Breathing is the part of Pilates people quietly decide to skip. It sounds like the soft bit — the thing you get to once the real work is done. In practice it is part of how the rest of the method is organized, and for many people it takes a while to feel natural.
Why breath comes first
Joseph Pilates put breathing at the center of the method he called Contrology, and every school that followed kept it there. The reason is mechanical rather than mystical: how you breathe determines what your ribcage and abdominal wall are doing, and those two things determine whether an exercise loads what it is supposed to load.
When someone holds their breath through a hard repetition, an instructor may see the ribs flare or the lower back shift. The breath is not decoration on top of the exercise. It is part of how the exercise is organized.
What lateral breathing actually is
The Pilates default is lateral breathing — sometimes called rib breathing or thoracic breathing. The air still goes into your lungs as it always does; the cue is about movement, asking the lower ribs to widen sideways and backwards as you inhale rather than the abdomen pushing forward.
Many instructors cue it because it can make it easier to keep gentle abdominal engagement while you breathe. It is a teaching cue, not the only healthy way to breathe, and letting the belly expand is not inherently wrong.
Try it sitting down. Wrap your hands around your lower ribs, thumbs pointing back. Breathe in gently and notice whether your hands move apart as the ribs widen. There is no need to force it.
How to breathe in Pilates, step by step
- Breathe in through the nose. Let the sides and back of the ribcage widen, rather than lifting the chest.
- Keep the shoulders quiet. If they lift toward your ears, try letting them soften and the ribs widen instead.
- Exhale through slightly pursed lips. Let the ribs close down as the air leaves.
- Let the exhale be full, not forced. Your instructor may cue a longer exhale for a particular exercise.
- Exhale on the effort, as a default. Not a law, but a common starting point.
- Keep breathing. Try not to hold your breath through the effort.
Pilates breathing vs yoga breathing
This is the question people arrive with if they have done yoga, and the difference is real. A great deal of yoga uses diaphragmatic breathing — belly breathing — where the abdomen expands on the inhale and softens outward. It suits what yoga is doing.
Pilates instruction usually cues gentle abdominal engagement through the movement, so many teachers cue the ribs to widen on the inhale. Neither approach is more correct in the abstract; they are solving different problems. If you have a strong belly-breathing habit from yoga, expect this to be the thing that takes adjusting.
How the breath connects to your core
Here is the honest version of a claim that usually gets overstated. The diaphragm is not only a breathing muscle — it attaches to the lumbar spine and works alongside the deep abdominal wall, and the pressure inside the abdomen contributes to how stable the trunk is. That is anatomy, not marketing, and it is part of why breath comes up constantly when people ask about Pilates for posture.
What has actually been measured is narrower. A 2023 study used ultrasound to track transversus abdominis thickness in 44 women (healthy young and middle-aged women) across five Pilates exercises, and found measurable activity in that deep muscle layer. That suggests those exercises reach the muscle. It did not compare breathing patterns, so it is not evidence that any one way of breathing is superior, and it does not show that breathing alone will change your midsection.
Common Pilates breathing mistakes
Holding it. Common under an unfamiliar load. If you notice you have stopped breathing, that is the thing to work on.
Lifting the shoulders. If the shoulders rise with each breath, put your hands on your ribs and see whether they can widen instead.
Gripping hard. Clenching is not the same as engaging, and it can make a comfortable inhale harder. Let your instructor guide how much effort to use.
Letting the exhale run the tempo. If the movement is being driven by how fast you run out of air, slow the movement rather than rushing the breath.
Other breathing techniques you will hear about
Different lineages teach different patterns, and you may meet percussive breathing — the short, sharp exhales counted through the hundred — or a more even breathing technique held across several counts. Studios sometimes group these as pilates breathing techniques. Some studios use the word breathwork for standalone practice, which is a separate thing from the breath used during exercise.
None of this is worth worrying about as a beginner. The pattern your instructor cues in the room is the one to learn. If you want the wider context, breath is one of the six core principles of Pilates, and that post covers where the list came from and how the principles fit together — including the numbered "rules" that circulate online and where they actually originate.
Learning it with someone watching
Breathing is difficult to self-correct, because you cannot see your own ribcage and the sensation of doing it right is unfamiliar by definition. A hand placed on your ribs at the right moment does more than a paragraph like this one.
Sessions at True Form are private, duet or trio on the full apparatus — reformer, Cadillac and tower, Wunda chair, ladder barrel and mat — so the breath gets corrected as it happens rather than at the end. If you are booking a first session, how to prepare for your first Pilates class covers the practical side, and the classes page has the formats.
The studio is in Saline, Michigan, and clients come from nearby towns, including:
Frequently asked questions
How do you breathe while doing Pilates?
A common Pilates cue is to breathe in through the nose, letting the sides and back of the ribcage widen, then exhale through slightly pursed lips as the ribs close down. As a default, exhale through the effort of a movement, and try not to hold your breath. Follow your instructor's cues for each exercise.
What is lateral breathing in Pilates?
It is a cue for the lower ribs to widen sideways and backwards as you inhale. The air goes into the lungs either way; the cue is about rib and abdominal movement. Many Pilates teachers cue it because it can make it easier to keep gentle abdominal engagement while breathing. Belly breathing is not wrong; it is a different cue for a different purpose.
How is Pilates breathing different from yoga breathing?
In both, the air goes into the lungs. The difference is in the teaching cues and in what the ribs and abdomen are asked to do. Much of yoga uses diaphragmatic or belly breathing, where the abdomen expands on the inhale. Pilates instruction usually cues gentle abdominal engagement and asks the ribs to widen on the inhale. Neither is more correct in general; they are doing different jobs.
Should I inhale or exhale on the hard part?
Exhale on the effort is the usual default, because the exhale helps the ribs close down and the deep abdominals engage. It is a default rather than a law: schools differ, and there are exercises where the reverse is taught. If your instructor cues something other than the default, they have a reason for it.
Why do I get lightheaded or run out of breath?
Stop the exercise and return to comfortable, normal breathing, and tell your instructor. If lightheadedness keeps happening, seek medical advice. Severe breathlessness or chest discomfort needs urgent medical assessment.
How long does it take for Pilates breathing to feel natural?
It varies, and for many people it takes a while. The pattern competes with a lifetime of habit, so it tends to fall apart the moment an exercise gets difficult. That is expected rather than a sign you are doing it wrong.
Sources
- Transversus Abdominis Ultrasound Thickness during Popular Trunk-Pilates Exercises in Young and Middle-Aged Women (2023) Forty-four healthy women; TrA thickness measured by ultrasound across five named Pilates exercises. Cited here only for measurable deep abdominal activity during those exercises in healthy women. It did not compare breathing patterns. PubMed ID 37606405.
- Pilates Method Alliance — Pilates History The industry’s nonprofit standards body. Source for Joseph Pilates’ dates, the name Contrology, and the two books he published.