Breathe!

Here are some benefits Pilates breathing can have:⁠

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❤️It helps you relax, lowering the harmful effects of the stress hormone cortisol on your body⁠

❤️It lowers your heart rate⁠

❤️It helps lower your blood pressure⁠

❤️It helps you cope with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)⁠

❤️It improves your core muscle stability⁠

❤️It improves your body’s ability to tolerate intense exercise⁠

❤️It strengthens lungs and boosts immunity⁠

One of the biggest benefits of a deep lateral Pilates breath is to reduce stress.⁠

Being stressed keeps your immune system from working at full capacity. This can make you more susceptible to numerous health conditions. And over time, long-term (chronic) stress, even from seemingly minor inconveniences like traffic, issues with loved ones, or other daily concerns can cause you to develop anxiety or depression. Some deep Pilates breathing exercises can help you reduce these effects of stress.⁠

With healthy lungs, your diaphragm does most of the work when you inhale to bring fresh air in and exhale to get carbon dioxide and other gases out of your lungs.⁠

With respiratory conditions such as asthma, your lungs lose some of their elasticity or stretchiness, so they don’t go back to their original state when you exhale.⁠

Losing lung elasticity can cause air to build up in the lungs, so there’s not as much space for the diaphragm to contract for you to breathe in oxygen.⁠