In one of my yoga classes, I will say over and over “move with your breath”.
This means more than an inhaling the arms up and exhaling the arms down kind of movement. It means, let the inhalation move you and the exhalation draw you back.
Imagining the inhalation expanding the chest, let that movement continue flowing out into the limbs and let the exhalation flow that movement back in.
In my class, one way to deepen and to advance your yoga practice, is to be able to move, say just your little finger with that same following of the breath. Let the inhalation initiate, let the exhalation draw you back. This requires working towards 100% soft focus on the process of the breath vs. focusing on our brains telling our arms to “move now and return now”.
In this way, our movement, our breath and our minds unite and work as one. The “do do do brain” is allowed to rest. It is a meditation. Deep relaxation, peace and calm follow.