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The Principles: Center/Breath
The difference a breath can make....
Article by Alea Eurich

Healthy adults take between 17,000 and 28,000 breaths per day, an average of 23,000 breaths. Amazing, right? This happens mostly without our conscious awareness. Breathing is so simple and obvious that we often take it for granted; ignoring the power it has to bring body, mind and spirit together. This month we encourage you to consider the difference a breath can make.

Living the busy and full lives that we do, it is no surprise that there is an ever-increasing need for us to consider what it means to be "centered." Many thoughts may come to mind on consideration of such a topic: balance, focus, "the core", etc. But what ties these mental and physical properties together? It's the breath, all 23,000 of them. As varied as our daily activities are, so too is the nature of our breath. Musicians sing about it, "Just breathe", "Breath in, breath out", Poets write about it, "...it is no other than happiness itself, a breathing too quiet to hear", the Dr. asks you to take a deep breath when He listens to your lungs, and your Pilates instructor instructs you to inhale and exhale with each beat of the arms in the hundred.

A favorite author of mine, Wendell Berry, considers the delicacy of the breath so eloquently,

"Lately, I have found myself thinking about the differences between creatures and machines. But I had never so clearly understood and felt the differences as when John was in recovery after his heart surgery, when he was attached to many machines and was dependent for breath on a respirator. It was impossible then not to see that the breathing of the machine, like all machine work, is unvarying, an obvious regularity, whereas the breathing of a creature is ever changing, exquisitely responsive to events both inside and outside the body, to thoughts and emotions. A machine makes breaths as a machine makes buttons, all the same, but every breath of a creature is itself a creature, like no other, inestimably precious."

Precious it is and well said in my opinion.

Each breath we take is valuable. It has often been said that becoming conscious of our breathing slows our heart rate and helps us to focus our minds. Anyone who has spent some time as a student of Pilates, quickly learns the importance of the breath in their practice of these exercises.

Have you considered the unique design of our anatomy and the function of the breath? We have muscles between the ribs, a spine that is constructed of small attachments to each rib, a diaphragm that moves similarly to an umbrella opening and closing changing the pressure on the lungs and in the abdomen, and muscles spanning the front and back of our trunk in supportive slings. We were made to take deep breaths.

The breath is essential to being "centered". It is the only means of supply of oxygen to our organs and assists in ridding our body of toxins and waste. Deep diaphragmatic breathing massages our internal organs, aiding in digestion, and acts as a pump for our lymphatic systems, further helping to remove waste and pathogens from our bodies. As you exhale forcefully you contract your deepest abdominal muscle, which serves to stabilize your torso and protect your lower back. And what sits nestled between right and left lung? The heart. Every breath is like a hug for our own heart. Focusing on our breath requires mental attention and awareness. With conscious awareness of our breathing we can reap the benefit of better recruitment of appropriate muscle groups, better circulation and blood flow, clearer heads and sounder thinking, and overall better movement.

As if all that wasn't enough, this fantastically simple thing called the "breath" uses the abdominal muscles to connect form and function. Consider the preciousness of the breath this month as you go about your daily routine or in your Pilates practice. You might be surprised to find that the breath makes a dramatic difference in centering you mentally, physically and spiritually.

Take deep breaths... appreciate the place you find yourself in at that moment and value life with each one.