“Above all, learn how to breathe correctly”
Hello Pilates People and happy August! I honestly cannot believe that we’ve already reached August. Leah just finished her first sleepaway camp on the Oregon coast, and school starts again in only two weeks. Generally, I love the routine of the school year, but this year I'm not quite ready! I don’t feel that I’ve had the chance to enjoy all that summer offers yet. I had better make the most of the next few weeks!
I will say that our few days in Oregon, dropping Leah off and picking her up, were fantastic. After such a hot, dry summer in Colorado, the cool humidity of the coast was such a relief. The air was so fresh, the land so lush and alive. Breathing that air felt like such a treat, rejuvenating and healing in ways that are rarely possible in the arid climate of Colorado. I felt so much gratitude for the ability to breathe so deeply and take in so much of this wonderfully fresh air.
One of my favorite things about teaching Pilates is watching my clients’ progress over time. Small changes that could be easily overlooked but add up to significant life improvements. In the past few weeks, I have watched numerous clients realize how much their breathing has improved. For some, the difference comes from taking a fuller inhale or a deeper exhale. For others, developing greater control over their breathing has fostered a deeper sense of calm and well-being. They’ve all felt these improvements not just in our sessions, but at work, out with family, or in bed at night. They feel Pilates working; they experience the “renewed mental vigor and spiritual enhancement” described in Return to Life, and they’re inspired to feel more, to go deeper.
"Above all, learn how to breathe correctly." ~ Joseph Pilates
Proper breathing was vitally important to Mr. Pilates, instilled in and passed on through Romana and other first-generation teachers, and remains a central theme and focus throughout Pilates. Sedentary lifestyles and poor posture greatly restrict our ability to breathe fully and healthfully. Joe recognized this early on and used the method to improve both problems simultaneously. Each exercise strengthens the link system, gradually restoring alignment and posture throughout the body, allowing breathing to become more easeful: the exercises improve breathing and breathing improves our ability to do the exercises. Specific exercises and optionals, such as the chest expansion, or the magic circle and ped-o-pul work, focus directly on the relationship between posture and breath. Here, we can directly feel how the exercise strengthens our breathing muscles, simultaneously correcting posture and accessing a fuller breath.
I often notice struggles occur when breath and movement are not aligned. When we move out of alignment with the capabilities of our breath, whether it be too fast or too slow, it hinders our ability to perform the exercise adequately and vice versa. I feel this personally in the short box series. Occasionally, I find myself moving slowly, out of sync with my breathing, and feeling clunky. But when my breath sets the pace, everything comes together. Body, mind, and spirit move fluidly and succinctly. The rhythmic nature of Pilates rebuilds the strength and capacity of our breathing and cleanses the body from the inside out, resulting in a sense of invigorated calm.
Despite all the Pilates that I do, I am still working on this myself. As Joe says, “Remember that Rome was not built in a day and that patience and persistence are vital qualities of the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor.” As every day will be its own, impacted by life's daily pleasures or stressors, so will each breath. Try not to hold onto prior beliefs or stories you hold about your relationship to breathing, but instead move into August knowing that each breath is a new opportunity—a chance to feel lighter, happier, healthier.
