PILATES AND BREATHING

Breathing is one of the six principles of Pilates. The scientific article confirms this.

Chaitow and Delany, 2002
The more rigid (i.e. contracted) the muscles surrounding the perineal and abdominal cavities, the more stabilised the pelvis is. During deep inspiration, the diaphragm is lowered, which causes an increase in intra-abdominal pressure, making it more difficult to stabilise the pelvis. This is why it is useful and important to contract both the transversus abdominis, the multifidus and the perineum during movement.
To help the stabilising action, Pilates exercises are based on lateral thoracic breathing, which consists of spreading the ribs apart, thus limiting the lowering of the diaphragm and thus the increase in intra-abdominal pressure.