Diaphragmatic Breathing with the Magic Circle

Using the Magic Circle as a feedback tool during breathwork helps clients feel their breath and connect more deeply with their lungs.

The diaphragm isn’t located in your lower belly — it’s actually shaped like a 3D mushroom, sitting right beneath your lungs. Joseph Pilates emphasized filling all quadrants of the lungs with air and fully exhaling to clear as much CO₂ as possible.

Here’s where the Magic Circle comes in: applying gentle pressure on the exhale activates the peripheral expiration muscles, making the exhale more powerful — and the deeper the exhale, the bigger and better the next inhale. ?️

Personally, I believe this type of Contrology breathing has kept me illness-free since 2019. When I first trained at Drago’s Gym, Romana shared that Mr. Pilates’ students — who practiced these breathing techniques — didn’t get the Spanish Flu.

Thirty years later, when COVID hit, that story stuck with me. It makes you think. ?