Conscious awareness of my breathing itself has also changed. As a dancer, I try to monitor this (especially when moving), but I feel that I’ve become a better at keeping an eye on it. In Pilates class, I focus more not only on how I’m breathing, but how often. I know for a fact that when holding certain positions in Pilates class (or dance class, too!), I hold my breath. It’s a horrible habit, but I honestly feel that because of this class, I find myself increasingly aware of this and try to relieve it whenever I notice it happening. On the other hand, I also feel that I’ve become more apt at examining my breathing without changing its natural course. In the beginning of class, when we take a few moments to examine our breath, I really notice what’s going on in my body without trying to change anything. Then, when we’re asked to breathe into/from certain parts of our body, I feel more and more like I can do it without a degree of force (if that makes sense J). It happens naturally; I’m just bringing awareness to those parts of the body.