Discover the Power of Breathe with Love Pilates

Try this simple practice to help to calm you whenever you feel like life is getting on top of you, or at any time you feel that stress or anxiety building up throughout the day. 

Inhale fully for a count of 4,

Hold for a count of 4,

Exhale completely for a count of 4,

Hold for a count of 4,

Repeat for several rounds or until you feel a sense of calm and peace within you.

This can be practiced at any time during the day, as many times as you like.

THE BREATH IS THE BRIDGE LINKING OUR MIND AND BODY 

Breathwork is becoming more conscious of a biological function that most people forget about. 

Medical Research has shown:

one of the most accurate markers of longevity isn't genetics, isn't how much you exercise, isn't our diet ..... it's our lung capacity.

When we breathe regularly, at different  depths, different paces, different intensity, we improve our lung capacity.

Breathing needs to be considered alongside how much we eat how much we sleep and how much we exercise. You can eat and exercise properly but unless you breathe properly you are never going to be healthy!

-James Nestor: Breath

Your breathing is reflective of your Mental or Nervous state. How well you are able to control your nervous system, how well you are able to focus and control your body, if your breathing is all over the place, your actions are all over the place, your brain is scattered, your thoughts aren't straight and clear. We know how we breathe affects how we think....

-James Nestor: Breath

The practice of deep breathing helps to stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system, bringing us to a calm state.  

Diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which allows the body to rest and digest, slowing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure and respiratory rate and diverting blood supply towards the digestive and reproductive systems.

By contrast, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) raises the heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate, diverting blood to the brain and skeletal muscle in readiness for fight or flight

When the parasympathetic nervous system is active, the sympathetic nervous system becomes less active they counteract each other.

By deactivating or overriding the SNS, we can interrupt the vicious cycle of adrenaline and cortisol, which contribute to chronic stress levels and predispose us to anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, and panic attacks.

It is possible by voluntarily or consciously changing the rate, depth and pattern of breathing to change the messages being sent from the body's respiratory system to the brain. Furthermore, this suggests that we can send specific messages to the brain using the language of the body, a language, the brain understands and responds to.

Stress is an inevitable and normal part of our lives and isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Stress can be positive, keeping us alert and ready to avoid danger.

Stress helps us to get the job done and only becomes negative when we face continuous challenges without relief or relaxation in between.

This can result in us becoming overworked, stress related tension can set in and anxiety and overwhelm starts to build.

Adrenaline is the primary fight or flight hormone and is mainly responsible for the immediate reaction that happens when we are stressed.

If you imagine you are being chased by a fierce animal, your heart rate starts pounding, your breathing gets faster, your muscles tense up, and you may break into a sweat. The presence of the frightening stimulus triggers a cascade of hormones in the in the brain which results in adrenaline and cortisol being released. The adrenaline increases our heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and diverts blood to the brain – making you more alert – and the skeletal muscles in readiness for fight and flight to run away from the perceived threat.

Adrenaline also causes you to sweat to manage the heat created by the muscles working hard and contracts are pupils to sharpen our vision.

Meanwhile, cortisol causes glucose to be released from the glycogen stores, and this is what gives you the surge of energy needed for fight and flight.

Ordinarily, optimal amounts of cortisol can be lifesaving by aiding the maintenance of fluid balance and blood pressure, whilst regulating some bodily functions that aren't crucial at that moment, like reproductive drive, immunity, digestion, and growth...

However, when we remain in a heightened state of anxiety or perceived chronic stress -this maybe by being subjected constantly throughout the day to media, whether it is emails, constant text messages, news, social media or the pressures of juggling work and family life- the body continuously releases, cortisol and chronically elevated levels can lead to serious issues. Too much cortisol can become toxic by increasing blood pressure and altering our blood sugar levels.

Therefore, taking time to regularly participate in calming breathing exercises helps us navigate our way through life with ease and resilience.  Breathwork activates the PSNS or parasympathetic nervous system, this allows our body to lower these stress hormones of cortisol and adrenaline and to regulate them to optimal levels.

Read what some of my clients have to say:

Lesley's breathwork sessions always leave me feeling calm and relaxed. After the Wednesday class it's a lovely way to sink into sleep. I initially started classes just to see what it was like and now after 3 sessions plus the breathwork after each Pilates session,  I do breathing exercises every day, especially when I feel stressed.  It's so worth fitting it into a busy schedule!  " PH

"Another brilliant Pilates class, thank you, Lesley, I'm feeling so supported and stretched now and especially finishing with the breathing and meditation helps me deal with a stressful week!   ED