Breathing is a core principle of pilates and with good reason. Appropriate use of breathing techniques can facilitate movement as well create as a deeper mind-body connection that reduces stress, anxiety, pain and brings a greater sense of wellbeing. Certainly, if your body is in a stress state at the beginning of a Pilates class you may find it harder to connect with your body and move as efficiently or with as good awareness about where to move from.
When we are feeling stressed, anxious or in pain, we are in our sympathetic nervous system, or our fight or flight mode and breathing becomes shallow (accessory breathing). This shallow breathing can then lead to more stress and anxiety, creating a vicious cycle.
When the nervous system is in the sympathetic mode, we experience symptoms such as faster breathing, heightened pain, muscle tension, anxiety, dry mouth, sweating, increased heart rate, dizziness and digestive issues.
Conversely, when we breathe deeply, we activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps to calm our bodies and mind.
Here are 3 calming breathing techniques to try:
1. Box breathing (4-4-4) is a simple and effective breathing technique that can help calm the nervous system. To practise box breathing:
Find a comfortable position where you can sit or lie down with your back straight.
Close your eyes and inhale for a count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of four.
Exhale for a count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of four.
Repeat this cycle for 5-10 minutes or at least 10 cycles.
Progression: Add diaphragmatic breathing (2) to your box breathing practise
2. Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, is a type of deep breathing that involves using your diaphragm, the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen, to breathe. To practise diaphragmatic breathing:
Find a comfortable position where you can sit or lie down with your back straight.
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, allowing your stomach to rise (imagine that you are filling your belly with air) and your chest to remain still.
Exhale slowly through your mouth, allowing your stomach to fall and your chest to remain still (imagine that you are pushing all of the air out of your body).
Repeat this for 5-10 minutes.
Progression: once you have mastered diaphragmatic belly breathing, try lateral pilates breathing where you will focus on directing the breath into the back of the body and the sides of the ribcage - this time placing your hands on the sides of your body around the lower ribs.
Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, imagine sending your breath into your hands and feel the lungs and ribs expand sideways pushing your hands up. Sense the back ribs backwards.
Exhale through your mouth. Your ribs will close down and the hands will draw back towards each other.
Repeat this breathing pattern several times until you feel the ribs expanding and contracting.
3. Alternate nostril breathing is a type of breathing that involves alternating the flow of air through each nostril. To practise alternate nostril breathing:
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position
Close your right nostril with your right thumb.
Inhale slowly through your left nostril.
Close your left nostril with your ring finger and exhale slowly through your right nostril.
Inhale slowly through your right nostril.
Close your right nostril with your thumb and exhale slowly through your left nostril.
Continue this pattern for 5-10 minutes.
A few minutes of mindful breathing interspersed throughout the day can help to ground and calm you.
These are just 3 of the many breathing techniques that can be calming for the nervous system. If you find that one technique doesn't work for you, try another one. With regular practise, you can learn to use these techniques to help you relax and manage your stress or other unwanted symptoms.
My experiences of breathwork practise:
I regularly check in on my breath throughout my day, to ensure that I stay grounded or to re-ground! Just a few mindful moments focussing on my breath whilst I'm making a cup of tea or driving my daughter to school (please don't hold your breath whist driving) can be massively helpful. As a sufferer of endometriosis and scleroderma (systemic sclerosis), some days I will encounter stiffness, aches and considerable pain - it's easy for the body to revert to a holding pattern and a place of anxiety and thoughts of "will my pain ever end"? Breathwork has become a fantastic tool to help me through tough times. In the last couple of years with the arrival of perimenopause, the power of deep breathing, alongside regular pilates practise (and HRT!), has been amazing to create ease within my body to manage peri menopausal anxiety and even dizziness from anxiety or hormonal migraines.
Which breathing technique will you try?
Comment below with your experiences and check out our private pilates sessions and group classes for more help and advice.
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