[Exploring Life] Correct breathing is a primary goal and basic fundamental in the Pilates method. Practicing Pilates exercises while using abnormal breathing patterns can be very detrimental to both the body and mind. Unless a student is capable of breathing correctly under normal conditions, the probability of breathing correctly during exercises is poor. Breathwork is therefore the first component of Pilates training.
Pilates’ Original Principles of Breathing
In Contrology and Your Health [1], Joseph Pilates emphasizes the importance and elements of proper breathing. He viewed correct breathing as an essential element in health and well being. Pilates also viewed breathing as a neglected aspect of exercise, and poor breathing habits as a root cause of poor health of body and mind.
Lazy breathing converts the lungs, figuratively speaking, into a cemetery for the deposition of diseased, dying, and dead germs as well as supplying an ideal haven for the multiplication of other harmful germs. Therefore, above all, learn how to breathe correctly. (Pilates 1934)
Pilates emphasized the need for practicing and developing the maximum capacity of the lungs. In other words, the student was taught to breathe to their maximum capacity. Special emphasis is placed on the exhalation:
To breathe correctly you must completely exhale and inhale, always trying to squeeze every atom of impure air from your lungs in much the same manner that you would wring every drop of water from a wet cloth… SQUEEZE EVERY ATOM OF AIR FROM YOUR LUNGS UNTIL THEY ARE ALMOST AS FREE OF AIR AS IS A VACUUM (Pilates 1934)
In educating children Pilates stated that the first lesson is that of correct breathing. (Pilates 1945) He reiterated the basic importance of learning to take a full breath that emphasized a complete exhalation.
The lungs cannot be completely deflated at first without considerable effort. With perseverance, however, the desired results can be accomplished and with increasing power, gradually and progressively develop the lungs to their maximum capacity. That will actually cause the chest to balloon and at the same time bring practically every other muscle into play. Thus the child’s posture will then be normal (natural).
With proper breathing and correct posture, the child has no need for artificial exercise. (Pilates 1945)
Correct breathing is intimately connected with correct posture, since full activation of the breathing muscles also stimulate postural alignment and strength. With correct breathing and posture in place, a child can then simple enjoy the act of playing (walking, running, jumping, tumbling, climbing, etc.) as a natural and normal means of exercise.
Pilates Breathwork
Timing of the Breath: Throughout the thirty-four mat exercises that form the foundation of Contrology, Pilates precisely coordinated a series of movements with an inhalation or exhalation. Breathing was a focus of conscious control and attention and is required to be accurately timed to specific kinds of movements within an exercise. In this sense, the rhythm of breathing is linked to and inseparable from the specific body movements being made. Thus, the Pilates method integrates the benefits of conscious breathing [2] with postural integrity and body mechanics[3].
In my own training, breathwork usually occupies the first couple minutes of a session and is focused on taking a deep, full breath. However, learning an unfamiliar exercise usually focuses on specific kinds of movements. In the early stages of learning a new exercise, I think it is important to first establish the breath relative to the movements, without being overly concerned, at least in the beginning, with precise body mechanics. The reason for this is simple, if the student gets the breathing rhythm wrong in the beginning, it can be very hard to change later on.
Breathwork Principle 1: Establish correct breathing in all exercises is of primary importance. In training students, the first and most important aspect to teach them is how inhalations and exhalations are timed to specific sequences of movements in an exercise. Correctly visualizing and achieving the correct flow of breath is more important that making precise body adjustments in the early stages of learning the exercise. Once breath is under control, then precise body mechanics can be focused on.
Breathing the Mantra — Pull the Navel to the Spine (pull in the powerhouse): The core abdominal area (a.k.a. the powerhouse) begins at the base of the pelvic floor and moves up to the bottom of the diaphragm. [4] On of the most common mantras in Pilates is the command, “Pull your navel to your spine.” This really means contract the powerhouse or core area of the body, since you need to engage the complete range of muscles within the core.
