Nasal breathing – what’s the crack?

Hello,

I had a week off from writing last week, did you miss me? Perhaps, not. Perhaps, we are all so inundated with emails and ‘things to read’ that my newsletter is not on your list of priorities! However, I love writing to you and so here I am this week with some interesting information I wanted to share with you on the subject of nasal breathing. 

I personally, became more interested in this subject as my youngest daughter suffers with difficulty breathing through her nose, due to her allergies to house mites etc. and her nasal passages being inflamed. She uses a steroid nasal spray each day, but finds it difficult to regulate her breathing, particularly when she’s moving around more eg. swimming…but don’t we all!
I started to become more concerned about her mouth breathing when I became more aware about the benefits of nasal breathing and the negative impact that mouth breathing has on the nervous system.
Basically, breathing in and out through your mouth stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and can make you feel more stressed and anxious (something, I notice in myself, but also my daughter). 
Due to the practice of Pilates and the breathing technique I was taught to complement the movements, I was familiar with breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. However, during my yoga practice I inhale and exhale through my nose, which I believe gives me more strength through my core and enables me to ‘contain’ my breath and make it feel deeper. 

There are many articles you can read on the benefits of nasal breathing, but the most important point that really made me understand the physiology of why breathing through your nose is better than breathing through your mouth, was the fact that the air we take in through our nose is, filtered (for one) due to those tiny little hairs, but also because it requires more effort from the lungs to draw the breath inside. Thus, the lungs take the air deeper into the alveoli (little air sacs) where ‘accurate gas exchange happens’ (Berg, 2024). In addition, breathing slowly through our nose, causes CO2 to build up naturally, which helps to release oxygen from hemoglobin (the protein that contains iron and facilitates the transport of oxygen in red blood cells), so our tissues (muscles etc) can use if efficiently. 
Basically, breathing through your nose is more efficient at transporting oxygen around your body, which in turn, gives you more energy. And we are all in need of more energy most days, aren’t we?! 

On reflection, I remember when I was the most tired as a new mum, and because I was severely lacking in sleep but also severely lacking in time to sleep, I devised a coping mechanism to help me boost my energy levels when sleep wasn’t an option. And this was, to breathe! I used to lay on the ground with my feet raised up on a chair (supported at a right angle, in ‘table-top position’) and I would take slow deep breaths in and out of my nose. I’d spend approximately, five to ten minutes, doing this and the results were amazing. I truly did feel like I had had a nap! My energy levels were boosted and I was able to function better for the rest of the day.
Obviously, a nap would have been good too, but we can’t have everything! 

So, there is your homework for this week. 

In addition to your daily does of movement, try lying down and nasal breathing for five to ten minutes, and check in with how you feel afterwards. 

To quote Joseph Pilates. ‘Breathing is the first act of life, and the last. Our very life depends on it. Since we cannot live without breathing, it is tragically deplorable to contemplate the millions and millions who have never learned to master the art of correct breathing‘ (Pilates, 1945, p13). 

TRAGICALLY DEPLORABLE...Haha!
I love his choice of words here. JP was not one to beat about the bush was he?

So, as I am typing this newsletter, I am trying to breath slowly through my nose in an attempt to stay well oxygenated and alert! 
Because, I will be doing an awful lot of sitting and reading and writing over the next six months and boy, will I need as much help as I can get to stay energised and alert!! (failing that, a coffee and chocolate will help….haha….nooooooo….I’m joking!). All we need is nasal breathing!!! 

Let’s try it this week. 

Ready, steady, nasal breathe!! 

Have a great week all, and just a reminder that Pilates in on tonight at 7.30pm at the United Reformed Church, Bolton-le-Sands. I have spaces available in all my classes, particularly Saturday mornings, which are starting to look more ’boutique’ by the week! 
Remember, that you are always welcome to pay as you go (£8.50) regardless of how far we are along in the term. 

See you soon, 

Best wishes,

Natalie 
United Pilates. 

References: 
Pilates, J, H., and Miller, W, J,. (1945) Pilates’ Return to Life Through Contrology’, Presentation Dynamics. 

