Yoga and Pilates: The New Workout Combo You Should be Trying

Yoga in combination with Pilates is a new workout that you should be trying if you want to be at the cutting edge of the exercise world. While there are differences between yoga and Pilates (yoga emphasizes awareness of your body's alignment and movement patterns and is therapeutic, while Pilates is more aimed at working the entirety of your body) there are also similarities. It is these similarities that have caused the fusion of these two previously separate types of workouts, into a new combination of late. There are six principles in Pilates, which are flow, breath, concentration, centering, precision and control, and these principles are quite similar to what many forms of yoga themselves use.

Importance of Breathing in Both Yoga and Pilates

If you study both yoga and Pilates, one of the first things that should instantly stand out to you is how both of these exercises incorporate breathing into their philosophies. The emphasis on breathing is a lot more extensive in yoga than it is in Pilates. For example, as you do some yoga poses, you are required to incorporate some yogic breathing into your routine. Other times in yoga, there are even meditative practices which rely solely on proper breathing. The founder of Pilates, Joseph Pilates, also studied yoga and therefore was himself very concerned with breathing during exercising. That is why, in Pilates, students are prodded to breathe as fully as possible. In both yoga and Pilates, however, proper breathing connects the physical exertion with focus of the mind, which provides a means for centering the practitioner's presence.

Benefits of Yoga and Pilates Integration

If you start doing the new workout combination of yoga and Pilates at the same time, you stand to provide your body with the benefits of both exercise philosophies. As opposed to building a body that is simply muscular like in other workout regimens, the use of both yoga and Pilates at the same time will be conducive to the development of a body which is strong as well as lean, graceful, and efficient.

Practicing both yoga along with Pilates can also lead to a reduction in stress. Because of this feature the practice of the two techniques are also employed as systems of physical rehabilitation. Finally, a benefit of both yoga and Pilates is the increased attainment of harmony and high levels of spiritual, mental and physical fitness.

Yoga and Pilates in Conjunction

Yoga and Pilates' techniques make them ideal to complement each other in a workout combo. For example, you can take the stretching emphasis from yoga and retain it for Pilates exercises. Or you can improve your yoga poses after you build up your abdominal muscles from Pilates work. The breathing techniques that are so important and prevalent in both exercise philosophies can even be integrated into your everyday life and routines, which means having a stronger body and a stress-free mind.

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