This can making breathing feel somewhat awkward since the natural motion of the diaphragm is restricted by the contracted core. Daniel Lyon sorts this issue out nicely for us:
Breathwork Principle 2: When drawing your navel to your spine during an exercise, sucking in your stomach in such a way that makes you hold your breath will only weaken your powerhouse… Do not hollow out your midsection. Instead, hold the abdominals in so that the stomach doesn’t expand on the inhale but rather remains firm and hourglass shaped at the waistline… Anything that hinders your breathing, such as sucking in your gut, will consequently slow or stop your movement. [5]
Pilates teaches us to breath while the abdominals are engaged. A common example given is to have someone place downward pressure on your stomach while lying on the floor, and learning to inhale and exhale. The lower rib cage will move outwards in all directions, but there will be significantly less movement in the core area itself.
Another exercise is to inhale, hold the breath while moving the core area in and out. This also helps to isolate the feeling of the core muscles acting independently from breathing.
Breathwork and the Core: The Pilates method focuses on the development of the core area of the body. The mat exercises require constant control and contraction of the core area. Because of this, it is crucial to learn correct breathing and regularly practice breathwork. It is all to easy to fall into abnormal breathing patterns [6], which in turn have very negative effects on body and mind.
Breathwork Exercises
Breathing is of critical importance. Without proper breathing technique, exercising is futile and potentially harmful. Until the basic breathwork pattern is mastered at the easiest levels, the student should not proceed to the mat exercises.There are two basic exercises for breathwork in Pilates: a) Timed Full Breathing; b) Timed. Both exercises are practiced lying flat on your back with knees drawn up and feet flat on the floor.
Timed Full Breathing: The inhalation and exhalation are timed in equal durations. First a slow five count is practiced, making a single breath cycle 10 seconds in total. Then an eight second cycle, fifteen, and eventually thirty seconds (one breath per minute is a goal).
Body awareness in timed full breathing includes: feeling the lower rib cage area move out in all directions (front, sides and back); an actively working core throughout the breath cycle; breathing in through nose and out through the mouth, relaxed neck and shoulder area (core muscles are doing the work); feel the body relax but remain flexible and active in the core area.
Pelvic Clock: Imagine a clock on the abdomen: twelve o’clock is the base of the rib cage at the diaphragm; six o’clock is immediately below the navel; three and nine o’clock are on either side of the abdomen (the obliques) immediately below the rib cage. There are three parts to the exercise:
- 12–6: Inhale and expand twelve o’clock — exhale compressing core downward to six o’clock — inhale and expand six o’clock — exhale upward to twelve o’clock.
- 9–3: Same process as above except using a sideways motions between nine and three o’clock; and
- Circles: Inhale on twelve — exhale down through three o’clock and onward to six o’clock — inhale and expand six o’clock — exhale upward through nine o’clock onward to twelve o’clock — reverse the entire process in the opposite direction.
Each of these exercises should be practiced for ten repetitions each, then slowly building to twenty-five.
Both Timed Full Breathing and the Pelvic Clock require deep concentration on the core. In addition to learning how to breath properly while the core is active, these exercises focus on the development of the body awareness required to feel the different muscles within the core and how they affect the breath.
Without these skills under basic control, the student should not proceed to the mat exercises. All breathwork exercises should be the first thing practiced in each Pilates session.
Pilates: Breathing and Breathwork — Key Points
- The foundation of Pilates is conscious controlled breathing.
- Practicing the full (maximum capacity) breath is essential to physical and mental development.
- The rhythm of inhalations and exhalations throughout the Pilates exercises is where training begins. Once breath ius under control, more attention can be given to body mechanics and precision.
- Learning to breath while maintaining a firm core area is a primary skill used in all exercises.
- Incorrect or abnormal breathing can have serious consequences for both body and mind.
- There are two fundamental breathwork exercises to master: a) Timed Full Breathing; and b) The Pelvic Clock.
Notes
1. Joseph Pilates published two books, Contrology (1934) and Your Health (1945). Both of these important publications are available in A Pilates’ Primer: The Millennium Edition (1998). For quotations I refer to Pilates 1934 or 1945.
2. See Breathing: Conscious Breathing.
3. See Themes: Body — Posture.
4. See Posture: The Core Area.
5. Lyons, Daniel. Pilates for Men.
6. See Breathing: Abnormal Breathing.
