The breath must be enticed or cajoled, like catching a horse in a field, not by chasing after it, but by standing still with an apple in one’s hand.
B.K.S. IYENGARI also say with backbends, you have to be cautiously bold. Not carelessly bold. You have to descend to the dictation of the spine. You cannot command from the brain to do the poses. As you play with a child, guarding the child from injuries, similarly you have to play in backbends, guarding your spine.
More B.K.S. Iyengar Quotes
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A yogi’s brain extends from the bottom of the foot to the top of his head
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Activity and passivity must go together in asanas.
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Why think of liberation at some future time? Liberation is in the little things, here and now.
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Do not think of yourself as a small, compressed, suffering thing. Think of yourself as graceful and expanding, no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time.
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Yoga is the golden key that unlocks the door to peace, tranquility and joy.
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I don’t stretch my body as if it is an object. I do yoga from the self towards the body, not the other way around.
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It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.
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The flexibility we gain in asana is the living symbol of the suppleness we gain in relation to life’s problems and challenges.
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The material body has a practical reality that is accessible. It is here and now, and we can do something with it. However, we must not forget that the innermost part of our being is also trying to help us. It wants to come out to the surface and express itself.
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As long as the body is not in perfect health, you think about it, and that prevents you from thinking of the mind. The sound mind is a sound body.
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The battle of yoga is with the body and with the ego. You must conquer your ego, or small self, so that you can let your soul, your big Self, be victorious.
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Action is movement with intelligence. The world is filled with movement. What the world needs is more conscious movement, more action.
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We must create a marriage between the awareness of the body and that of the mind. When two parties do not cooperate, there is unhappiness on both sides.
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Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you have to choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it
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We need sound bodies so we can develop sound minds.
B.K.S. IYENGAR