Sunday, November 02, 2008
Yoga vs. Pilates
In David’s recent post on yoga someone raised the question of yoga or Pilates, which is better? My first exposure to Pilates was in 1990, when I met a guy who opened a fitness center for elite athletes in Boulder, Colorado. The center was all integrated approac...
I have been familiar with yoga for decades but only practicing regularly for the past year and a half. I'm definitely convinced of the benefits. I inquired about the Pilates classes offered at the same studio and wondered if it might be related (yoga on steroids or something to that effect). Of course I kept hearing "you have to try it." I'm now convinced of it's benefits as well. It really concentrates on core abdominal strength as well as back, arm and leg muscles. It reminds of some of what was called PT in boot camp. It integrates well with yoga and provides such a comprehensive workout that at 63 and after about 30 years of working out at the gym, I only do abs and cardio now when I visit the gym but rely on yoga and pilates for maintaining strength and flexibility. I only do mat Pilates and am not familiar with the machine version. I have read many books on diet, exercise, yoga and pilates and there are no contradictions if you employ common sense as with anything else in life.
Kudos to you for realizing the benefit! Pilates and yoga are marvelous forms of exercise that most people should come to understand!
Keep up the good work, you will be benefit for years! A couple of years ago, my mom's best friend, who was 82 at the time, had hip replacement surgery and the surgeon asked her what she did for exercise because he marveled at her flexibility and strength during recovery. She told him she had been doing yoga since 1968!
My mom had met a women at my preschool who had just returned from India where she lived for three years and had studied yoga. mom put a class together of neighborhood mothers and so it all began for all of us! Somewhere in the archives of Harpers Bazaar Magazine is a article with a photo of myself, age 4, and the dog lying in shivasana! One of the moms was a writer for the mag. I should find that and put it up in my studio!?
Have a great 4th of July.. Sailor!