Breath and Pilates

Breath and Pilates are so intimately linked, when a colleague recently asked me, what are 2 things you wish every client would do?, I knew straight away. Teaching Pilates in Lennox Head to mamas and active agers gives me a chance to open my clients up to new ways of thinking about exercise.

Usually that starts with these two things:

1. Slow down
2. Breathe

Being rather than doing

Slowing down and breathing are not really things to do, they are about being rather than doing. 

Slowing down, opens up everything. Slowing down releases judgement. Just by letting go of controlling the pace of things, we let go of having to finish, or having to work as hard as possible. By slowing down, we are able to embrace ourselves. 

Slowing down, allows us to learn to grasp, new ideas and ways of seeing ourselves. Movement becomes a mode of self discovery, and learning, changes us.

Come to movement open, to the messages and gifts waiting to be given by your body. Let go of what you think you want and let your body teach you what’s possible. 

My experience

I always felt connected to my body, but I didn’t know my body well I knew her aches and pains her joys and pleasures, but I didn’t really know her needs.

I didn’t know how to bend down in a way that nourished my body, how to squat to tone my pelvic floor, how to stand to strengthen my legs, and how to breathe to release tension in my neck and back and shoulders. 

Now I know about these needs in my body, I see these needs in the bodies around me. I am astounded at the discomfort people choose to endure. Usually in the name of work. The type backs, the gardening is the crushed feet and the gripping bones. 

I want to place a hand on your body and say come, come to movement open. Let me be your guide to discover new ways to habit your body. This can change everything. 

Embrace,

Trace the trail of your breath,

Expanding you on the inside.

Why breath matters

Allowing your breath to be at the centre of your movement, aligns your mind and your body. Allowing breath to power you and show you if you are connected. 

Whilst breath is an autonomic movement, happening without us having to try. The way we move every day can interrupt the natural mechanics of our breathing system, causing us to fall out of alignment.

Once the alignment of your breathing system is not optimal you lose out on power , strength and stability.

Why is it hard / different?

When I ask people to slow down and breathe sometimes they are concerned that they won’t get the same benefits from exercise if they are not pushing the pace.

Whilst cardio exercise is great for us, approaching strength and stability work with a cardio mindset can create some problems. There is no doubt that breath and Pilates will deliver you a multitude of benefits such as:

• An oxygenated body;
• A calm nervous system;
• A stable core.

And so I want you to slow down and breathe, so you can transform pain into understanding and discomfort into learning, that leads you to a new way of moving, which becomes a new way of being.