Berg, E. (2024) ‘Nose breathing amazing benefits – why you should breathe through your nose” Available here: Breathe Better: The Wonders of Nose Breathing (drberg.com)

Here I am, breathing in and out of my nose…mouth closed. Try it in class this week

Increase mental clarity and daily productivity with a good old fashioned daily dose of exercise.

Hello,

Here we are entering week three of the new term….already! 
Mondays class is going to be starting at the later time of 7.30pm from tonight due to the user before me, requesting more time in the hall. I agreed as I felt they were using the room before I booked and have been a long time user, so I wanted to respect their wishes. 
I hope this will be ok for most of you, and the later time might work out even better for some. 
I still have spaces in my classes on Monday night and Saturday morning, so please do come along if you can make it. You are welcome to drop in and pay cash or pay online (£8.50). 

This week is set to be a beautiful one, weather wise, and my morning which quickly turned into late and then later morning/afternoon, was spent walking down the prom admiring the view (see photo above). I listened to an interesting podcast and chatted to a friend on the phone; bumped into some more people I knew at the coffee shop and then bumped into another lady I walk past often and with whom I always exchange polite conversation. It was a pleasure to have this time to soak up the atmosphere of this beautiful place we live in and the conversations peppered my otherwise, solitary day with some lovely moments of social interaction.
This is why I love going for walks! 
The unexpected conversations coupled with the ever changing views…it was so misty this morning I couldn’t see much further in front of me, to then be delighted by the sun burning through the mist, as I walked back. One thing you get used to (living by the bay) is you need one set of clothes whilst walking north and a different set for walking back south! 
I did plan on doing some studying and hadn’t planned on such a lengthy walk, but then, you only live each day once and the beauty of the day was too much to ignore. My books will have to wait to be read…and that’s what evenings are for! 

Morning workout moves
Last newsletter, I shared my link to demonstrate some of the moves I have been doing in my morning workout. I have deleted that video off my phone now, but will upload another one containing more exercises onto my You Tube channel over the next few days, for those of you who aren’t on Instagram and who’ve expressed an interest in seeing the routine. 
The most important point I wanted to convey in my last newsletter, was the action of consistency. I really don’t think it matters too much what exactly it is (exercise wise) that you do, just as long as you do something that gets your heart rate up for half an hour or more, every single day. Although, me being a Pilates teacher, I have to (obviously) promote the wonderful art of Pilates as a possible daily workout regime!

The benefits for a daily practice are huge in terms of the increase in blood flow to the heart, muscles and brain and will help set you up for a more positive and productive day.
I was reading an article this week, that said exercise (particularly when done in the morning) stimulates the part of the brain that is responsible for organisation and helps to focus the mind on tasks better.
I have to say that this has been my main motivation for doing my exercise routine each day, because I can struggle with this in my day to day life. 
I notice I am far more clearer in my decision making and even when I do take time to have a long walk like today (a total luxury I know), I am still more productive with the rest of my day and I don’t feel like I am in a constant state of rushing. 
Joseph Pilates talks briefly about this in his introduction to his book ‘Return to Life Through Contrology’ (which is the name he gave to Pilates initially).
He says ‘By reawakening thousands and thousands of otherwise ordinarily dormant muscle cells, Contrology correspondingly reawakens thousands and thousands of dormant brain cells, thus activating new areas and stimulating further the functioning of the mind’ (Pilates, 1945, p10).
So there you go…if JP says it, it must be true!
Another thing I wanted to stress, was the duration of your workout. I have noticed that thirty to forty minutes is far more manageable to complete every day, than setting myself an hour.  I have mentioned this before, but a decent twenty to thirty minutes of continuous movement that elevates your heart rate and gets you sweaty, is enough for the body to start seeing results both physically and mentally. 
But I don’t have time in the mornings Natalie, I hear you cry!
Well, sometimes, I don’t either, and so I do my workout later on in the day, and that’s ok! Yesterday, I enjoyed the luxury of a lie in until 10.30am and found myself doing a Pilates reformer session at 1pm in the afternoon….oooooo, rebellious! It’s a glorious thing to be able to go with the flow sometimes and that’s the beauty of the weekends :).
So go for it. Do that workout you ‘meant’ to do in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon or later on in the evening. You won’t ever regret moving your body, and your mind will be thankful you did. 

