  Each flower smiles with me. How green, how fresh all that grows. How cool the wind blows. Peace is every step. It turns the endless path to joy.” 

~  Thich Nhat Hanh

This quote is a wonderful reminder to your students of the importance of allowing peace into their hearts with every step and every breath. Peace isn’t something you earn…it is your biological birthright.

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” –  Chinese Proverb

Climate change is an epic subject and rightfully so. This quote is perfect if you have a Peak Pose themed yoga class with tree pose.

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” –  Buddha

This quote is perfect if you bring a candle to class and get everyone in a circle holding hands. Then simply repeat this quote over and over and over again as a mantra as your students gaze at the candle.

“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” –  Wayne Dyer

It’s very easy to get caught up on life’s ‘outside’ challenges. This quote will remind your students they still have control on the ‘inside’.

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men (and women) are afraid of the light.” – Plato

Hmmm, I personally think this is a really powerful quote.

It’s similar to this quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most.“

Plato’s quote can be interpreted many ways. And each time I read it, it will have a different meaning for me. Right now, the meaning welling up from the inner depths is not being afraid of the TRUTH in all it’s magnificent unpleasantness.

For example it’s TRUTH (to me) that killing billions of cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, fish and other farmed animals each year is causing the 6th mass extinction in Planet Earth’s 4.5 billion year history. The Meat & Diary industry causes more climate change than the transportation industry. Before humans came along there had been 5 mass extinction events in Earth’s history. In the worst one, 250 million years ago, 96 percent of marine species and 70 percent of land species died off. It took millions of years to recover. Nowadays, many scientists have compelling evidence that humans have started the Planet’s 6th mass extinction. Quotes like these allow us yoga teachers to gently slip in monumental Planetary issues (e.g. climate change, bullying, etc) under the radar. I never preach to my students. But I’m not afraid of offering them the “truth” (e.g. awareness of the 6th mass extinction so they have the knowledge/awareness to make changes (if they want to).

Dr Seuss Quotes 

Humour allows your “yoga class theme” to melt into your student’s DNA. Here are some of my Dr Seuss favourites…

“And will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)” – Dr Seuss

Everyone knows that there are no 100% guarantees in life, but sometimes we humans forget this. If success was 100% guaranteed it would be a dull world indeed.

“Be who YOU are and say what YOU feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr Seuss

This is important for you as a yoga teacher – be the yoga teacher YOU are and not the yoga teacher who trained you…or a yoga teacher you admire. It’s better to be an imperfect version of YOU than a pastiche (imitator) of another yoga teacher. And for your students, repeating this quote during the class will remind them of their wondrousness in all it’s flaws and warts.

“From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.” – Dr Seuss

We all know that life can become a wee bit serious. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time for being serious. There are many issues that I take seriously (e.g. climate change, bullying in any form, animal cruelty…especially any animal that has the horror of finding itself in a factory farm). This quote helps to remind ourselves not to take ourselves too seriously (though, by all means take serious ‘issues’ seriously).

“If you never did you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.” – Dr Seuss

Everyone knows it’s good to try new things in life. This Dr Seuss quote could have a double meaning as a yoga class theme. Your students will be reminded to try new things. The quote could also represent a peak pose themed yoga class (a challenging peak pose that your students aren’t used to, or have never practiced before).

“Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky!” – Dr Seuss

Just being alive is outrageously lucky. You had to beat approximately 40 million to 1.2 billion sperm cells to reach your mum’s egg. This will help to remind your students to tell themselves, “Duckie, I’m really quite lucky.”

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.” – Dr Seuss

Moments whizz by, and 99.9% of them go by under-valued and under-appreciated. Yoga helps raise our awareness. And it’s awareness that helps us to see the value of teeny tiny moments (e.g. sound of birds chirping, sitting in silence, stroking your dog). The problem is that most of us only value BIG moments (e.g. going on a holiday, buying a house, getting a new job). This attachment to BIG moments as the only source of value, is one of the untold tragedies of our age. Only appreciating and valuing BIG moments is tantamount to giving away 99.9% of life.

“Today you are YOU, that is TRUER than true. There is NO ONE alive who is YOUER than YOU!”

– Dr Seuss

Repeating this quote during the class will remind your students of their wondrousness in all it’s flaws and warts.

“You are YOU. Now, isn’t that pleasant?” – Dr Seuss

Practicing Yoga over weeks, months and years helps students become comfortable in their own skin. Each time you step on a Yoga mat, you are YOU. Now, isn’t that pleasant.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Dr Seuss

Life is simple really. You just have to know where it is you want to go.

Online Yoga Lesson Planner

If you’re fed up with taking so long with your yoga lesson planning take a peek at my Online Yoga Lesson Planner.