The Breath

I have been practising yoga off (regrettably) and on since I was 8.

It started watching my mum doing yoga in her bedroom before sleep.
I would go in to spend a few moments replicating the strange postures she went through in her ritual.
She explained to me that she had started yoga when pregnant to relieve the back pain.
For her it was more a physical therapy, there was no talk of the breath with each posture, it was simply a way to relieve the ache in her lower back.

I practise yoga, continue to come back to it, because it helps me to connect my mind, my breath and my body. And for a time during and after, these three parts are in harmony.

"As long as there is breath in the body, there is life.
When breath departs so too does life.
Therefore, regulate the breath."

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika