Living in the Spirit of Yoga Quotes

“What then are the benefits of being mentally flexible? Imagine a storm brewing. Intense winds are blowing hard. Stiff trees are breaking under the pressure while softer more flexible trees are bending and will rise again when the strong winds subside. Now turn this image onto human beings. People who are narrow minded, opinionated, stubborn and bullheaded are more likely to crack under pressure than people who take up a more flexible attitude towards life. It is the difference between bending and breaking under pressure.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“Gandhi is an example of a man who grew from being self-centered as he was learning to become a lawyer in England, to becoming more family- and social oriented in South-Africa, where he led a reformation of Indian rights, to becoming determined in helping his nation recover from British rule at which he succeeded in the end with the help of a great many people. At the end of his life Gandhi was increasingly focused on a larger picture, encasing the whole world in his vision of a peaceful future.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“The real difference between yoga and religion is this: Religion says believe, do not doubt, often citing the word of God and promises of an eternal afterlife, reciting dogma (unsubstantiated pre-modern myths), while yoga only points the way and urges its students to practice and experience for themselves. In this way yoga is very scientific in its approach to self-knowledge, transcendence and enlightenment. Its message is: Try the practice for yourself and only then can you truly believe.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“Letting go of the past does not mean that we should try to forget everything that has happened to us and not learn anything from our previous thinking patterns and actions. Letting go simply means that we do not allow the past to control our current thoughts and actions.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“Not wanting to change, constantly fighting change, and being afraid of change; these are all extremely stressful mental dispositions, because let’s face it – change happens! Learn to embrace change, flow with change and even proactively make changes. Indian traveling yogis never stay in one spot for very long to remind themselves of the transient nature of the world. The modern yogi need not necessarily do the same, but just be aware of this natural tendency of change and flow with it—and that will make life a lot less stressful.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“Breath is life.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“Not everything that is related to yoga is equally beneficial.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“For reasons unknown, the philosophical aspect of the yoga movement has had to make way for the yoga fit revolution; today’s image of a yogi is a slender and scantily clad young female doing postures on the cover of a bestselling magazine, whereas the older image was of an Indian man with long beard sitting in a cave wearing a loin cloth.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“The only thing that seems to differ between the major schools of meditation is the point of concentration. Some traditions use mantras, others follow the breath, some have their eyes open, others have their eyes closed, some use simple words, others use prayers and the list can go on. Despite extravagant claims to the contrary, modern research has found no significant difference between the points of concentration at the beginning stages of meditation, which means it doesn’t really matter which mantra, word or phrase you choose to begin with. The main thing is to practice whatever meditation method that you have chosen; sit still and let the mind settle.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“While I principally agree with the NOW movement I also challenge their thinking to a degree. There are plenty of exceptions to the being-present-rule. I have for example worked with cancer patients who were going through very trying times in their therapy, and they couldn’t stand to think about the present moment, they needed to envision a better future or remember an enjoyable time from their past to feel slightly better. The present moment was simply a torment. This can be true in a number of other situations where the present moment is simply too awful and painful to intently focus on.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life

“Concentration is the key to success in anything in life. You need concentration to carry on a conversation, to raise children, to stay positive, to be able to communicate effectively, to succeed academically, to meditate, to succeed in business, to become good at sports, to achieve the goals you set for yourself, and the list can go on and on.”
― Gudjon Bergmann, Living in the Spirit of Yoga: Take Yoga Off the Mat and Into Your Everyday Life