Breathwork: An Oxymoron We Desperately Need…
By Melody Morton-Buckleair
The Pilates Cowgirl™
Let’s start with the obvious.
Breathwork is an oxymoron.
Breathing is automatic. It’s governed by the autonomic nervous system. You don’t have to remember to do it. If you did, we’d all be in real trouble.
So why on earth are we calling it work?
Because the moment you bring awareness to breath, it stops being automatic and starts becoming directional. And direction is everything.
Breath isn’t work until consciousness enters the room.
The Ancient Roots: Breathing for Enlightenment, Not Calm
Historically, breath wasn’t about stress relief or productivity or “feeling grounded.”
It was about transcendence.
Yogis used breath to stimulate the brain, activate the pineal gland, and drive energy—what they called kundalini—up the spine toward enlightenment. Fast breaths. Retentions. Bandhas. Intense internal pressure changes. The goal wasn’t calm.
The goal was awakening.
Different cultures, different lineages, same idea: breath as a lever to alter consciousness.
And it worked.
But here’s the part we don’t talk about enough—those practices were designed for monastics, ascetics, and people living outside modern nervous system overload. They weren’t juggling mortgages, screen time, trauma histories, or cortisol addiction.
Fast-forward to now.
Modern Breathwork: Same Tool, New Intention
Today, breathwork has been repurposed—not for transcendence, but for regulation.
We are no longer trying to leave the body.
We’re trying to feel safe inside it.
And that’s a big shift.
Modern breathwork—when done intelligently—is about:
Nervous system regulation
Emotional awareness
Interrupting trauma loops
Restoring parasympathetic dominance
Re-establishing a sense of internal safety
This isn’t about “taking a deep breath” and hoping for the best.
It’s about how you breathe, where the breath goes, and what systems it talks to.
The Missing Link Most Breathwork Ignores
Here’s where I’m going to say the quiet part out loud.
Most breathwork practices talk about the lungs.
Some talk about the heart.
Very few talk about the gut.
And that’s the real control panel.
For the last 24 years, my work in Pilates has shown me something over and over again:
When you train the transverse abdominis and the diaphragm together, you directly influence the enteric nervous system—your gut brain—and by extension, the vagus nerve.
That’s not spiritual language.
That’s anatomy.
The diaphragm isn’t just a breathing muscle.
It’s a pressure regulator.
A rhythm generator.
A bridge between voluntary and involuntary systems.
When breath is paired with trunk stability, especially through the transverse, the body receives a very specific message:
You are supported. You are contained. You are safe.
That’s when the nervous system lets go.
That’s when rest and digest becomes available.
Why Pilates Breath Is Different
Pilates didn’t come from monks or mystics.
It came from someone rehabilitating bodies under stress.
Pilates breath is:
Organized
Rhythmic
Paired with movement
Anchored in structure
It doesn’t overstimulate the nervous system.
It doesn’t chase altered states.
It doesn’t bypass the body.
It reconditions it.
Every full exhale engages the transverse.
Every controlled inhale expands the rib cage without losing containment.
Every repetition reinforces safety through repetition—not affirmation.
This is breathwork that doesn’t ask you to imagine peace.
It builds it.
Breath + Color + Sound: Awareness Without Overwhelm
In my own study—pranayama, somatic therapy, sound, and color work—I’ve seen how breath becomes exponentially more effective when paired with sensory input.
Color gives the brain a reference point.
Sound gives the body vibration.
Breath gives rhythm.
Together, they create awareness without overwhelm.
Not catharsis.
Not collapse.
Not dissociation.
Just regulation.
Why We Need This Now
We live in a world that keeps the nervous system permanently “on.”
Alert.
Reactive.
Disconnected.
Tight.
And then we wonder why anxiety, burnout, digestive issues, insomnia, and emotional volatility are everywhere.
The solution isn’t more information.
It’s better input.
Breathwork—real breathwork—isn’t about fixing yourself.
It’s about reminding the body how to return to baseline.
And yes, now it’s work.
Because awareness always is.
If you’re looking for breathwork that actually respects the nervous system—not just the ego—start with structure, movement, and breath that talks to the gut, not just the mind.
That’s where safety lives.
That’s where healing sticks.
And that’s where breath finally stops being an oxymoron and starts being a tool.
—
Melody Morton-Buckleair
The Pilates Cowgirl™
Founder, The Good Space (Houston) & Elmwood Place Pilates
Somatic Pilates • Nervous System Regulation • Breath + Movement Integration
