Breathing. An Autonomic Response. There is no conscious action required for breathing to happen. No conscious effort! It happens without voluntary action. Yet, we notice the effort needed in walking up the stairs, trying to keep up with our children, just taking the groceries into the house. When we're not breathing, we become conscious. Seems like that's backwards, and yet, often we don't notice a good thing until it's gone.

Speaking of NOT breathing, as a teenager I had what was considered slight asthma. Regardless of my activities as a dancer and avid walker, I would have trouble breathing depending on the environment. That environment could be due to weather, or it could be due to emotional stress. I would hold my breathe, unconsciously. I didn't realize until I started my apprenticeship that I would hold my breath. I knew when I became stressed, that I could start hyperventilating, but was completely unaware of how I would just hold my breath. Looking back, I just pushed myself through because I craved the movement. It wasn't until I started Pilates and working on the "breathing" specific exercises that my asthma cleared. The reason I know it started to clear was because of my yearly check ups with a doctor. They would always check my breathing and lungs. Pilates taught me how to breathe properly! Who knew???

Clients would often ask Joseph Pilates during a workout, how to breathe. He would reply, "You don't teach a chicken or a pig how to breathe. They just breathe".  There are over 600 exercises in the Contrology method, and there are "breathing" specific exercises meant to teach you how to breathe. They coordinate movement and breathe to help expand your lungs. In the Basic Mat alone, there are four: The 100, The Roll Up (or Roll Down, depending on your work), The Double Leg Stretch and Spine Stretch Forward. Let's focus on The Double Leg Stretch!

Jay Grimes, a student of Joseph Pilates says that, "All of Pilates comes back down to The Double Leg Stretch". It exhibits the Six Principles: Centering, Concentration, Control, Precision, Breath, Flow. The one that we will focus on will be Breath. This exercise puts it in gorgeous alignment to work your back and lungs.

The Double Leg Stretch is a simple exercise, and yet hard to be dexterous in it's execution. Basically you are lying on your back, "Pilates Box" is square.   You are moving your arms in a circle, while your legs move straight out to a working level and back into the body. You coordinate this with your breathe. Inhale, limbs out. Exhale, limbs in. All this coordination, and trying to keep your back flat, ribs in, squeezing your legs together. Have fun trying! Oh yeah, ultimately you would do this would your head and shoulders rounded forward. Yeah, if you saw the exercise, you wouldn't think there's that much to execute. Physically trying to accomplish everything I just mentioned is another story.

Another exercise and apparatus Joseph Pilates invented was the Breath-A-Ciser. It looks like a hand held windmill. It's an expensive little piece of equipment, so I often have a pinwheel handy. You can purchase them in a 99 cents store! The exercise would require your stance and rounding down as you're blowing into the pinwheel. The goal is to keep the pinwheel at an even tempo the entire time, and to breathe into it all the way down. Keep an eye out on my Tik Tok and Instagram, as I'll post this exercise in the coming weeks.

So my friends, are you looking to expand your breathe and inhale life more deeply? Come, and try these exercises. Let me know how you do! I'd love to hear back from you!

Until next time….Love, Light and Blessings,

Julia