The Benefits of Fusing Yoga & Pilates

The Benefits of Fusing Yoga & Pilates

At Selph, we believe in a mindful approach to movement with classes that settle your mind, transform your body, and renew your energy levels.

Selph’s movement philosophy is about going beyond what you think you can do, and playing in what your body is capable of. 

Sometimes it is just the mind that tells us we aren’t strong enough, or flexible enough to move in a certain way.

The truth is, your body wants to move, feel strong, stretch and rest to feel a sense of physical ease. A fusion of Yoga and Pilates can support this mindful movement and a healthy body. 

Similarities of Yoga and Pilates. 

Both modalities use:

  1. Breath with movement. This helps to regulate a calm nervous system even when you are actively engaging the body. 
  2. A wide range of movement in your joints. This increases the range of movement in your joints (such as hips, shoulders, spine). 
  3. Movements balanced in strength and flexibility. Move from an active core to develop awareness around what is weak in the body and needs strengthening, with what is tight in the body and needs releasing.
  4. Core activation and joint stabilisation. Yoga poses are often taught through “moving from your core”, so you are working with deep stabilisation to build steadiness and strength. Pilates works the many different layers of core muscles to support strength in other body parts, such as glutes and shoulders.  

Many poses in Yoga can be supported by the muscular activation of a Pilates practice as you learn how to engage your body and stabilise your joints.

The mindfulness of a Yoga practice supports your focus and builds resilience for repetitive movement in Pilates. You want to build strength in your body and mind so you learn how to harness healthy movement in your everyday. 

How does Yoga and Pilates support healthy movement? 

  1. Posture, posture, posture. The spine is the communication highway of your brain to body so we want the highway to be clear and free of traffic jams! Yoga and Pilates strengthen posture muscles and makes you aware of how you hold your body day in and day out. 
  2. Core support in everything you do. An active core supports your lower lumbar spine which is a common area of compression and joint pain. By switching on core muscles regularly you learn how to move in the safest way for your body and reduce the likelihood of injury. 
  3. Releases parts of your body that need it most. Your neck, shoulders, chest; hips, glutes and lower back are common places of sensitivity and pain. Yoga and Pilates builds muscles to protect these areas for greater ease each day. Yoga especially works with many poses to stretch and lengthen your muscles for greater flexibility.
  4. Deepens your breath by moving with the respiratory muscles. A steady breath regulates a balanced nervous system, which can lead to less inflammation in the body, better sleep, healthy digestion, and overall improvement to your mood.

Blending Pilates and Yoga into your weekly practice allows you to strengthen muscles and move functionally in your everyday life with ease. We believe it is a perfect balance of strength and flexibility.

New to the studio? Enjoy your first class on us with the code: RENEW when booking.

Explore the studio timetable here.