We’re excited to share a unique new program, which is the perfect fusion of Pilates and yoga, from Claire Petretti Marti. While Pilates and yoga have some similarities, in practice, they are quite different. The fusion of these two practices offers unparalleled benefits for your body, mind, and spirit. The two modalities complement each other and adding Pilates to your current routine can help you take your yoga practice to the next level.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is an exercise method created by Joseph Pilates and documented in his 1945 book, Pilates Return to Life Through Contrology. In Pilates, the core is called the Powerhouse and the emphasis is on strengthening the deep abdominals, the obliques, and the back in order to create a resilient support system to protect the spine. Joseph Pilates believed that age isn’t gauged by years, but by the suppleness of the spine.
The traditional Pilates method is a series of thirty-four exercises, with five to ten repetitions each, performed in a flowing routine on a mat. The focus on deep rhythmic movement, with increasingly challenging exercises, builds a stable center, helps lengthen the lateral body, and creates a strong and supple physique. While flexibility is a key component of the practice, the focus on strength is excellent for people who need to remedy hypermobility. The focus on deep consistent breathing is also a key element of the practice.
Several pieces of apparatus, like the Universal Reformer, Wunda-Chair, and The Cadillac utilize springs and pulleys for additional resistance. Regardless whether you perform Pilates on the mat or in a studio with different equipment, the purpose is the same: to strengthen your center. And strengthening your center in this precise disciplined way will enhance your yoga practice.
5 Ways Pilates Improves Your Yoga Practice:
1. Strengthen your core and use it consciously throughout your yoga practice to aid in balancing poses, both on one foot and upside down.
2. Improve alignment from working on creating greater symmetry and length to the side body. This translates into better alignment in all your yoga poses.
3. Increase body awareness from the focus on precise, mindful strengthening exercises and see how your awareness improves on your yoga mat.
4. Enhance your pranayama abilities with the disciplined focus on mindful breathing with every Pilates exercise.
5. Prevent injury: if your core isn’t strong enough and you aren’t using your center properly during yoga practice, you can be overcompensating with other areas of your body and get injured.
Are you convinced yet? Claire is excited to share her knowledge from teaching Pilates for the last decade with you in this fun format. Try the new Pilates Yoga Fusion Intensive this week and check out the differences in how you feel on and off the mat.