How to Breathe in Pilates

Summary

This video script addresses a common Pilates question: how to engage the abdominals while breathing. The instructor emphasizes the importance of practice and persistence. Joseph Pilates advocated for full exhalation to strengthen respiratory muscles but did not focus much on breathing techniques. The script offers tips on breathing with the stomach pulled in, including exercises for lateral and back breathing to expand lung capacity. It also introduces the 'breathisizer,' a tool created by Pilates for opera singers to improve lung capacity and muscle strength, suggesting that re-coordination of breathing is a mental task that continues throughout one's Pilates journey.

Takeaways

• 🧘‍♀️ Practice is essential for mastering the art of breathing with the abdominals pulled in during Pilates.
• 🎼 Joseph Pilates did not emphasize breathing techniques extensively but focused on expelling all air to strengthen respiratory muscles.
• 👐 Begin by placing hands on the lower belly and breathing naturally, imagining lungs as balloons filling up to the base of the pelvis.
• 🔗 Connect with lower abdominals by pulling them in, lengthening the lower back, and maintaining this position while breathing in and out.
• 💨 Understand that a slight lift while keeping abdominals in is normal as air fills the lungs.
• 🌬 Shift focus to lateral and back breathing to expand lung capacity, avoiding the front of the body which is the usual breathing pattern.
• 🤲 Place hands on the sides of the body to practice breathing into the sides, allowing the hands to expand sideways as the ribs open.
• 🙌 Feel the difference when placing hands under the lower back, focusing on the heaviness of the fingers as you breathe in and out.
• 🧠 Recognize that coordinating new breathing spaces is a mental task and should be gradually incorporated into Pilates practice.
• 🗝️ The 'breathisizer' is a tool created by Joseph Pilates for opera singers to help expel all air from the lungs and expand lung capacity.
• 💪 Strengthening respiratory muscles is a part of Pilates, even if not frequently discussed, and is a lifelong practice.

Q & A

Why is it challenging to keep abdominals pulled in while breathing in Pilates?

It is challenging because it requires practice and persistence to master the skill of breathing with the abdominals engaged, which is a common question among Pilates practitioners.

Did Joseph Pilates emphasize breathing techniques in his original Pilates method?

Joseph Pilates did not talk about breathing a lot in his original method. He focused more on getting all the air out to strengthen the muscles of respiration.

What is the purpose of breathing exercises in Pilates?

The purpose of breathing exercises in Pilates is to strengthen the muscles of respiration and to expand the capacity of the lungs by using lateral and back breathing techniques.

How should one start practicing breathing with the lower abdominals engaged?

One should start by placing their hands on the lower belly and doing a natural breath, imagining the lungs filling up like giant balloons, and then gradually connecting to the lower abdominals while keeping them pulled in during inhalation and exhalation.

Outlines

00:00

🧘‍♀️ Mastering Breathing Techniques in Pilates

This paragraph discusses the common challenge of maintaining abdominal engagement during Pilates breathing exercises. The instructor emphasizes the importance of practice and persistence. Joseph Pilates, the founder, did not extensively discuss breathing but focused on full exhalation to strengthen respiratory muscles. The instructor then introduces techniques for breathing with the stomach pulled in, starting with a natural breath and progressing to engaging the lower abdominals while maintaining this position. The paragraph also touches on the concept of lateral and back breathing to expand lung capacity, which is different from the typical front-opening breathing pattern. Various hand placements are suggested to assist with these breathing exercises.

05:02

🎭 Breathing Exercises and the Breath-A-Lizer

The second paragraph continues the discussion on breathing in Pilates, offering additional insights and a historical note. The instructor suggests that beginners should focus on basic breathing and abdominal engagement without overcomplicating their practice. The paragraph concludes with an introduction to the 'breath-a-lizer,' a device invented by Joseph Pilates to aid opera singers in maximizing lung capacity and clearing the lungs. The device is used by spinning a wheel while inhaling deeply, promoting full exhalation. The instructor encourages viewers to practice this technique using a makeshift pinwheel or their hand to compress air, and to share any questions or comments about the class.

