Pilates 101: Breathing Exercises

"Breathing is the first act of life. Our very life depends on it. Millions have never learned to master the art of correct breathing." -Joseph H. Pilates.

What is an Abdominal Breathing Exercise?
When you watch a baby sleeping you can see their belly rise and fall as they breathe in and out. This is a natural abdominal breathing exercise that babies do unknowingly. As we age we tend to lose our natural instincts for breathing and it becomes shallow. We do not get full inhalation and exhalation to this movement of the belly.
When you inhale normally your lungs expand, your diaphragm drops and your stomach moves out. As you exhale, your diaphragm lifts and your stomach or belly button pulls in. This is called abdominal breathing and it should feel quite natural to you.
We, as a society, are tense and tight in our neck and upper back which ultimately exacerbates improper posture and reinforces tension problems. Most People breathe at half their capacity. This shallow breathing is an unfortunate side effect of a sedentary and stressful life. People often hold their breath when performing a new or difficult task. Focused breathing can maximize the body's ability to stretch, and through this release of tension optimal control of the body will be gained.
We breath from our chest and don't use the diaphragm the way it was intended. Deep inhalation and full exhalation exercises the lungs and increases lung capacity, bringing relaxation as a pleasant side effect.
In Pilates there is a focus on breath because it is the basis of movement. How many of us have been stressed and it was those couple of deep breaths that got you through the day? I know that has been most of us at one time or another.

Breathing supports the following ideas in Pilates:

Oxygenation Releases Tense Muscles
When we breath, effectively, oxygen flows into our blood which flows through our muscles. More oxygen in the muscles equals relaxed muscles. The more, effectively, we breath in Pilates the more we can release those tense muscles "trying to help" in our exercises.
Heightens Concentration
In Pilates there is a breath pattern with each individual exercise, and one of those major benefits of this is the concentration we gain.
Activiation of Stabilization Muscles
Exhaling deeply also encourages the activation of the deep abdominal muscles, which are essentail in Pilates. breath and muscular stabilization should occur before movement for safety and efficiency....for all of you type A uber-anxious people out there!

Principles of Pilates Breathing

• Do not hold your breath - keep your breathing flowing
• Inhale through your nose to cleanse the air
• Do not let shoulder rise on inhale
• Breathe into your back and side of ribs
• Exhale through the mouth with relaxed lips, don't purse your lips
• Relax your jaw and tongue, neck and shoulders
• Exhale completely
• Hollow abdominals, pull navel to spine on exhale
• Zip or stitch ribs together on the exhale. Try zipping down and zipping up
• Try to breathe at least five seconds each way
• Exhale to flex/round spine
• Inhale to extend/arch spine
• Exhale to move legs and arms away from body (typically in mat work, varies)

Often, new students tend to take shallow, rapid or ragged breaths, using the tops of their lungs only. Pilates referred to this as the "lazy" breath. Alternately, especially in a difficult new position, the breath becomes "stuck" or held. When performing your exercises, work to become mindful of your Pilates breathing, and try to elongate each inhale and exhale. Many Pilates' instructors recommend a few Pilates breathing exercises before beginning abdominal exercises, so as to focus their students attention on creating a full deep breath.
The basic Pilates breathing exercises require that students lie on their back, in a relaxed position. The knees should be bend, and the head propped up on a towel or pillow if this feels more comfortable. The student should place a hand on the stomach so as to feel the movement of slow gentle breaths filling the lungs, expanding the chest, and filling the abdominal cavity.
A proper diaphragmatic breath will raise stomach slightly on the inhale, and contract and lower the stomach on the exhale as the breath moves out of the air passages. Attention should be paid to shortening the pause between inhale and exhale in order to make the transition as smooth as possible. it helps to visualize the breath as a cleansing wave, beginning in the lower abdomen and gently sweeping through the heart centre (your core) as it proceeds up through your body.
Inhalation and exhalation should be equl in length and depth. This exercise, sometimes called the "rising and falling breath", can also be practices as a mindful meditation prior to beginning practice. Pilates staes that the breath should be exhaled "on the point of effort, "that is, the breath should be used as a tool when moving into and out of poses. You should think of the breath as facilitating the movement by creating the energy to execute it. A natural full breath, rather than exaggerated one is key.
Some beginners, especially those who have not made a habit of breathing in a deep way, may find themselves to be slightly dizzy after the first few Pilates breathing sessions. The additional intake of oxygen sometimes causes dizziness or lightheadedness if the body has not experienced it for some time, persist as this initial feeling quickly passes, and the benefits of proper breath are numerous.

Benefits Include:

• Improved cardiac health and stamina, leading to better cardiac health and athletic stamina
• Prevention of lung infection or disease by improving blood and oxygen circulation to these vital organs
• Increased relaxation response and ability to deal with stressful situations, as well as a general sense of calm and well being
• Increased energy efficiency and a feeling of vitality
• Enhanced gas exchange in your lungs
• Strengthening of the diaphragm
• Increased lung capacity
• Enhancement and flexibilty of ribs and spine
• Provides a gentle internal massage to abdominal organs
• Enhanced function of stomach, intestines and lymph system
• Lower blood pressure

Try this Abdominal Breathing Exercise:
Place one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest. As you inhale deeply through your nose you should feel your chest and stomach expand out. Make sure that you do not hike your shoulders up but keep them down and relaxed as you do this abdomianl breathing exercise. As you exhale expel all the air out and feel the stomach and chest collapsing or pulling in like avacuum sucking all the air out.
Pilates Breathing Exercise:
Pilates breathing is different than your normal abdominal breathing in that we need to contract the abdominal muscles to strengthen them. So we use a technique involving thoracic (ribcage) breathing also referred to as lateral or intercostal breathing.
When doing Pilates exercises it is important that our focus be on the abdominal muscle contraction. This is the centre or core support for the rest of our body. Without the abdominal muscles being contracted and stabilizing the trunk we are not efectively able to use the muscles of the extremities without possiblilty of injury.
Try this Pilates Exercise:
Standing or sitting tall place your hands just below your chest on either side of your ribcage. Inhale through your nose and feel expansion laterally and posteriorly through your ribcage (thoracic spine area).
As you exhale through your mouth expelling all of the air out feel the ribs collapse back in as your abdominals contract and you feel the belly button pulling into your spine. Your focus should be on keeping the abdominals contracted while breathing into your ribcage instead of your belly so that your ribs expand outward as you inhale.

You Just Learned Pilates Breathing.....Breath On!