Musing about Breathing

the stuff of life it’s self.

With all that is going on in the world it is important that we take time to breath, not lust literally although that’s a very good thing to practice at the moment, but figuratively as well. When Joseph was devising his exercises he was interred on the Isle of Man as he was of German origins. So life was confined. They could go outside but not very far (sound family) there was also a new respiratory condition going around (Spanish Flu), he noticed that breathing/lung capacity was important.

So his exercises all have defined breath patterns – these can change dependent upon the level of the exercise being undertaken. As a beginner we concentrate on moving and just keeping on breathing, then as we progress the breath pattern for an exercise is introduced and eventually becomes natural. Then the challenges will mount and the breath pattern will need to change to aid the new more challenging movement.

the process of taking air into and expelling it from the lungs.

Breath is an important aspect of the Pilates method. Pilates teaches “lateral” or “intercostal” breathing, meaning that you breath deeply into the abdomen, specifically paying attention to the expansion of the side and back of the rib cage (a part of the lungs that is often underused). This back of the rib cage will always have space during your Pilates class regardless of what position you end up in.

As you breath you also increase and decrease the pressure within the lower abdomen. it’s this pressure that will aid your core muscles maintain the stability desired during class.