Keywords

💡Abdominals

The 'abdominals' refer to the group of muscles in the abdominal region, including the rectus abdominis (the 'six-pack' muscles) and the obliques. In the context of the video, the focus is on engaging and maintaining tension in these muscles during Pilates exercises, particularly while breathing. The script emphasizes the importance of keeping the abdominals pulled in to strengthen the muscles of respiration and support the spine.

💡Breathing

Breathing is a fundamental aspect of Pilates, as it helps to coordinate movement and engage the core muscles. The script discusses the challenge of breathing while keeping the abdominals engaged, highlighting the need for practice to master this skill. It also explains different breathing techniques, such as lateral and back breathing, to expand lung capacity and maintain core engagement.

💡Pilates

Pilates is a form of low-impact exercise that focuses on strength, flexibility, and posture. The video script centers around the practice of Pilates, specifically addressing the common question of how to maintain abdominal engagement during breathing exercises within this discipline. The script provides tips and techniques to improve Pilates practice.

💡Practice

The term 'practice' is emphasized in the script as a key component to mastering Pilates techniques, particularly the coordination of breathing and abdominal engagement. It suggests that consistent and persistent practice is necessary to improve and internalize these skills, which are crucial for an effective Pilates workout.

💡Lower Abdominals

The 'lower abdominals' are the muscles located in the lower part of the abdominal region, which play a significant role in core stability and strength. The script instructs viewers to engage these muscles while breathing, as part of the Pilates exercises, to maintain a strong core and support the lower back.

💡Lateral Breathing

Lateral breathing is a technique mentioned in the script where the focus is on expanding the sides of the ribcage during inhalation, rather than the front of the body. This method is used in Pilates to increase lung capacity and maintain core engagement by breathing into the sides and back of the lungs.

💡Back Breathing

Back breathing, as described in the script, involves expanding the back of the ribcage during inhalation to create more space for the lungs to fill with air. This technique is part of the Pilates breathing exercises that aim to strengthen the respiratory muscles and enhance lung capacity.

💡Joseph Pilates

Joseph Pilates is the founder of the Pilates method. The script references his approach to breathing, which focused on expelling all air from the lungs to strengthen the muscles of respiration. It also mentions a device he created for opera singers to improve their lung capacity and breathing control.

💡Opera Singers

The script mentions that Joseph Pilates worked with opera singers, indicating the crossover of Pilates techniques into other disciplines where breath control is crucial. The 'breathisizer' tool he created for singers is an example of how Pilates principles can be applied to enhance performance in other areas.

💡Breathisizer

The 'breathisizer' is a device invented by Joseph Pilates, as mentioned in the script. It was designed to help individuals, such as opera singers, to fully expel air from their lungs and then take in a deep breath, thereby increasing lung capacity and strengthening respiratory muscles. The script describes using the breathisizer as a way to practice this breathing technique.

💡Engagement

In the context of the video, 'engagement' refers to the active involvement or activation of the abdominal muscles during Pilates exercises. The script discusses the importance of keeping the lower abdominals engaged while breathing to support the spine and enhance the effectiveness of the workout.

Highlights

Keeping abdominals pulled in while breathing in Pilates takes practice and persistence.

Joseph Pilates did not emphasize breathing much in his teachings.

Pilates breathing focuses on getting all the air out to strengthen respiratory muscles.

Place hands on lower belly and do a natural breath to start.

Inhale to the base of pelvis and exhale fully to practice normal breathing.

Connect to lower abdominals and try breathing in while keeping them pulled in.

Breathing with abdominals pulled in may feel different and vague at first.

Some abdominal lift is normal when breathing in with them pulled in.

In Pilates, make space on sides and back of lungs, not just front.

Lateral and back breathing expands lung capacity.

Place hands on sides to practice breathing into sides and expanding ribs.

Breathing in with one hand on side and other on low belly helps coordinate.

Place hands under lower back to feel expansion when breathing in.

Coordinating new breathing spaces is a mental task in Pilates.

As a beginner, focus on breathing and keeping lower abs engaged without overthinking.

The Breathisizer is a tool Joseph Pilates created for opera singers to expand lung capacity.

