Prashant Iyengar Quotes, Explained: Prashant S Iyengar In His Own Words

Prashant Iyengar quotes, in short

Can the breath be your teacher? Prashant S Iyengar, Mr Iyengar’s son, thinks so. These Prashant Iyengar quotes are short lines from his classes in Pune, his books and the Pune institute’s magazine, gathered by topic. Each one links to its plain-English explanation.

What is on this page of Prashant Iyengar quotes

• Who he is: a short, plain introduction.
• His sources: the classes and books quoted here.
• Every quote, by topic: each links to its explanation.
• Questions: where the quotes come from, breath and effort.

Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It is sometimes called modern classical yoga, and it’s the style we teach at Flametree. His daughter Geeta (1944 to 2018) and his son Prashant, who still teaches in Pune, became teachers too.

Who is Prashant S Iyengar?

Prashant S Iyengar is Mr BKS Iyengar’s son, born in 1949. He grew up in Pune with his sisters, including Geeta. The institute in Pune was built in his mother’s name for his father, Geeta and him, and he still teaches in Pune.

Music is part of his story too. The violinist Yehudi Menuhin, his father’s pupil, gave him a violin. At his father’s 70th birthday celebrations in Pune in 1988, the crowd asked him to play it, and he did, for the first time in nearly fifteen years.

Many of his quotes here are about the mind and the breath, not only the body. His books include Chittavijnana of Yogasana, Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana and A Class After a Class.

Books and talks quoted here

• Classes in Pune, 2002 and 2003: his class sayings, collected by Vibha Kale in Tuesdays with Prashant.
• Yoga Rahasya: the magazine of the Pune institute, including sayings collected as Prashantisms.
• Chittavijnana of Yogasana: one of his books on the poses and the mind.
• Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana: his book about Triangle Pose.
• A Class After a Class: one of his books.

Every quote by Prashant on this site, by topic

Each quote links to its home page, where you will find the plain-English explanation.

The Breath And Pranayama (4)

• The exhalations should be like a bath that a mother gives a baby. Not like taking a heavy shower. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• To be receptive is the basic qualification of Pranayam. For Pranayam you do not need muscle. You need the gentle, sensitive and emotional mind. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• You don’t do normal breathing. Normal breathing has to be learnt. It is an ability that you have to develop. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Your breath should be your teacher. Your breath should be giving you suggestions. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003

The Mind And Meditation (1)

• Silence has acoustics. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002

Attention And Awareness (3)

• Sometimes you have to stop doing so that you can watch what you are doing. This is like watching your image in water. The image is clear only when the water is still. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Do Asanas conscientiously and not just consciously. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003
• Unless you improve your perceptions, your actions will not improve. Prashant S Iyengar, Yoga Rahasya, Vol 8 No 1, 2001, Prashantisms

Practice (6)

• Doing does not change you. The treatment that you give to your Yogasan will change you. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Mere action is not yoga. Doing more and more is a craze. Asan is not a motion, it is not a movement and it is a state. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• The involvement in an asan should be like a mother’s involvement with her child not like a doctor’s with his patient. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Where we think that the asana ends, perhaps is the right condition to start! Prashant S Iyengar, Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana, Paradigmatics
• When you are doing asanas you should do like you are alone. There is nothing to look at and there is nothing looking at you. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003
• As a musician tunes his instrument with utmost care and reverence, a yoga practitioner should tune his body with the same care and reverence. Prashant S Iyengar, Chittavijnana of Yogasana, Asana as a Spiritual Pursuit

Effort And Discipline (4)

• Do your optimum and not your maximum. Prashant S Iyengar, Yoga Rahasya, Vol 8 No 1, 2001, Prashantisms
• The principle of consolidation is ‘do not do more but do better’. Do with less effort and more composure. Prashant S Iyengar, A Class After a Class
• Skill is the ability to do the same thing with lesser effort. Prashant S Iyengar, Yoga Rahasya, Vol 6 No 1, 1999, Yoga: Our System II
• Sometimes over sincerity can make you action-holic. You are waiting and wanting to do something somewhere all the time. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003

