Coming Up For Air
Why yoga begins and ends with the breath.
In a world that constantly asks us to push harder, move faster, and do more, yoga offers something radically different: permission to come up for air. At first glance, yoga can look like another form of exercise; flows, poses, stretching, strength work - but beneath the surface lies a deeper intention. Yoga isn’t simply about what your body is doing. It’s about how your breath guides the doing. Movement becomes meaningful only when it’s anchored to breath, and breath becomes steady only when we move with awareness.
Unlike a fitness class where the goal is often to increase intensity, burn calories, or reach the point of exhaustion, yoga invites us to explore the edge - not blast past it. In yoga, the edge is a space of sensation without strain, challenge without collapse. It’s where you can still breathe fully. If you lose the breath, you’ve gone too far. If the breath shortens, stutters, or disappears altogether, it’s the body’s signal to step back, reset, and return to steadiness.
This is where yoga’s brilliance lies. It trains us to notice the subtle point where the body feels alive but not overwhelmed. You learn to negotiate with the edge rather than bulldoze through it. And the negotiator, the quiet voice that says “ease up” or “yes, you can stay here a moment longer” - is always the breath.
Breath is the built-in feedback loop of yoga. When you move into a shape, your breath answers honestly: Is this sustainable? Am I forcing? Am I present? In many ways, the breath becomes a teacher. It tells you what your mind might ignore and what your ego might try to override. When we prioritise breath over shape, the practice transforms from performance to presence.
Yoga is, at its heart, a practice of control and balance. Not control in the sense of rigidity or perfectionism, but control as in mindful regulation, choosing how you respond to sensation, how you inhabit your body, how you stay steady even as things intensify. Balance is not just physical; it’s emotional and energetic. It’s learning when to lean into challenge and when to soften. It’s understanding that stability doesn’t come from holding tighter but from breathing deeper.
When you commit to breathing with intention, you begin to move differently. The transitions become smoother, the shapes become more integrated, and the mind becomes quieter. You start to recognise that the true practice isn’t about nailing the “perfect” pose but about staying connected to yourself through each inhale and exhale.
“Coming up for air” in yoga is not an escape from effort, it’s the cultivation of ease within effort. It’s remembering that you’re allowed to slow down, to feel, to listen. It’s recognising that your breath is not just a background process but the foundation of your strength.
And the beautiful irony is this: the more you honour your breath, the stronger, steadier, and more capable your body becomes. In letting the breath lead, you don’t lose power - you find it.
- Written by Rose Martin