What is breath?

This is the second principle of Pilates. One of my favorite quotes from Joseph Pilates is “Breathing is the first act of life and the last. Our very life depends on it.” How incredibly true is that!
Without breath we won’t be here. It’s so important that when life gets tough, to slow down, become aware and focus on your breath, and just be in the moment. It’s amazing what breathing can do when you are in a stressful or anxious moment or situation.
According to Google, “Breath means the air taken into or expelled from the lungs.
The power of breathing, it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with Pilates. In Pilates the breathing is inhale through the nose directing the breath into the sides of the ribs, expanding the ribs latterly, and exhale through the mouth closing the ribcage down and in.
And it’s amazing how one when you get your breathing technique right, how your Pilates practice improves, and you instantly move stronger and move more fluently. I always have quite a laugh with clients. I always tell them I know I sound like a broken record but it’s for good reason, because I always get a good giggle when I look at clients and they are busy turning RED in the face, completely forgetting about their breath, and the instant I just mention BREATH, how everything just seems simpler to them. So, I always tell them; “you see, breath is important! I don’t stand in front of you guys saying all these things to be a pain, I’m saying it for good reason.”
So yes, breathe people, breathe, it’s important. Then also, at the end of the day there’s so many breathing techniques out there and it’s so important to just like I said when things get tough just to take a second and breathe.
One of my favorite breathing techniques to use during stressful situations, is to inhale for four counts expanding the belly and the ribs, hold the breath for four counts, and then as you exhale slowly for four counts, focus on your abdominals drawing towards your spine as you deflate it into the belly and the lungs. Repeat that three or four times and you’ll instantly feel lighter and better. So yes, breathe people, your life depends on it.