Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pilates Breath, The Importance of Correct Breathing ; © Fiona Wilkinson

Proper breathing is essential to any Pilates routine. Although we breathe automatically, the way we breathe is a habit we establish over time via our neurological system.

How we breathe is related to our physical state as well as our mental and emotional well being. Apart from helping rid the body of toxins, exercising our internal muscles and elongating the spine, working with our breath helps centre the mind and relieve tension. Not breathing properly while practicing Pilates will result in a half-hearted workout.

How to Breathe Correctly
In his book Return to Life, Joseph Pilates wrote: “Before any real benefits can be derived from physical exercise, one must first learn how to breathe properly. To breathe correctly you must completely exhale and inhale, always trying very hard to squeeze every atom of impure air from the lungs, in much the same manner you would wring every drop of water from a wet cloth.”

Our main breathing muscle is the diaphragm which is found beneath the lungs and contracts downwards to bring air into our body. It only relaxes when we exhale. If we are not relaxed in our rib cage area, our bodies retain air which accumulates at the bottom of our lungs and can hinder efficient breathing. By exhaling completely we improve the exchange of good air for bad air and keep our lungs fresh and clean.

Breathing and the Abdominal Muscles
Another good reason to focus on exhaling while doing Pilates is apart from ridding the body of bad air, our secondary breathing muscles, the ones responsible for helping with exhalation, are our abdominal muscles. By fully exhaling, you are also performing a full abdominal contraction. Even without flexing our trunk, when we deflate our torsos, the rib cage and abdominal cavity can descend. This releases the surface abdominals and activates our transverses abdominus, a key core muscle supporting the abdominal wall.

Breathing Awareness
There is no doubt that awareness of breathing can naturally help release tension in the body, rather like a good sigh. When you relieve your body from holding in too much air, you can take a nice deep breath of fresh air and feel more relaxed. Focusing on your breath will help achieve a sense of ease in your body, one of the principle benefits of practicing Pilates. The key to this is awareness. If we are conscious of our breathing habits we can start to feel how our diaphragm works and how the action of breathing affects the way we use our other core muscles.

Attention to breathing while practicing Pilates will improve your focus and concentration and give a sense of flow and rhythm to your movements. When you’re fully connected to your breath, you will feel lighter and the exercises will seem easier. Next time you do your workout, try letting your breath move you instead of the other way around. Experiment and enjoy it. But most of all, remember to breathe!

(taken from http://pilates.suite101.com/article.cfm/pilates_breath by Fiona Wilkinson

"Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology" by Joseph H. Pilates & John Miller

Buy "Pilates' Return to Life Through Contrology" by Joseph H. Pilates & John Miller at http://www.amazon.com/Pilates-Return-Life-Through-Contrology/dp/0961493798

This book represents the first major publication in 1945 by Joseph H. Pilates and William J. Miller detailing the exercises, poses, and instructions fundamental to the matwork developed by Joseph and Clara Pilates. Based on his concepts of a balanced Body and Mind, drawn from the approach espoused by the early Greeks, these are the exercises that currently sustain a worldwide revolution in fitness strategies and exercise techniques.

From the Back Cover: This book represents the first major publication in 1945 by Joseph H. Pilates and William J. Miller detailing the exercises, poses, and instructions fundamental to the matwork developed by Joseph and Clara Pilates. Based on his concepts of a balanced Body and Mind, drawn from the approach espoused by the early Greeks, these are the exercises that currently sustain a worldwide revolution in fitness strategies and exercise techniques.
Joseph Pilates has been nothing short of revolutionary in his impact on the world of fitness and exercise. You will learn in this book the original 34 exercises that he taught to his students, many of whom have become exercise gurus in their own right. These carefully designed exercises constitute the results of decades of scientific study, experimentation and research into the variety of physical ills that upset the balance of body and mind.

Pilates makes extraordinary claims about the benefits of his defined science of "Contrology". The exercises shown in this book constitute the breadth of his original definition of Contrology, and are basic to the growing army of worldwide trainers whose teachings rely on the instructions contained in this book. Living testimony to the validity of his own teachings, the photographs of this book are of Joseph Pilates himself at age sixty!

In this book, you will learn the exercises that Joseph Pilates recommended to accompany the basic advice (offered separately in his book, Your Health - see below) regarding posture, body mechanics, correct breathing, spinal flexibility, and physical education. It is fascinating to study these exercises and to discover the origins of what is being taught by fitness enthusiasts, health educators, and exercise trainers around the world.

(taken from the Editorial Review at http://www.amazon.com/Pilates-Return-Life-Through-Contrology/dp/0961493798)

Joseph H. Pilates

Who is Joseph Pilates?

Joseph H. Pilates himself, born in Germany in 1881, a frail childhood inspired his keen interest in physical fitness regimens. He studied yoga, Zen meditation, martial arts and other exercise techniques and became an accomplished gymnast, diver and boxer.

In the 1920s he devised a unique sequence of movements that worked the mind and muscle in harmony. While interned in England during the First World War, he refined his technique for his fellow internees. While working as a hospital orderly, he used bed springs to offer light resistance exercises to patients, an idea which later evolved into the
Pilates Cadillac or Trapeze Table.In 1926, Joseph Pilates moved to New York and opened up the first Pilates studio (referred to as "Contrology" back then) along with his wife, Clara Pilates. Among his clients were dancers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine, who appreciated how the exercise method created long, lean muscles without building bulk. Soon, some of his students ("disciples") began opening studios of their own. Joseph was an icon of fitness until he was 87, when complications from a fire took his life in 1967. However, his legacy lives on as Pilates exercise has become one of the most popular and respected fitness systems practiced around the world.

(taken from http://www.pilatesinsight.com/pilates/joseph-h-pilates.aspx)
http://pilatesinsight.com/