Brenda Strong Quotations

My grandmother was the daughter of pioneers, as was my grandfather, and they were farmers. And they worked the land, and there is a grounded value system that becomes inherent in knowing what's real and what's powerful. And understanding the material nature of not only man, but beasts and profit and all of those things that you fight for.

There are a lot of people who dream of overnight success, of being Brad Pitt getting discovered for 'Thelma and Louise,' but that doesn't always happen. I represent that stick-to-it-ness that it takes to build a career over time, guest spot by guest spot. Looking back from here, I wouldn't have wanted the journey to go any other way.

Yoga reduced my stress and bodily tension. It allowed me to bring my body back into balance, to emerge from my fertility struggle with my sense of self esteem and self worth intact, and to forge a stronger bond with my husband.

I'm a Yogi and a tea drinker, and having a gun is the last thing that one would expect of me as a human being.

I think whenever you have a product you are always trying to improve it. Whether it is a commercial project out on the market or it's a creative collaboration, you are always looking to keep you audiences more engaged.

I have such respect for guest actors. They don't know all the characters as deeply as the regulars, and the cast isn't your family, so you have more at stake.

I practice yoga even when my schedule doesn't allow me to teach. I've been practicing for 17 years, since before it became hip.

There's an integrity and a strength to women who have been raised in rough country.

In life, when you start to fall, you don't have to go crazy, scolding yourself and further throwing yourself off balance. Instead, simply make adjustments.

I strove to maintain a spiritual practice, but since I was being pulled in so many directions, I couldn't seem to stay steady and grounded. I used to get overwhelmed when I thought about everything there was to do, and I was exhausted much of the time.

I make the necessary "corrections" if I find myself leaning too far in one direction.

Balance for me now means seeing myself as a tree, being strong enough in my roots and trunk to not be a pushover, but being flexible enough in every circumstance not to break. I am continuing to expand, but not any faster than my roots can support me.

Until my Yoga practice became the great facilitator of all things in my life, the integration of career, purpose and motherhood felt like an unattainable dream.

In yoga practice, over time you use fewer muscles more efficiently. Expansion does require energy, but it should not require a great deal of effort.

Nine times out of ten it's a minor shift in your focus and your attitude that makes the difference.

"Balance" as a verb doesn't mean "stillness," but the constant act of making minor corrections from one side to another to bring one towards a center of stability.

I realized that a tree never says, "I have too many branches." It simply digs deeper roots, expands itself to catch more light, and extends itself in multiple directions so as not to be unevenly weighted.

I saw that all aspects of my life had been pulling me out of balance because I hadn't perceived them as part of a "whole," or the totality that was "me."

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest as a young girl, whenever I felt emotionally overwhelmed, I would take a walk in the woods. Being in the stillness and grandeur of trees had always calmed me.

As yogis, we are constantly exploring the world of duality, while being acutely aware of the unity of all things.

We explore within postures everything we deal with in life: the interplay between resistance and surrender; establishing stability and maintaining flexibility; learning to receive and release; being present to all the complexities of our lives, and returning to the fundamentals of our "beginner's mind" again and again.

We are all being called to be more present than ever, while dealing with a more challenging array of personal and professional challenges, opportunities and all-around growth.

There is a polarizing and dualistic experience occurring politically and economically in the world, and I believe we are near the peak of a cyclical and truly chaotic time.

The mind and heart is the field upon which war is waged within us. If we can stop that internal fear-based battle, then those outside of us will be affected as well.

You can still do all the same things. How you do them is what will shift.

I am not advocating doing nothing. I am advocating for you to energetically, actively and vigilantly monitor how you are BEING.

It feels good to rail against what is wrong in the world, to fight the good fight, to beat the drum of making a difference. I am right there with you.

After all, if we are co-creators of our reality, as so many philosophies have espoused, then we have a say in how it is, how it goes and our participation in it, right?

I am giving myself permission to love - ALL of it.

I have recently decided that there is no place in my head or my heart for fear anymore.

Being inundated with constant "bad" news from the media doesn't help.

Most of us are facing big changes in our lives. But, in our more evolved moments, I think we can all agree that fear-based worries are a waste of time and only create the experiences we are trying to avoid.

It is a crucial time to be mindful of our thoughts.

I truly have come to believe that there are only two states of being that generate our thoughts: LOVE or FEAR.

There is a push and a pull almost like an isometric stretch. Our literal flexibility and our physical, psychological and spiritual practices are more important now than ever to balance the boat.

The only unifying thought is one of LOVE.

I must have Haley Joel Osment as my agent, because he only sees dead parts

She's a woman of character and morals and discipline. You don't find a lot of that in people in modern times.

She put the gun to the man who has raised here since she was four years old, pulled the trigger, and when he didn't die quickly enough, she put it to his chest and pulled it again.

The truth is that this particular ideology was persecuted terribly, and had to put up with tremendous pain and suffering in order to believe what they believe. It's very important to know that we're capable of this, to wake ourselves up.