A picture is worth a thousand words...

As a writer, I’ve never loved the saying.

That said, I’ve witnessed it to be true, many, many times. Sometimes, a picture does the talking—gives all the information needed, makes words redundant by creating a feeling, setting a mood and much more.

But, just as often, I’ve heard mere phrases evoke what no picture could. Complexity. Reflections. Sentiments.

It’s words—not pictures—that tell others how we feel about them, what we appreciate, the many ways they enrich our lives.

Too common is to let our gratitude be fleeting. Today, cultivate it. Let it float from the mind to the tip of the tongue. Wrap it with loving kindness. Let the words meet the air and the compliment, the sentiment, be absorbed by giver and receiver, right then, right there.

Like no picture can.

Namaste’.

Yoga quotes. (What others have to say.)

via Pinterest

I have a friend who loves quotes. In every card I have gotten from her in the last...oh, 12 years, there's been one somewhere. Left. Right. Under the signature. Envelope. A little beauty to inspire and encourage. 

What's not to love about that?

There was a time when quotations had me teasing her... just a tad. Quote Queen, I called her. Each one lovely. Relevant. Carefully chosen. Relayed in tidy lettering. 

Now it makes me smile. And, truth be told, it did then too. In fact, if something arrived without a few perfectly strung-together words, I'd be disappointed. Even wonder what's up.

Hearing words that strike a chord with us holds no small amount of power. Instantly, instinctively, there's a feeling of understanding. That someone else gets it, sees past our facade into the heart of soul of our existence. That we're not here, alone, overwhelmed by the vastness of existence. Marveling at the many wonders and disappointments of the world.


A few favorites yoga quotes. And life quotes. Because once joined, the two cannot be separated. I hope they inspire.
   
"When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky." -Buddha

 "What you seek is seeking you." -Rumi

"The whole thrust of yogic philosophical and scientific inquiry has therefore been to examine the nature of being, with a view to learning to respond to the stresses of life without so many tremors and troubles." -BKS Iyengar

"We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment." -Thich Nhat Hanh

 “But listen to me. For one moment quit being sad. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you.” -Rumi

"Yoga is about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full and whole way. With yoga, we become aware of how and where we are restricted — in body, mind, and heart — and how gradually to open and release these blockages. As these blockages are cleared, our energy is freed. We start to feel more harmonious, more at one with ourselves. Our lives begin to flow — or we begin to flow more in our lives." -Cybele Tomlinson 

"Yoga is almost like music. There's no end to it." -Sting

“The great artist Michelangelo claimed that his sculptures were already present in the stone, and all he had to do was carve away everything else.  Our understanding of identity is often similar: Beneath the many layers of shoulds and shouldn’ts that cover us, there lies a constant, single, true self that is just waiting to be discovered.” -Sheena Iyengar


"A wise person learns the art of detachment. If you are not careful, your possessions can change their purpose. Many become chained to possessions and enslaved. Before you know it, you end up working so hard to hold on to attachments that you serve possessions, instead of them serving you."  -David Yglesias