Take a deep breath in...

The Pilates breathing patterns are confusing at the best of times. Here I want to discuss why we use them, when it's time to discard them and how they can help.

PILATES

Kerryn Jordaan

6/6/20243 min read

If you have been in any of my classes, the breathing pattern is one of the first things we discuss. On the surface level, it may seem pedantic and unnecessary but I really wanted to deep dive into this topic to shed some light on why I personally feel that the Pilates breathing patterns are beneficial. Saying this, I also have discarded them when working with some of my clients.

So why I would discard them if I find a structured breathing pattern so important? In my experience I would boil it down to first time clients and co-ordination. Some people struggle to connect with their bodies and when I am leaning over them, giving at least 5 different instructions to move and hold certain muscles, and then to still to add a very specific breathing pattern for that one exercise (not to mention explain a different breathing pattern for a new exersice)...it get's a little complicated to say the least. This can become counter -productive and quite frankly, very confusing.

I look at the person in front of me and if I have someone who I can see is struggling, I am not going to add the extra burden of a complicated breathing pattern. I can and generally do get back to it when my client is better acquainted with the movements but there is a time and a place to drop the breathing patterns.

Why do I value the breathing pattern?

To start with, I need all my clients to breathe...they tend to return to class when they are alive and well. I am being facetious but I have seen all to often my clients turn blue from holding their breath and every time I say, "Give me a big inhale..." they do exactly that! It is a outright reminder that while we are going through many new movements and becoming beautifully familiar with holding our bodies in challenging positions, we need to inhale and then exhale with the movement. I know that seems glaringly obvious but this is my main reason.

It gets far better and more scientific, which I love!

When we allow ourselves to take a DEEP inhale and a CONTROLLED exhale we obtain the following benefits:

  1. Oxygenated blood.

  2. The muscles groups get the benefit of the nutrients, minerals and vitamins already present in the bloodstream, being pumped all over the body at a better rate.

  3. Improved circulation.

  4. Better concentration levels due to the oxygen being carried to your brain.

  5. Helps create a rhythm as you move.

  6. Lowers blood pressure and heart rate.

  7. Helps reduce your stress hormones in the blood thus dropping your stress levels.

  8. Increases your physical energy.

  9. Improves immune system functioning.

  10. Balances levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood.

  11. Reduction of lactic acid build-up in muscle tissue.

These are to name a few of the physiological changes in your body when you really think about your breathing and do so purposefully, aka, controlled breathing.

So yes, I will most certainly try and implement these methods but while all these benefits are amazing there is also a very practical reason why I get these patterns into the classes I offer. When you give me a big lateral breath and you control that exhale and really think about it, your diaphragm relaxes and is pushed upward by the underlying organs into a dome shape and with more rigorous controlled breathing pattern, many other muscles can be pulled into play during exhalation and inhalation including the abdominals and the internal intercostals...basically saying, you can do the movement better!

While I have been brief in my explanation (trust me, if you were looking at the information I am looking at, I have been brief!) I truly find that once you get used to the movements in Pilates, the breathing patterns fit like a hand in a glove and work well together. I personally find that the breathing patterns ads structure to the work we do, helps keep me focused and actually aids my muscles do the work at hand.

In saying all this, do not be disillusioned if the breathing pattern is getting the better of you, remember to breathe naturally and concentrate on the movement and the rest will come, little by little. But the deal is, you have to BREATHE! Don't hold your breath to exert yourself, you will only compromise your work in other ways.

In conclusion, if you are doing a Pilates class, you're doing great and keep at it because soon you will see the amazing benefits to unfold. If you manage the breathing patterns, again, I think you too will see how useful they can be and if you are struggling, you will see yourself that it takes a little time, but what you are struggling with this week, will soon be a pest of the past.

Keep at it and remember, little by little, you are going from strength to strength.

See you in class.

Kerryn

References: BASI Course Guide & https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/breathing-to-reduce-stress