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| Pilates and Yoga |
Yoga and Pilates. You surely have heard of them. Maybe you already have an idea about them. But what sets them apart? They both involve stretching and breathing for body fat loss. They both help improve strength and stamina. Yet these two weight loss exercises differ in so many ways. How?
Origin
Yoga was born in India and has been around for more than 5,000 years. Aside from the physical, it also involves mental and spiritual disciplines. Yoga was brought to the West by Hindu monks in the late 19th century and soon (1980s) became a popular fitness exercise across the Western world.
Pilates, on the other hand, was developed by German-born Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s to help rehabilitate soldiers during World War I. It was originally called Contrology because it was a practice of using the mind to control muscles.
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| Gingerbread men in yoga stances |
In simplest terms, yoga is a disciplined method which has a philosophical / spiritual focus for attaining a goal and the purpose of it depends on the philosophical or theological system with which kind of yoga is conjugated. Because of this, it is mostly recommended for mental and emotional rehabilitation, while Pilates for physical rehabilitation. Yoga improves mental and emotional health by calming the one controlling the stress levels and hormone levels. Pilates improves upper body and core muscle endurance and flexibility by putting emphasis on spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing, coordination / balance improvement, and developing a strong core.
