7 yoga quotes that offer inspirational stories about teamwork, effort, selflessness, peace

For individuals learning the yoga basics, the first thing to know – or one of the first, anyway – is that it always helps to have a little mental inspiration when doing your yoga routine. That is not to say that you always have to have inspirational stories about teamwork or triumph in your head. But it couldn't hurt to occasionally read some inspirational quotes and get yourself in a profound state of mind.

Here is a list of a few such quotes, some yoga-related, some not, many taken from community discussions at Yoga Magazine and Yoga Journal. These apothegms, maxims, truisms, mottoes and remarks may plant themselves in your consciousness, flowering when the time is right.

1. "This calm steadiness of the senses is called yoga. Then one should become watchful, becomes yoga comes and go." -The Upanishads

2. "I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures." -Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

3. "Yoga exists in the world because everything is linked." -Desikashar

4. "Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." -Chief Seattle

5. "Before you've practiced, the theory is useless. After you've practiced, the theory is obvious." -David Williams, yoga instructor

6. "How should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any – lifted from the no
of all nothing – human merely being
doubt unimaginably You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)"

- e.e. cummings

7. "Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny." -The Upanishads

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