"Above all, learn how to breathe correctly." -Joseph Pilates
If you are new to Pilates, your first session can already feel overwhelming with all of the equipment, and springs, and choreography...and then, oh yeah, you need to breathe, too!
And I'll admit, it can be so easy to gloss over the breathing part of it all as we try to figure the rest out. As your Pilates teacher, that first session can feel like a big undertaking as I'm trying to equip you with so much new information, without scaring you so much that you don't want to come back next week.
However, lately I have noticed some really big changes during clients' sessions when we have taken the time to slow down, sometimes even stop what we are doing, and just talk about the breath a little bit more.
Quite simply, breathing can calm our nervous system. It is a tool we all have at the ready, literally any time of day, wherever we may be. The key is just remembering, in the moments we need it most, to use it! In Pilates, diaphragmatic lateral breathing is often taught . This is a great way to breathe fully, while still maintaining core engagement. We focus on trying to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth-and using this technique you may even *hopefully* be able to feel your pelvic floor engagement at the end of each exhale.
In Pilates, we are often times working the deeper layers of our muscles. To access these muscles well, this type of breathing is so helpful. When I talk my clients through this breathing, I can literally see the change right before my eyes! And because Pilates is all about Quality over Quantity...taking a little time to figure out the breathing first, can be so worth it.
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...because I feel a video tutorial coming soon;) And if you do nothing else before you head to the next thing in your day, go ahead and sit up tall. Take one deep long inhale through your nose, and then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat as desired;)
