Power of Breath, Part 2

The Diaghram

The diaghram is a large dome-shaped muscle that sits at the base of the lungs.  Your abdominal muscles help move the diaphgram and give you more power to take deep breaths and empty the lungs.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Adding diaphragmatic breathing, otherwise know as belly breathing, to movement will not only help strengthen the core, but add more power to each movement. Other benefits include:

*Helps focus the mind

*Relaxes the body

*Increases oxygen flow to the body which in turn helps muscles work more efficiently

*Activates deepest layer of abdominal muscles which helps keep them strong

Combine Diaphragmatic Breathing with Exercise

Think of a jellyfish, and how it expands and contracts.  Now imagine the same thing as you breathe.  This will help you find that deep abdominal connection before you even begin your exercise routine.    Next, as you start to move, try to find a natural breathing rhythm to match your movements.  Here’s a quick tip, for exercises that involve reaching the arms and legs, try to exhale when the limbs draw in towards your center or core.  With exercises that involve rounding the spine, exhale as the spine flexes foward.  Play around with this and see what works for you.  I always tell clients not to get too hung up on the breathing cues.  The most important thing to remember is to keep moving, and with more practice, the coordination of breathing and movement will get easier.   You might be surprised at what this can do for both your brain and your body.

The Power of Breath, part 1

When you exercise, do you pay attention to how you breathe?  Most people don’t.

When someone comes to pilates for the first time, they might be surprised to hear breathing cues.  To understand the importance of breath and its impact on movement, let’s take a look at what happens when we breathe.   

The act of breathing.

Inhalation allows the body to take in oxygen and deliver it to your muscles.  The more oxygen you take in, the more efficient your muscles can work.  Equally important is the exhale.  In pilates, we want you to try to exhale all of the air out of your lungs.  By doing this, you’ll be activating those deeper abdominal muscles and getting rid of carbon dioxide which, at the end of the day, allows for deeper oxygen intake.

Do you take shallow or deep breaths?

The following exercise will help you determine how you typically breathe.

Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet placed hip distance apart.  Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach.  Now, take a deep breathe and notice if one hand rises and falls more than the other.  If the hand on your chest rises and falls more so than the hand on the stomach, then you may be more of a shallow breather.  If the hand on your stomach rises and falls more than the hand on the chest, then you are more of a diaphragmatic breather.

In pilates, we encourage you to breathe fully using your diaphragm.  This will allow better oxygenation of the red blood cells, and lead to more efficient movement.  If you tend to breathe in your upper chest, take a few minutes each day and focus on breathing into your low belly.   You may be surpised what it can do for your exercise routine.  In our next post, we’ll be discussing how diaphragmatic breathing benefits movement.