German gymnast and bodybuilder Joseph Pilates developed what is known today as Pilates. If you’re interested in learning Pilates you must first learn how to do the breathing procedure properly. Here are the steps on how to properly breathe while doing Pilates.
Joseph Pilates wrote that we can only get benefits from physical exercises if we know how to breathe properly. Thus, learning proper breathing technique is a must. In simple terms, breathing the right way involves inhaling and exhaling completely; the process is analogous to drying a wet cloth completely out of water. But how can we do that?
The diaphragm, which is located under the lungs, is the primary breathing muscle of the body. It contracts and relaxes while we inhale and exhale. If we do not relax our diaphragm completely while we exhale, air will stay and accumulate at the bottom of our lungs. Exhaling properly and completely removes all the excess air in our lungs and improves the flow of air in our lungs.
A benefit of breathing properly is that it can also promote peace of mind by relieving stress and tension in our body. On the other side, breathing incorrectly while doing Pilates exercises can result in a needlessly tiring work-out.
Pilates primarily involves six important principles: centering, flow, breath, control, precision and concentration. You can learn Pilates alone at your home or practice it with the help of a Pilates Guru.
Breathing is a major principle in Pilates, and most Pilates instructors usually spend a day or more discussing the techniques of proper breathing.
- First, a comfortable or convenient position is very important. You could be sitting or lying just keep in mind to choose a position that you are most comfortable in. You will not achieve the goal of proper breathing if you feel awkward because of a wrong position. If you chose to be on your back, remember that you should always bend your knees slightly.
- After the positioning, try to relax your shoulders. Keep your backbone as straight as possible, though. Keep your weight at the lower part of your body and remain the upper part as relax as possible.
- Now, start practicing your breathing, make a deep but slow breaths. When you inhale, make sure to fill your lungs and diaphragm completely with air. To do this, picture in mind that the air you inhale fills each parts of your body passing from your nose to your upper lungs and so on. After inhaling, try to exhale, the opposite of what you did when you inhaled. You should start emptying air in the lower parts of your lungs, then the upper part, and then push the air out of your body.
- Do repetitions. You cannot do the breathing techniques perfectly in just one try so repeat it as many times as you can. Doing this can relax and refresh your mind and body. This may be a little discouraging at first when you cannot feel the benefits yet but soon you will get used to it too.
Concentration is very important while doing this. Whenever thoughts come into your mind just let them pass by as quickly as possible.
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