“I think that yoga, it really is a process.”

You have to work for everything. Marriage should not be any different.

Being with my family is my highest priority.

Exercise is like an old friend: You may not be able to see that friend all the time, but you’re not mad when you see them, you’re happy, and you get right back into it.

Food is not your best friend or enemy.

Depriving yourself will, ironically enough, lead to rebelling and weight gain.

You choose happiness. You don’t wait for it to choose you.

I like to look nice, but I’m not marketing being beautiful.

I balance it all by being extremely organized, and I am a very efficient delegator.

I always know that I am where I am supposed to be. I don’t feel torn and I think that is really important.

If you start giving your kids anxiety about food, it’s going to last a lifetime. Moms have to lead by example. Don’t say, “Oh, my jeans don’t fit,” or “Oh, I was bad.” No diets. Nothing like that.

Let’s be clear, I’m a strong woman.

The only way I’m interested in having a baby is the old-fashioned way.

Taste everything, eat nothing.

I despise shopping and department stores.

You cannot show people only the petals and not the thorns. It’s not fair to them.

I have the most beautiful daughter in the world and I’m grateful for her.

I really think there’s an evolution to the practice and the individual no matter what brings you in, whether it’s wine and yoga or chocolate and yoga or surfing and yoga.

Would you rather suffer 90 minutes or 90 years? (Regarding a Bikram Yoga session that takes exactly 90 minutes.)

Cheer up, things will get worse.

The experience of yoga is unspeakable. It’s the experience of samadhi. It’s the experience of connectedness, of oneness, boundlessness, merging with God consciousness… even if it’s just for an instant.

It’s the same thing, I think, whether it’s breathing or meditation or yoga. And running is a great way of doing it.

God had brought me to my knees and made me acknowledge my own nothingness, and out of that knowledge I had been reborn. I was no longer the centre of my life and therefore I could see God in everything.

Perseverance is the essential requirement in the practice of yoga. It has to be done day by day, week by week, year by year, until the mind is brought to the ‘still point’ where it is open to the grace of God.

I think many of my students have followed the advice I gave years ago, to give more than you take.