We know that there are yoga people out there and Pilates people. We all have a preference we lean towards. But have you thought about combining the two into your regular schedule? The two together can be very powerful for the body and the mind. And if you look closely, there are a lot of shapes and movements that mirror each other. We offer both yoga and our pilates classes and love a balance between the strength and stability, plus the movement and flow of yoga. Why are we incorporating both into our week?
Pilates makes you work your core, a lot
Yoga is a full body experience. It’s rare that a yoga pose targets only one muscle or area of the body. Take a lunge for example. You’re working the legs, the glutes, the core, and the arms. Everything is engaged. When we move in this way, the stronger muscles in the body can take some of the strain off the weaker ones. Pilates exercises are targeted and repeated until specific muscles are worked and fatigued. Creating strength. The core is one of these muscle groups. And when we have a stronger core, we can do more in our yoga practice.
Yoga helps to bring the element of mindfulness into our lives
Pilates and yoga both work on the physical body. But yoga has the added element of mindfulness and meditation. This allows us to slow and calm the mind, helping to reduce stress, anxiety, and overthinking. It also teaches us to tune into and control the breath. This is one of the best ways to calm the mind. Bringing attention to the breath.
Variety keeps the body fitter and stronger
Have you ever noticed that when you’ve been doing the same things for a long period of time, the benefits and results you once saw seem to diminish? The body can easily become familiar with exercises and types of movement. So it’s been found that variety is one of the best ways to keep progress moving forward and keep the body strong and fit. When we combine Pilates and yoga together, we’re giving the body two different ways of moving and increase our chances of getting a more well rounded week.
Hot Pilates incorporates HIIT Training into your schedule
High Intensity Interval training is when you combine high intensity cardio movements with recovery periods, alternating in small bursts of time. This keeps the heart rate up and it’s one of the best-known ways to burn a lot of calories both in class and for hours after. Our Hot Pilates classes combine HIIT, weight training for strength, plus more traditional Pilates movements.
Moving the body in different ways keeps our mind open
When we stick to one way of doing things, we often start to think it’s the only way for it to be done. Often when we step outside that and try new and different things, we can look at poses and shapes in different ways. When we learn how to engage specific muscles in Pilates, we can use that to strengthen our yoga flows, and when we learn breathing and mindfulness in yoga, we can bring that into a challenging Pilates set.