The Body And Alignment (3)

• Asanas are not done for the body but by the body. Prashant S Iyengar, Chittavijnana of Yogasana, Asana as a Spiritual Pursuit
• Cells learn better than us. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Shoulders are not meant to hang the overcoat on but to carry responsibilities. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002

Standing Poses (2)

• After having completed the doing aspect of Trikonasana, you must stay there. That’s when the pose starts, and not when the right hand goes down and left hand goes up. Prashant S Iyengar, A Class After a Class
• Not to fall does not mean to balance. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003

Backbends, Inversions, Forward Bends And Twists (3)

• Do a ‘pranogenic’ Sarvangasan instead of a photogenic Sarvangasan. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Resolve to stay. Go up to stay. Don’t go up to come down. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003
• The twisting twists the body. The twisting untwists the mind! Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002

Beginners And Stiffness (1)

• Don’t wait till you reach ‘B.K.S. degree’ of the pose to attain the fruits of it, because the fruit can be attained at every degree. Prashant S Iyengar, A Class After a Class

Teaching (3)

• As a student, it is not important for you to know WHAT Guruji does but WHY Guruji does. Prashant S Iyengar, Yoga Rahasya, Vol 7 No 3, 2000, Sri Prashant Iyengar’s Views and Advice
• There are many things that we know but we need to be told that we know. A teacher has to make the student know that he knows. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Let my techniques not be memos let them be love letters. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002

Learning (4)

• You are never fully correct. You are improving. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• If you are able to do, don’t get complacent, become curious and study what you are doing. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• There is a lot more to learn than there is to do. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Intuition is a tuition that you get from within. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003

Life And Happiness (2)

• What you think, that is the seed of the future. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2003
• Man should not try to develop confidence. He should try to develop the components of confidence. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002

Relaxation, Rest And Sleep (3)

• Learn not just the activity of a pose. Learn the passivity of the pose. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• You don’t have to do something all the time. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Are you resting or rusting? Prashant S Iyengar, Yoga Rahasya, Vol 8 No 1, 2001, Prashantisms

Stress (2)

• Learn to remain composed in chaos. That is important. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Doing bad under the worst circumstance is the best. Doing the best under the best circumstances is not the best. Prashant S Iyengar, Yoga Rahasya, Vol 6 No 1, 1999, Yoga: Our System II

Philosophy, The Sutras And The Ego (2)

• Passivity is a form of Activity. Passivity is not inactivity. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002
• Iyengar systems are not complicated. They are delicate and intricate. Prashant S Iyengar, class in Pune, 2002

Related pages

• All the Iyengar quotes, by topic
• Mr BKS Iyengar quotes
• Geeta S Iyengar quotes
• Who was Mr BKS Iyengar? Our longer note
• Yoga philosophy and Iyengar yoga: our notes

Frequently asked questions

Who is Prashant Iyengar?

Prashant S Iyengar is Mr BKS Iyengar’s son, born in 1949. He teaches at the institute in Pune, and he has written several books on yoga.

Where do these Prashant Iyengar quotes come from?

Most come from his classes in Pune in 2002 and 2003, collected by Vibha Kale in Tuesdays with Prashant. Others come from Yoga Rahasya, the Pune institute’s magazine, and from his books.

What did Prashant Iyengar say about the breath?

He said the breath should be your teacher, and that the out-breath should be gentle, like a mother bathing a baby. He also said that for breath practice you do not need muscle, you need a receptive mind.

What did Prashant Iyengar say about effort?

He said, “Do your optimum and not your maximum”, and that skill is the ability to do the same thing with less effort.

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga in Darwin and LIVE online. This page is general information, not medical advice. The quotes are short credited extracts; each credit names the source.