Breathing is the one part of your Pilates practice that comes home with you. You cannot take a reformer on the tram, but you take your diaphragm everywhere, and how you use it shapes how well your core works all day.
Your diaphragm is part of your core
Picture the core as a container. Transversus abdominis wraps the front and sides, multifidus runs up the back, the pelvic floor forms the base. The diaphragm is the lid.
That is not a metaphor for teaching. It is the actual arrangement, and it explains why holding your breath undermines the whole system. Take the lid off a container and the pressure inside it has nowhere useful to go.
What happens when you hold your breath
Most people brace by inhaling and gripping. It feels strong. What it actually does is trap pressure, lock the ribcage and hand stabilising duty to the bigger surface muscles.
You end up rigid rather than supported, and rigid is not much use in a movement that needs to adapt as it goes.
What good breathing feels like
- Wide, not up. Your ribs should expand sideways and into your back, not lift toward your chin.
- The effort rides the exhale. Breathe out as the hard part happens and support arrives on its own.
- Nothing clenches. If your jaw or your shoulders join in, you are working too hard.
- It keeps going. If you notice you have stopped breathing, that is the signal to reset.
Why the reformer makes this click
Because the carriage gives you feedback. Breathe well and the movement is smooth. Hold your breath and the carriage jerks, or your range shrinks, and you feel it immediately.
Lying down also helps. With your back supported you can feel your ribs move against the carriage, which is much harder to sense standing up.
Try this before your next class
Sit tall with your hands on the sides of your lower ribs. Breathe in and aim to push your hands apart sideways. Breathe out slowly and let the ribs settle down and in. Four or five rounds.
No effort in the shoulders. If they move, make the breath smaller until they do not.
Where to go next
The breath makes more sense once you know what it is supporting, so What Is the Core is the natural companion. For the in-class technique, when to inhale and when to exhale on specific exercises, read How to Breathe During Your Pilates Classes.
Breathing is one of the first things taught in Foundation, our beginners class, because everything else is easier once it is working.
