"I don't remember the moment I decided I wanted to live again. I just remember the breath that made it possible. Three weeks earlier, I had been lying in a hospital bed, my liver failing at the age of thirty-six after years of drinking. I knew I wouldn't survive another relapse; yet the day I was released, I went straight to the liquor store."
"When the staff announced there would be a yoga class, I almost didn't go. But something in me-a spark of desperation-wanted to try. I walked into the small recreation room, still detoxing, still shaking uncontrollably. When the teacher asked us to take a deep breath, I realized my body didn't know how. My chest barely moved. That moment changed everything. What started as a single breath on the rehab floor became the breath that saved my life."
At thirty-six, liver failure followed years of drinking and several relapses led to repeated rehab stays. After a hospital release, immediate relapse culminated in exhaustion and enrollment in another treatment program. Initial resistance to a yoga class gave way to a desperate attempt while still detoxing and shaking; deep-breath instruction revealed an almost nonexistent chest movement. That single breath initiated a recovery shift, eventually becoming the breath that saved life. Two years of cycling through intensive programs, job loss, impending homelessness, and losing custody of a daughter marked rock bottom. Regular yoga classes provided the first sensation of being present in the body and hope.
Read at Tiny Buddha
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