"Yoga is to be learned as a daily practice over a long period of time with a consistent teacher. Short-term teacher trainings do not benefit the student’s understanding and experience of yoga".
"Don't come here to show me what you can do, come here to learn. I'm not impressed by your big postures, I'm impressed if you're a good person".
Life is not only work and money. That is not very important: wanting, wanting, wanting...then all the problems start. Life should be balanced and then it becomes beautiful. Once our mind goes to spirituality, this life becomes beautiful and meaningful. This is the yoga.
"Anyone can practice. Young man can practice. Old man can practice. Very old man can practice. Man who is sick, he can practice. Man who doesn't have strength can practice. Except lazy people; lazy people can't practice ashtanga yoga".
"If we practice the science of yoga, which is useful to the entire human community and which yields happiness both here and hereafter – if we practice it without fail, we will then attain physical, mental and spiritual happiness, and our minds will flood towards the Self".
"Breathing is very important. Without breathing, the spiritual mind and body are not coming. There is a method to breathing. That is Vinyasa."
"The whole purpose of Hatha yoga is to purify and control our senses. It is the ultimate science of helping us discover what lies behind the apparent reality of body and mind."
"I teach only ashtanga yoga, the original method given in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. Ashtanga means "eight-step" yoga: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi. The Yoga Sutra says "Tasmin sati svasa prasvasayor gati vicchedah pranayamah (II.49)." First you perfect asana, and then you practice pranayama: you control the inhalation and the exhalation, you regulate the breath, you retain and restrain the breath. After asana is perfected, then pranayama can be perfected. That is the yoga method".
"Vinyasa means "breathing system." Without vinyasa, don't do asana. When vinyasa is perfect, the mind is under control. That's the main thing controlling the mind. That's the method Patanjali described. The scriptures say that prana and apana are made equal by keeping the ratio of inhalation and exhalation equal and by following the breath in the nostrils with the mind. If you practice this way, gradually mind comes under control".
"Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal. Yoga is not mine. But don't approach yoga with a business mind looking for worldly gain. If you want to be near God, turn your mind toward God, and practice yoga. As the scriptures say "without yoga practice, how can knowledge give you moksha [liberation]?"
"If you have a weak mind and a weak body, you have weak principles. The yamas have five limbs: ahimsa [nonviolence], satya [truthfulness], asteya [non-stealing], brahmacharya [continence], and aparigraha [non-possessiveness]. Ahimsa is impossible; also telling the truth is very difficult. The scriptures say speak that truth which is sweet; don't speak truth which hurts. But don't lie, no matter how sweet it sounds. Very difficult. You tell only the sweet truth because he who speaks the unpleasant truth is a dead man. So, a weak mind means a weak body. That's why you build a good foundation with asana and pranayama, so your body and mind and nervous system are all working; then you work on ahimsa, satya, and the other yamas and niyamas. "