Our breath is the foundation of our lives. Breathing is one of the first actions we do on our own after our bodies are birthed and one of the last actions we do as we exit the body. Our breath has the power to set the tone for how we respond or react to each and every moment we are facing, no matter what is happening within us, to us, or around us. Without our breath, we wouldn’t be here. It’s no surprise that Joe Pilates, being the genius that he was, said, “Above all, learn how to breathe correctly.”
There are different types of breathing: diaphragmatic breathing, thoracic breathing, and abdominal breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing is often considered the most productive, thoracic breathing the least productive yet still necessary, and abdominal breathing tends to fall somewhere in between. The common theme in every type of breath is that there is a pattern: an inhale, a pause, an exhale, another pause, and then it repeats. The timing, breath capacity, and biological function of how the breath is received and released is what allows us to differentiate between these types of breathing.
When Joe used the word “correctly,” what I truly sense he meant was as efficiently as possible in each moment and movement. Following his movements as he prescribed them would naturally return the body to a more diaphragmatic breath. And let’s not forget, he was German, and we know how much German culture tends to appreciate clear, direct efficiency of design.
During the years I trained with Jay Grimes, who trained directly with Joe and Clara Pilates, he was very clear that Joe wanted you to, “MOVE!” There wasn’t an extensive breakdown on how to breathe, just that you were expected to do it. If a client asked Joe how to breathe, he’d apparently tell them, “In with the air and out with the air.” And if he was ever asked what a specific exercise was for, the answer was simply, “Good for the body.”
In my own years of practice and teaching, it has become evident that your movement can inform your breath and your breath can inform your movement. Both are valid at different times. If you get too far into your head about how and when you should be breathing, it can create unnecessary tension in the body and disrupt the fluidity of energy and movement. The same thing tends to happen when you hold your breath. So, while yes, we need to learn how to breathe correctly, we also can’t overthink it. Breath, at its core, is the seed of movement. And if we’re moving well, we have a greater chance of breathing well—and vice versa.
Breathing is not just a biological function that we depend on to survive. It’s also a useful and free tool for healing the body and focusing the mind. This feels especially relevant in our overstimulated digital society.
Let’s take a moment to understand how the breath works. During an inhale, oxygen is brought into the body, fueling our movements and feeding the brain. When we’re in danger, we breathe faster, which sets off a chain of chemical processes that enable us to fight, flee, freeze, or fawn. Our heart rate naturally increases with each inhale and decreases with each exhale. As breathing rate increases, the heart pumps faster to deliver oxygen more efficiently, and the body produces more cortisol.
Cortisol is the stress hormone that increases glucose in the bloodstream for quick bursts of energy while also inhibiting dopamine and serotonin, the counterbalancing hormones that promote calm and well-being. Just as the inhale amps us up, the exhale is what calms us down. During an exhale, the body begins to reverse many of the stress responses described above.
To put it simply, when your inhale is longer than your exhale, your heart rate tends to increase. When your exhale is longer than your inhale, your heart rate slows down. Increasing the inhalation stimulates the Sympathetic Nervous System, while increasing the exhale activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System, often referred to as the rest-and-digest state.
In the book Breath by James Nestor, which I highly recommend, he writes: “The perfect breath is this: breathe in for about 5.5 seconds, then exhale for 5.5 seconds. That’s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 liters of air.” Where in The Pilates Method do we learn about this breath? Why, The Hundred, of course.
This sheds light on why it is the first exercise traditionally executed on the mat. The Hundred is the warm-up. It gets us breathing well, the heart pumping, and the blood flowing. It nourishes and invigorates the body while preparing it for what’s to come. And remember, you can start slow, just as Joe Pilates prescribed: “Begin with only 20 movements and gradually increase them in units of 5 additional movements each time until a maximum of 100 movements is reached. Never exceed 100 movements.”
It’s very clear that Joe understood the necessity and importance of the exhale as well. He wrote, “You must squeeze every atom of impure air from lungs until they are almost as free of air as a vacuum.” Joe even created his own tool, the Breath-A-Cizer, to help boost and enhance lung capacity.
Most human beings breathe somewhere between twelve and sixteen times per minute, and most use less than twenty percent of their lung capacity during normal breathing. Why so much focus on the exhale, aside from the fact that it puts us in a calmer and less stressful state? Because the inhale will occur naturally. You can hold your breath only so long before your body automatically inhales due to its inherent desire to live.
Many people who have experienced asthma understand how important it is to enhance the exhale in order to slow the breath and allow a fuller inhale to occur—not the other way around. When lung capacity expands, the number of breaths per minute during normal breathing naturally decreases, allowing us to operate more efficiently and effectively.
If you are breathing, you are moving in the most basic form. In Pilates, we are tasked with layering more movement on top of the breath. If we learn to breathe well, we ultimately learn to move well. The Pilates Method also teaches us how to create space where space is needed and stability where stability is needed, and breath is a key player in allowing both to occur.
Because each body has its own unique patterning, makeup, and environment, it is impossible to say there is only one correct way to breathe within each movement. Yes, there are breathing patterns traditionally taught with certain exercises because they enhance and deepen the work, but that isn’t the case for every single movement. On some days, we may need to slow the breath and movement down to connect more deeply. On other days, movement may need to be quicker so we don’t grip, hold tension, or overthink. Often, we need a combination of both within a single session.
According to Breath by James Nestor, the healthiest people tend to be those who can quickly turn on their stress response and just as quickly turn it off. By maintaining awareness of where the mind flows and where the body goes, we can always come back to the breath. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving, allowing us to move through life with more grace, intention, and response-ability—but only if we choose to use it.
“They say, if your breath becomes 11 per minute, you understand the language of every animal and bird around you. If your breath becomes nine, you understand the very language that the Earth is speaking. If your breath becomes seven, you know everything that is worth knowing in existence. That means your body becomes so stable that there is no static, no crackle – it just perceives everything. Even now, the body perceives – otherwise you could not exist. You may not be conscious of it, but your body understands exactly how the Earth is spinning, what is happening with the Sun, what is happening with everything. As long as you live, your body is adjusting to all that.”
~ Sadhguru
If this reflection on breath and movement sparks curiosity about how foundational systems support the whole body, Aubrey Mock Johnson continues that exploration in her newest Power Pilates workshop, Inner Reflections Through Reflexology. Focusing on the feet as a key organizer of total-body efficiency, the workshop examines how alignment at the ground level influences the knees, hips, spine, and overall movement quality. Through thoughtful observation and practical application, this experience invites a deeper understanding of how one's foundational support creates greater freedom, ease, and integration throughout the body.
