In the early stages of Pilates, clients often ask, When should I breathe? When you are just beginning Pilates, if you find yourself asking this question the most important piece of advice is just breathe!
However, when you are ready to incorporate another layer and want to master breath control with the exercise, here are some simple guidelines to remember:
- During the releasing and relaxing part of your session (during the spiky ball exercises for example), you should focus on gentle, slow breaths and allow your body to relax.
- Once you start your warm-up exercises, like moving through your spine, start breathing into your sides, expanding the lower part of your ribcage. This allows the diaphragm to contract and relax effectively, drawing air in and out of the lungs, and allows your whole body to move more freely.
- Exhale on the most challenging phase of the exercise. For example, exhale when you are moving your leg away from your trunk in the single leg stretch. Inhale to return your leg toward your trunk.
It is important to remember that these general guidelines are just that – very general. Your instructor may cue breathing in a different way for a particular exercise to change the focus of the exercise, or to meet your individual needs.