Use a pinwheel or hand to practice Breathisizer technique of compressing air.

Practicing Breathisizer helps strengthen respiratory muscles.

Transcripts

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if you're wondering how the heck to keep

your abdominals pulled in while

breathing in Pilates you're not alone

this is a super common question and the

answer is I'm going to give you some

tips but the answer is it takes practice

and persistence so that's my number one

tip is you're going to keep practicing

these skills okay Joseph Pilates

actually did not talk about breathing a

lot in Pilates he did have a device and

I'll show you I'll show you in the end

that he worked with with his opera

singers but um when he talked about

breathing it was much more about just

get all of the air out and that actually

helps to strengthen the muscles of

respiration so I'm going to show you

some tricks though on how to breathe

with your stomach in

um lying down

you're gonna start by just placing your

hands on your lower belly and in a

really relaxed way don't think about

pulling in your stomach at all right now

just do a natural breath imagining that

your lungs are two giant pink balloons

and you're filling them all the way up

to the bottom so inhale to the base of

your pelvis

let everything expand

and then exhale all that air out

okay so that's a natural normal Breath

Right

next we're going to try to connect to

our lower abdominals and then keeping

the lower abdominals in we'll try a

breath like that so pull in your lower

abs lengthen your lower back and holding

on to that position

breathe in and keep your lower abs

pulled in

and exhale

now you might have felt something was a

little bit different there maybe it's

very vague for you at this point and

that's okay you might also have felt

like you could keep your abdominals

pulled in but there was still a little

bit of a lift and that's actually fine

because there's air going in there and

there is going to be some slight change

you can't keep them like Rock Solid hard

um so that's that's normal

um just keeping that in mind now I'm

going to talk about where else to

breathe when you're trying to keep your

abdominals engaged because normally we

breathe all the way down and open the

front of our bodies to breathe so in

Pilates when you're connecting to your

abs you're going to try to make more

space on the sides and back of your

lungs than just in the front which is

what we're normally doing and by doing

this that lateral side breathing and

back breathing we're actually expanding

the capacity of our lungs so this is a

good thing also we're lying down for

most of these breathing exercises and

that's helpful too okay so so now we're

going to place the hands on the sides of

the body and practice that lengthening

of the uh pulling in of the lower

stomach while lengthening of the lumbar

spine and breathe into your sides so

that your hands expand sideways breathe

in

foreign

and try that one more time with just one

hand on your side and the other hand on

low belly breathe in

and breathe out

so you might feel your ribs opening

sideways and coming back together that's

good okay so then the last part we're

going to place our hands a little lower

under the lower back part and when you

breathe in try and feel your fingers if

your skin gets heavier on your fingers

so breathe in

and breathe out

and try it with one hand on your stomach

breathe in

and breathe out

so as you can feel there are places for

us to breathe and this coordinating of

being able to breathe in into these new

spaces is actually quite a mental task

so in the beginning of Pilates we don't

tend to talk about it a ton because as

teachers we know you've got a lot to

think about if you're simply breathing

that's great and thinking about keeping

your lower abdominals engaged you're

doing awesome so just keep practicing

that trying to re-coordinate it I even

forget to do this myself so it's a

practice that you'll continue to use

throughout your Pilates life the last

thing I wanted to share with you because

it's a fun little fact is this

breathisizer and this is a tool that

Joseph Pilates created when he was

working with opera singers and it's a

tool like I said he would talk about

when he described breathing getting all

the air out of the lungs in order to

empty dirty stuff in the bottom of lungs

clean things out and then it when you

breathe in again it expands and opens

new space so you would do it like this

you take a deep inhale

and try and spin the wheel as long as

you can

[Applause]

that wasn't my best effort but you get

the idea you can practice this yourself

with any kind of a pinwheel or you can

just make your hand

um have a nice little bit of a hole so

you can breathe through it you're just

basically compressing your air

[Applause]

and you're really getting all the air

out so that's a fun little fact

um to practice and it helps to expand

your lung capacity and strengthen those

muscles as well uh you can leave me any

questions below this class if you have

comments or thoughts about that and I

hope this helps you with your Pilates

practice

attack