We are back at it again today with an online debate about a popular Pilates topic, breathing techniques, and my esteemed “debatteur du jour” is Amit Younger of pilatesod.com.
I find breathing techniques useless and counterproductive, and in extreme cases life threatening. On the other hand, Amit loves them. Amit loves them so much that I have a story to tell which shows both his love, and the danger, of breathing techniques.
Amit’s Cat
I was at Amit’s for a dinner and while sitting at this table this very large creature came into the room making weird gasping sounds. At first sight I thought it to be a furry, mutated puffer fish that had lost its way out of the sea. But with a closer examination I made out some ears, whiskers and a tail, and more accurately pegged the creature as a cat. Amit noticed my furled forehead as I made this taxonomic identification, and proudly let me know that this was his cat, Fiddles, whose lung capacity had increased 3x through breathing techniques. I applauded the efficacy of his efforts, but wondered aloud if perhaps things had a gone a bit far. The cat was truly weird looking.
“Au contraire, mon frere!” responded our proud cat trainer heatedly, whereupon he jumped onto his chair, and with a diabolic glare in his eyes, challenged me to an online debate on the subject. I was flustered and at a loss for a response, as my knowledge of dinner party etiquette did not extend to cover this type of situation. Thus I was forced to fall back upon the Pilates Intel code of conduct, which forbids me from refusing such a challenge. I accepted on the condition that we immediately share two bottles of wine straight away as an aid to reinstating the filial love we had enjoyed up until this most unfortunate cat conflict. Amit agreed, and we commenced to doing just that.
The softening powers of the wine took effect and I soon had my arms around Amit, tearfully complimenting his fine skill in cat training and the splendid health of Fiddles. Amit accepted my most gracious compliments with tearful affection, exclaiming that I was the best guest that there ever was and that I, along with all members of my extended family, always had a place within his heart and home. Fiddles, meanwhile, sat perched perilously on my shoulder, purring with the gusto of a motorcycle engine. The atmosphere of meaningful and sincere love moved the round cat to lean in to affectionately lick of tear rolling down my face. But sadly, Fiddles lost his balance, rolled off my shoulder and made impact with some sharp object, whereupon the force of the air leaving Fiddles voluminous lungs propelled him out an open window, never to be seen again.
Yes, it was a tragedy and I am sorry if I have shocked you, but the truth must be told, and we are here to tell it.
Breathing techniques
Nonetheless, if you are still not convinced about the danger of breathing techniques, read on for a less dramatic view point.
The aim of breathing techniques is to increase breathing efficiency. Efficient breathing is dependent on, obviously, the efficient function of the anatomical parts that are involved in breathing. And the efficiency of these breathing parts are in turn dependent on other parts with which they are intimately involved with, and those parts are in turn dependent on…..are you getting the picture here? In short, efficient breathing is fully dependent on the efficient and balanced use of the whole being. While it may at first seem counterintuitive, the path to more efficient breathing is to forget trying to fix breathing altogether, and instead bring attention to the balance of the whole.
As an example, we are told that it is good to breath into expanded lower lungs where a greater amount of oxygen uptake occurs. We are told that an effective method to fulfill this goal is to place open hands at a small distance from the side of the ribs, and breathing in a manner that the lower ribs will expand into them.
Now, read closely, because here is the tricky and deceptive part.
Many people can successfully fulfill the task at hand. Further, they may be very pleased, and even use the occurrence as proof that a greater efficiency can be achieved via direct breathing techniques, and rib widening is one of those methods.
I find that such a conclusion requires a suspension of critical observation, and that what really has happened is nothing at all. While the person was absorbed with making his ribs go out to his hands, he was most assuredly unaware of the amount of tension he was using in holding his arms in that position, or the amount of tension in the neck as he looked down to see the lung expansion, or the manner with which he was sitting or standing. In short, the person was fixated on the job at hand and not taking into consideration his activity in relation to whole being. This narrow ‘direct method’ mindset caused the whole to be that much less balanced, ironically causing less efficient breathing.
I advocate that no great focus be placed on breathing. Take as an example a Pilates student who frequently holds his breath in his workout, unconsciously exhaling forcefully and gasping inwardly. The first step I take to deal with this situation is to supportively bring this misuse of himself to his attention. I also explain to him that it is happening because of the excess amount of tension used in his work.
I instruct the student not to try to correct the problem. This is no easy task because with the realization of doing ‘something wrong’, he will more times than not want to fix the problem directly. But with encouragement, the student becomes comfortable with ‘being wrong’, while observing closely his actions – making connections.
While continuing to encourage the student to resist the urge to ‘fix’ the problem, I point out that the breathing pattern is closely associated with excess tension and lack of balance in the body, especially in the neck, shoulder and chest area. That excess tension is associated with a lack of support from the lower body (cue in ‘The Powerhouse’).
After some time, patience and a wide focus we are ready for the next step, which is to do simple exercises while employing a more correct use of the whole. I instruct the student to release the neck, shoulder and chest area, and use more the strength of the Powerhouse. The physical tension employed for many years is what actually feels right to the student, and again I need to encourage him to ‘be wrong’ as he uses less tension. By now, however, he is used to being ‘wrong’, and even has a little fun working in ‘the wrong’ way.
I have found that an effective way to teach new ways of working is for me to do an exercise while the student places his hands on me. I first purposefully add tension while doing the exercise, and then repeat using more powerhouse support and upper body ease. This often helps the student to recognize in his own body a similar tension pattern, and with an occasional gentle touch from me to the neck and should area, the student begins to perform with less tension, more powerhouse support, and a better overall balance.
And voila! The breathing parts function more as they should, and the student is breathing more rhythmically and calmly, all in a sustainable manner.
Take caution!
So now dear reader, are you warned of the possible mischief and dangers that breathing techniques can create. And if you choose not to follow my sage advice, learn breathing techniques with due caution. And to prevent you from suffering the fate for poor Fiddles, you should engage in this activity with no sharp objects in the room!
(Footnote to all Animal welfare associations: Fiddles is a fictitious character created for dramatic purposes, no animals were actually hurt.)