Basic Principles: Breathing
First Basic Principle: Breathing
Breathing is one of the most important principles for your Pilates practice and your everyday life. Breath connects every movement in the body and in all exercises, the breath and awareness of stability will often initiate the movement.
Breathing is the first act of life and the last. Everything we do depends on it. – Joe Pilates
Breathing properly promotes efficient oxygen exchange, works to focus your mind, helps promote freedom of movement in your upper back and reduces unnecessary tension in the neck and shoulders. Exhaling deeply starts to activate your deepest layer of abdominal muscles and provides connection with the pelvic floor. Not only that but breathing well can decrease pain, enhance sleep and diminish stress.
Let’s get started.
The following PDF manual covers the exercises we go through in our Basic Principles videos.
Key Points to Remember
- Breath moves laterally to open the rib cage out and to the sides
- Inhale through the nose and exhale through a pursed lip (like blowing out candles)
- Keep the neck and shoulders relaxed while focusing on the breath in
- Gentle contraction of the pelvic floor when exhaling to aid in firing the transverse abdominis
- Activate the transverse abdominis to provide lower back and pelvic stability by drawing abdominals in towards the spine like a belt tightening around the waist (this is not belly button to spine)