Beloved Breath

My yoga teacher once called the breath your best friend,
your most intimate companion, your beloved.

I didn't understand her until years later,
when I huddled with my feverish child in the chill of night.

What could I do, in this fallow space between midnight and morn,
other than worry and hold my beloved son?

And then I remembered my teacher's words,
the breath is your best friend.

And so I breathed. I rode the waves in and out.
I let my awareness rest with the breath.

In and out, ebb and flow, my breath and I became friends.
My body softened, my mind settled.

And I cradled my son, and we breathed,
and I nestled into the moment and my breath cradled me.


~ C. C.