FREE 30 MINUTE WORKOUT
To help you get started here is a 30 minute circuit workout.
Just repeat it as often as you can and let me know how you feel!
https://youtu.be/DiziQ_-xvs8

I would love to hear your thoughts on this and if you have a daily routine that works for you and you’d like to share it, please email me or share your thoughts on my Facebook page so other people can delight in your wonderfulness! 
https://www.facebook.com/Unitedpilateswithnatalie

Saturday Pilates and coffee
It was lovely on Saturday to retire to the Royal pub in Bolton-le-Sands for a coffee with some of my Saturday crew.
The offer is there again this week so come along for the short walk down the canal to the pub afterwards for a Saturday morning debrief!

Have a super week in the beautiful sunshine and I’ll look forward to seeing you class soon. 

Best wishes, 

Natalie Rusiuk
United Pilates

Consistency is key…apparently, and so far…it’s working for me!…but for how long…?!





Hello from my mat to yours,
Over the past 10 weeks…(I’ve lost count to be honest!), I have returned to doing my exercise in the morning, and the effects have been a surprise. I was suffering from daily hip pain (my nemesis, for years) and since I had stopped my regular home workouts, the pain had returned. I was trying all sorts of different stretches and massages and resting etc. but the pain and discomfort was not going away. I was on Facebook one day, and this video popped up of this very fit chap saying that if we did ‘X’ a hundred times a day, we would have a flatter stomach…well we all know that one movement will not cause that to happen…but I thought, hey, let’s see….so I clicked on another of his vids and he was demonstrating another movement, and again, he was saying, ‘do this 100 times a day’ etc. etc….So, I decided to put together a selection of his exercises, that he claimed would reduce stomach fat (not to mention strengthen the legs and buttocks), and I embarked on a new thirty minute exercise routine (one month before my holiday to Crete). I had my suspicions that the pain in my hips was due to weakness, but I thought I was doing enough to help…seems I wasn’t, because, after just a few sessions of completing my new routine, my hip pain had gone! I was finishing each session with a ten minute yoga stretch routine also, so this will have helped, no doubt. 
Because I had pain, I was cautious about doing it daily, as I was thinking…will I cause more aggravation? But I didn’t. It came as a surprise to me, to discover that I was able to repeat the high number of reps each morning, and although, tough (and still are a challenge some mornings) my fitness and strength improved relatively quickly. 
It highlighted for me the importance of a regular routine using the same exercises as an important way of tracking my progression, and enabled me to ‘feel’ when I was becoming stronger. I gradually added more into my routine (but kept it to forty minutes max), and now manage to add some squat holds after I’ve completed my 100 reps. 
The pain in my hips has gone, and I have seen a significant improvement in my overall core strength and upper body. I have no shoulder pain either, which was also a concern of mine (I have a torn tendon in my right shoulder, for those of you who don’t know my story) and I have got a flatter stomach!
I am really enjoying carrying out my regular routine, and because I have to count my reps, my mind is unable to wander, so it really becomes a movement meditation, as it concentrates my mind. I have also been doing it outside as much as I can, which also has a significant impact on my wellbeing. 

