Carlos Castaneda Quotes

It is the mind that makes the body.

Nothing will do me any good unless I learn to control this body of mine.

Training the body to obey the mind as I have done differs from the more conventional method of getting the mind to obey the body.

Asanas bring perfection in body, beauty in form, grace, strength, compactness, and the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.

Your mind and soul are the kings of your physique way more than any exercise you do.

Yoga did not just help me with my body, I became fitter from within. It helped me to focus better. In the movies, we may look very glamourous and fit, but believe me, not many of us are actually fit from within. Yoga has helped me achieve that.

You need at least six or seven years to understand the philosophy and concentration of karate to know to clean your spirit of everything and dedicate your mind and body to the sport.

I'm able to control the body through just the power of the mind.

Contrology (Pilates) is complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit. Through Contrology you first purposefully acquire complete control of your own body and then through proper repetition of its exercises you gradually and progressively acquire that natural rhythm and coordination associated with all your subconscious activities.

That daydreaming seemed important at the time, but when I asked my teacher Katagiri Roshi about it, he said, "Oh, it's just laziness. Get to work." But as for discipline, I don't even use that word. I think more about passion or love. What I've really learned is the way the mind moves, and how the mind works. Rather than discipline, I know how to seduce my mind.

Do not let the body be dragged along by mind nor the mind be dragged along by the body

Discipline — both mental and physical — is crucial.

My body represents perfection. I am vibrantly healthy.

I'm not advocating the strenuous life for everyone or trying to say it's the choice form of life. Anyone who's had the luck or misfortune to be an athlete has to keep his body in shape. The body and mind are closely coordinated. Fattening of the body can lead to fattening of the mind. I would be tempted to say that it can lead to fattening of the soul, but I don't know anything about the soul.

One great effect of prayer is that it enables the soul to command the body. By obedience I make my body submissive to my soul, but prayer puts my soul in command of my body.

Our minds are so undisciplined that our doubts rule our lives and we don't master our imagination - it masters us.

Do not let your spirit be influenced by your body, or your body be influenced by your spirit. Be neither insufficiently spirited or over spirited. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.

I could live a better life if I had a better mind and a better body

You must maintain strength of body in order to preserve strength of mind.

Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.

Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind, and elevates the spirit.

I look at people's lives and you see what's not working in their lives and it usually comes from an undisciplined mind.

Self-control is solely a matter of thought-control!

There are those who say that temptation can be barricaded beyond the door. The ones who think that stray desires can be driven out of the heart like the moneychangers from the temple. Maybe they can, if you patrol your weak points day and night, don't look, don't smell, don't dream.

We are the masters of our fate, the captains of our souls, because we have the power to control our thoughts.