Pilates vs Yoga

Some people have been asking me about the differences between Pilates & Yoga. Frankly, although I can feel the difference, I don’t know enough to articulate/explain it. Though highly similar, each exercise has a slightly different goal. Physically, the best distinction I’ve found is that yoga requires positions to be held while pilates works through highly precise movements. Yoga is more spiritual (mind-body-spirit) while Pilates focuses on mind and body. Both require high body awareness and a focus on breathing.

In my experience, Yoga provides deeper relaxation (excellent for stress-relief) and requires greater flexibility but Pilates works faster in building muscle strength, muscular and spinal stability and posture alignment. Pilates doesn’t demand as much flexibility in order to perform its movments but it improves flexibility gradually and very effectively. It’s not a case of either-or, but people usually prefer one over the other. I tried out Yoga, loved it… then a friend convinced me to try Pilates and to my surprise I liked it even better. There’s something about the precision of movement in pilates and the non-spiritual dimension of it that appeals to me. It’s ironic, considering I am quite a spiritual person…but perhaps I prefer to keep exercise as exercise. Anyway, there was no looking back for me, and that’s why I’ve stuck to Pilates these few years.

I’ve decided to provide the links to a couple of websites that may be helpful in answering the “what is pilates” and “how is pilates different from yoga” type questions for those of you who are interested. Enjoy!

About Pilates
History of Pilates
Pilates: A modern Yoga
Yoga vs Pilates: Which one is right for you?
Yoga vs Pilates: Which is better?
Mat Mates