I have been back doing Pilates for about eight weeks now, after a five year break - and each one-to-one class makes me feel better than the last one.  In someways it feels moe worthwhile than psychotherapy and acupunture.

The first classes took me back quickly to the Pilates I did when I began in the 90's - the excercises, the muscle groups to stretch and those to inhibit. (It's difficult to exlain and not sound geeky of you haven't done it yourself).  But now I return, in my thoughts, more and more to the age of 8,9,10, when I was learning in school "PT" classes all those bad habits I need to unlearn compltely.

The crux of the matter is breathing.  When I am concious of how I'm breathing I  find it easy to breath into my lungs and not my stomach.  But when I get a little tense, or - and this is a new discovery - when I'm asleep - I begin to swallow air.  In fact I have today become convinced that the principal reason I'm waking up at 4am or so every morning is that I swallow so much air while I'm asleep at the moment that I give myself indigestion.

What causes the air swallowing?  Ah.