I have attached the link to my Instagram video, of some of the movements I have been doing.
These movements seem ‘safe’ for me to do each day, and really get my blood pumping around my body, help to focus my mind and get me ready for the day! I include Pilates abdominal and back exercises too, and although they are simple exercises, when done well and consistently, they really do strengthen my core (fancy that!). 
For you, you might need a different set of movements, but the point is, do them each day. Choose some movements eg. jump rope for one minute, push-ups x 15, plank for 1 minute…etc….but keep up your routine as best you can consistently for a month, and you will see a difference in your fitness…and if you don’t, well, you could up the ante!
If you decide to commit to a movement practice each day, I’d love to hear about it and if you’d like some help devising a suitable plan, email me and we can arrange that for a small fee 🙂 

Click the link to watch a preview of my routine
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-qELHGIpAr0wHvw830eh–NVNp8QMZEi5gu0I0/13(100%)

 
New Term is underway!
Tonight’s Pilates class is back at the United Reformed Church, in BLS village, 7.15pm. Last week, I had some new faces to meet, which was brilliant!
Hello to my new participants. It was a pleasure to teach you last week and I’m looking forward to seeing you later. 
Do, remember that if you have paid for a block of seven classes, you can attend either of the three classes during the week. 

Pilates class timetable: 
Monday 7.30pm – The United Reformed Church, Bolton-le-Sands. 
Thursday 7pm – Same hall as above.
Saturday 10am – The Old Boy’s School, BLS. 

Please bring a mat and a small looped resistance band. You can purchase these on Amazon or from the local dance shop on the prom. I recommend a fabric one instead of a latex band, as they are more comfortable around the thighs! 


See you in class soon! 

Natalie 
United Pilates 

Blog

In my last blog I wrote about how I had qualified to instruct Pilates foundation exercises on the refomer. I am pleased to say that after much deliberation, I have found the reformer that I love and so once this arrives I will let you know and start booking in 121 clients with much excitement!

My reformer teacher training weekend was just the beginning of my reformer education and I still have lots to learn and moves to master myself on the reformer. I do feel it is very important for me to gain as much confidence on the reformer myself first before teaching others and so I endeavour to focus on this part of my professional development for the forseeable future, in order to bring you up-to-date and safe 121 reformer sessions.

Crocodile breathing – what is it?

I have uploaded a new video to my You Tube channel talking about how you can use the crocodile breathing technique to relax the muscles in your lower back and increase flexibility in your upper back too. In my video I demonstrate the method lying on my belly with my arms by my sides, however you can do the breathing teachnique with your hands placed underneath your forehead, with your elbows pointing out to the sides.

Crocodile breathing is a method of breathing that helps to relax the diaphragm and encourages you to breathe more deeply from the diaphragm rather the upper back and chest. Breathing into your belly, sides and lower back, in a 360 degree way, will help to relieve tension in your lower back, bring balance to your nervous system and help to relieve tension in your upper spine, neck, chest and shoulders.

When you are feeling tense or anxious or you just need some down time then try using this breathing method for 5 minutes or longer.

Build strength gently in your core with this exercise –

In my video I also demonstrate how you can make this breathing technique into a tummy strengthening exercise. So, each time you exhale you want to think about pulling your belly button away from the floor whilst maintaining a neutral spine. Tucking the pelvis under slightly and increasing the length of the lower back helps with this too and prevents the lower back arching into an anterior tilt ( which can cause more back pain! ). Place a small cushion or rolled up towel under your hips if you want to assist with the pelvis alignment. Watch out that you don’t hold tension in your neck and upper back and instead just focus on your deep abdominal muscles. Think ‘ narrow your waist and ribs and lift your belly up! ‘. Try holding the lift of your belly button for 10 – 15 seconds ( start off with a shorter hold and build yourself up ). Do not hold your breath though! Try and breathe whilst maintaining a level of engagement. Repeat 5 rounds or until your feel tired and you’ve done enough!

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO WATCH MY YOU TUBE VIDEO

Online Zoom classes are taking a break over the next few weeks whilst I enjoy the summer with my two girls. I will consider bringing online classes back in September so please watch this space! Don’t forget to sign upto my newsletter to receive the latest class info!

Reformer Pilates coming soon!


I am pleased to say that I am now a certified Pilates Reformer Teacher which means ( in the not too distant future ) I will be able to offer 121 sessions on this very exciting and important piece of Pilates equipment!

More details will be coming soon, during which time I will be sharing some exercises of me practicing on my own professional machine ( when it arrives! ) to help demonstrate why this piece of equipment is so special and why it has become one of the best loved Pilates apparatus of all time!