If you’ve ever felt like you were pushing through a workout and about to give up, what’s the first thing you do? Instinctively, you breathe deeper. That one deep inhale resets your body, your mind, and your power. But here’s the thing—if I have to tap into my breath only when I’m at my limit, that probably means I wasn’t breathing properly to begin with.

I started noticing this in my own practice. At first, it was just during workouts—when I was dying in a HIIT class and suddenly realized that deep, intentional breaths kept me in the game longer. Then I took that awareness into my Pilates practice, my running, and even dance. The way I controlled my breath completely shifted my movement.

When I’m dancing, I can literally change the quality of my movement just by breathing differently. If I exhale on a kick, the movement becomes sharp and accented. If I inhale instead, my leg feels longer, my body expands, and I can hold the line just a second longer. That’s the power of breath. It’s not just about survival—it’s about enhancing movement, controlling energy, and creating intention.

But the real shift happened when I asked myself, what if I started breathing properly before I hit my limit? What if I trained my breath the way I train my body? Because let’s be real—most people aren’t even breathing properly in their daily lives, let alone during workouts.

The Biggest Mistake Beginners Make with Breath

The number one mistake people make in Pilates when it comes to breathing? They just don’t do it. In yoga, every movement is guided by breath—inhale, downward dog. Exhale, fold forward. It’s embedded into the practice. But in Pilates? There’s so much happening all at once—stability, alignment, core engagement—that breathing becomes an afterthought.

Instructors might cue breath here and there, but at some point, you have to take control of your own breathwork. What I see too often is clients holding their breath when things get hard, which is literally the worst thing you can do. It creates tension, limits mobility, and wrecks your form. The second you stop breathing, your movement loses control.

Breath is a tool, not a rule. Sure, we have guidelines—exhale on effort, inhale on expansion—but what matters most is breathing fully, consistently, and with intention. If you aren’t using your full breath, you aren’t using your full potential.

The Science of Breath: What’s Actually Happening?

So why does breath make such a huge difference? It’s not just some woo-woo Pilates thing—it’s science.

• Core Activation: When you exhale properly, you engage your deepest abdominal muscles (the transverse abdominis), which stabilizes your spine and supports your movement.
• Spinal Mobility & Rib Expansion: Breath literally shapes the way your spine moves. When you inhale fully, your ribcage expands, giving your thoracic spine more range. When you exhale, your core contracts, creating a natural flow between stability and mobility.
• Nervous System Regulation: Conscious breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system (your body’s “rest and recover” mode), reducing stress, improving focus, and helping you move with more control.

Breath is the most efficient tool for power, endurance, and fluidity. You don’t need to be an elite athlete to feel the difference—you just have to start paying attention.

How to “Clean Up” Your Breath Practice

Breath training should be as normal as training your muscles. If you want to improve the way you breathe, start here:

1. Notice your breath before it becomes a problem. If you’re only thinking about your breath when you’re struggling, you’re already behind. Train it from the start.
2. Try different breath styles. Breathing in and out through your nose feels different than mouth breathing. Experiment with what works for different workouts.
3. Practice breathwork outside of class. Just like clean eating or good sleep, breathwork should be part of your daily routine. Before bed, I do breathwork to calm my nervous system and quiet my mind. It puts me into a trance-like state that knocks me out faster than melatonin. Try it. It will change your life.
4. Put yourself in a position where you can feel your breath. One of my favorite ways to make clients feel their breath is by placing a squishy ball under their pelvis while they lay on their back. This small shift opens up the ribcage, giving them more room to breathe fully. That’s when they have their “aha” moment—oh, that’s what I should be feeling.

If You Don’t Breathe, You’ll Die. So Let’s Keep Breathing.

Let’s keep it simple. The more you breathe, the more alive you’ll feel.

If you want to experience how breath transforms your movement, let’s work together. Book a private session at 706 Grand Street for one-on-one coaching that helps you tap into your breath, your body, and your full potential.

Just breathe, bro.