3 Ways to Improve Your Breathing Outside of Pilates Class

Whether you’re just starting out or a long-time pilates practitioner, there are many ways to bring the benefits of increased body awareness and intentional breathing that are part of a Pilates session into your daily life outside of class.

These three tips will help you strengthen the body/breathe connection and slowly improve your breathing habits in your everyday life.

Engage your abs while walking

When walking you can experiment by checking in on yourself and making small adjustments to your body to help improve your breath. Ask yourself, how are you walking? How much effort is it taking? What is your posture like?

Then try engaging the abs (the cue of bringing your belly button towards your spine is often used to engage your abs during a pilates session), take a breath, and walk again.

Notice what’s different. If you are feeling tired while walking or hiking, you can consciously engage your belly (abs) in this way, and you will likely feel more ease immediately. It’s like magic, drawing your body into a movement pattern that maximizes efficiency.

Set a timer while sitting at a desk

Sitting is something that we are doing a lot of, and often hunched over a computer. Throughout the day check in with yourself. How are you breathing? How is your posture when sitting?

If you sit towards the edge of your chair with your feet and legs apart, this will naturally bring your body into a neutral spine position. This will allow you to take a fuller breath with ease.

Set a timer every 20 minutes and then bring awareness to your body and breathing. You can use this time to breathe in fully for several rounds of breathing. You can also take a short break, stand up, and walk around.

Focus on full breathing

Many of us hold our breath without being aware of this in our daily lives. We also often tend to breathe shallow and fast, especially when we’re feeling stressed with work and the pressures of a busy life. But our body truly functions best with deep, full breaths.

That’s because full breathing increases the oxygenation in the body. Joseph Pilates called the effects of this being like an “internal shower.” He said in his book, Return To Life, “As a heavy rainstorm freshens the water of a sluggish or stagnant stream and whips it into immediate action, so does the Pilates Method purify the bloodstream.”

Why breath is so critical in Pilates

The focus on breathing in Pilates workouts is critical to receiving maximum benefit. Instructors cue an inhale through the nose filling up the side and back body with an exhale out of the mouth. These breathing cues focus attention on breathing fully and deeply.

Synchronizing the exhale with the more challenging movements can also bring more ease into the body and by extension, the movement. You can apply these principles to other daily activities as well.

At the Pilates Collective here in Denver, our certified instructors are experts when it comes to the art of breath in Pilates. You’ll quickly start to feel the benefits of strengthening your mind/body connection through breath, not just during class but also after you leave the studio!

If you’re completely new to Pilates, we’ll introduce you to the fundamental techniques of deep breathing during a private introductory session. But don’t worry, if you just want to dive into a small group class and get to know the community, we’ll help you decide which type of session is best for your body and your needs.

So drop in and say hi at either one of our Denver locations, Pilates Collective U Hills or Pilates Collective Baker on North Broadway.

And remember, in the words of Joseph Pilates, “remember to breathe” in and outside of your Pilates practice!