Inspiring Words

I was cleaning out my old yoga class files of things I read to my students and came across more poems and quotes, more things to make you think. That was always my goal: To have them enter class with what they already knew and to leave with a seed of an idea of something more.

Here are some seeds for you today.


A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything...
 -Charlie Daniels




Think Different

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels.
The trouble-makers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules,
and they have no respect for the status-quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.
But the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world,
are the ones who do.
-Apple

"My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny." - Elaine Maxwell

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in life you will have been all of those things." - George Washington Carver

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts,
the depth where neither sin nor desire can reach,
the person that each one is in God's eyes.
If only they could see themselves as they really are.
If only we could see each other that way,
there would be no reason for war, for hatred, for cruelty...
I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.
- Thomas Merton

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" -  Abraham Lincoln

"Courage is fear that said its prayers." - Dorothy Bernard

"Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field. I will meet you there." - Rumi

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." - Mark Twain

"When we feel stuck, going nowhere - even starting to slip backward - we may actually be backing up to get a running start." - Dan Millman


Loss - Autobiography in Five Chapters taken from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

1. I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost...I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

2. I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

3. I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in...it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

4. I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

5. I walk down another street.


A Man of Words and Not of Deeds

A man of words and not of deeds
Is like a garden full of weeds;
And when the weeds begin to grow,
It's like a garden full of snow;
And when the snow begins to fall,
It's like a bird upon the wall;
And when the bird away does fly,
It's like an eagle in the sky;
And when the sky begins to roar,
It's like a lion at the door;
And when the door begins to crack,
It's like a stick across your back;
And when your back begins to smart,
It's like a penknife in your heart;
And when your heart begins to bleed,
You're dead, and dead, and dead indeed.

Do you have any words that inspire you?


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