essay

My name is Gabriele Mastro and I researched yoga and pilates. I researched their similarities and differences, and how each exercise can benefit you. I chose this topic because I have always been interested in taking a yoga or pilates class, but I have never found the time to do it.

I read Living Yoga by Christy Turlington. It discussed how to incorporate yoga into your everyday life, no matter how busy you are and explains how yoga has helped her get through stressful times and events. The book also discusses pilates and its similarities and differences from yoga.

For my interaction, I went to Gold's Gym and took BodyFlow. BodyFlow was an exercise class that focused on a yoga and pilates workout. I liked it because it combined both exercises to make one workout.

The most important thing I learned is that neither exercise is better than the other. They both have great benefits for the body. Yoga puts more emphasis on flexibility, relaxation, spirituality, meditation, and breathing than pilates does. Pilates focuses more on strengthening the core, but both are very relaxing and both help improve flexibility. I can't pick between yoga and pilates, because I enjoyed them both. If I could have done something differently, I would have only researched one of these exercises because there is so much information and stuff to learn about each one, and there is still alot of information I have not learned about each exercise.

Live Interaction

For my live interaction, I took a class at Gold's Gym called Bodyflow. Bodyflow is a class that focuses on a yoga and pilates workout. The class focused on controlled breathing, concentration, a carefully structured series of stretches, moves, and poses. The workout is supposed to bring the body into a state of harmony and balance.
I really enjoyed Bodyflow. It made me feel calm and relaxed. I liked how it combined yoga and pilates to create one workout. The class was a little tougher and more challenging than I expected, but I felt good after I completed it. Bodyflow helped strengthen my core and helped me with my flexibility. I liked this class so much that I plan on going back to it. The yoga part of the class definitely helped with my flexibility and the pilates class worked more on my core, but helped with my flexibility as well. I can't choose between yoga and pilates, I like them both.

Living Yoga by Christy Turlington

I read Living Yoga by Christy Turlington. Christy discovered yoga at age 18 and has been practicing it for 15 years. In her book, she discusses how to incorportate yoga into your everyday life, no matter how busy you are. She also tells readers how yoga has made her life more peaceful through stressful times and events. She explains the eight tenets of yoga, and demonstrates different postures and positions.

Turlington also talks about pilates in Living Yoga and explains how it is similar and different from yoga. Yoga is much more popular than pilates and is searched on the internet four times as much as pilates is. Yoga has been practiced for many decades and is very widely known. Pilates exercises and equipment have been embraced in the health and well being mainstream. Christy says that yoga and pilates are two very different disciplines. They are linked together though, because Joseph Pilates did draw from some ancient yoga postures when first developing them, so there has always been some connection. People often seek information on yoga and pilates at the same time.Yoga puts more emphasis on flexibility, relaxation, spirituality, meditation and breathing than pilates.Both yoga and pilates can have a place in your exercise regime. Both exercises focus on breathing, concentration, precision, and control. Christy says that "yoga and pilates do not compete with each other, but complement each other"(Turlington 124).
Although this book was really boring, I did learn alot more about yoga and pilates. The most important thing I learned is that it is probably wrong to say that one of these exercises is better than the other. They are best seen as two possible disciplines in your health and fitness routine. These disciplines may suit different people at different times.


Turlington, Christy. Living Yoga. Hyperion, 2002. 288. Print.

Yoga & Pilates

If a person is having a hard time deciding between yoga and pilates, they should do them in conjuntion. The nature of both techniques make it easy for them to complement each other. Yoga can give a person their stretch and pilates will help them keep that stretch. The breathing techniques of pilates and the meditation aspect of pilates can be joined to relieve the stress from everyday life. By performing yoga and pilates together, "your whole body gets a workout, and you gain flexibility as well"(Harris).
I think doing yoga and pilates together is a good idea. I think I would like that better than just picking one. I think the body would really benefit from it, because you get your stretch and your flexibility from yoga and you keep it by doing pilates. You can get flexible and the body can still get toned by doing both. I think it would be beneficial to cheerleaders, dancers, and gymnasts because they need that toned body and they also need that flexibilty. I think that by doing the breathing techniques from pilates and the meditation from yoga would be very relaxing and a great stress reliever.

Harris, Deborah . "Yoga vs Pilates-Which is Better?." Holistic Healing. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr 2010. http://healing.about.com/od/pilates/a/yogavspilates.htm.

Pilates

Heather is a modern dancer who began pilates many years ago when she recieved a back injury. She explains what pilates is and how it is different from other types of exercise. She says that yoga is similar to pilates in its breathing, movement, centering, concentration, control, and percision. Pilates really focuses on core strength to help with spine support, flexibility, muscles strength, and elongating the spine. The benefits she gains from pilates are a more flexible body and better health and wellness. Heather likes pilates because it "awakens all the cells in the body and carries away all the wastes"(Heather). It lengthens you, tones the body, and makes you alot more flexible, and makes you feel good mentally and physically. Heather says that pilates really helped her get over her back injury and made her back alot stronger.
I agreee with what Heather explained in her video. I really thought that this was a good video and I enjoyed it. This video was very helpful because she explained many things you should know about pilates. I have had a back injury in cheerleading before, and my physical therapist recommended pilates to me to help strengthen my back. I think that I would like pilates better than yoga because it seems like it would be more beneficial to me. I like how pilates can still be relaxing without doing the meditation that you have to do in yoga.

Heather,."What is Pilates? Is it Yoga? Aerobics? Fitness? Exercise?." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXyYBCniBL4.

Yoga

Yoga is a workout program that is easy to learn, requires little to no equipment, and soothes the body while doing the workout. Yoga is designed to strengthen the cardiovascular system, tone and stretch the muscles, and improving mental fitness. Yoga began 3,000 years ago in India. Yoga means "yoke" in Sanskrit and it means to unite the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga requires physical exercise, but it also connects with your spirituality, which is the main goal of yoga. Yoga has tons of benefits such as flexibility, strength, balance, and stamina. People who do yoga say that "yoga reduces anxiety and stress, improves mental clarity, and even helps them sleep better"(Kavanagh).
I think that yoga would be great for a person who is wanting a lighter workout. The good thing about yoga is that you can make it as vigorious or as gentle as you want it to be. I do believe it provides great benefits to the body. It is really beneficial in helping the body become more flexible. I have to stretch alot for cheerleading, and whenever we do yoga exercises I feel more flexible than I usually do.
Kavanagh, Pascale. "What is Yoga?." TeensHealth. N.p., Aug 2008. Web. 13 Apr 2010. http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/exercise/yoga.html

Benefits of Pilates

Pilates is becomin more popular now because it provides benefits that you can not gain from any other aerobics or strength training exercise. Dancers, gymnasts, and Hollywood celebrities choose pilates for their exercise. Pilates focuses on the whole body, and helps build strength and endurance without getting the muscle man look. It helps give your body a long, lean look without bulky muscles. Pilates is beneficial in strengthening the stabilizer muscles. It is a mind-body workout that helps tone your body, mind, and spirit. Pilates strengthens the core like no other exercise. It is also beneficial in preventing a person from further injuries. It helps a person become efficient with their body, and "very few exercises can help your body become more efficient in its movement"(Reddy).

I think pilates is a great exercise. I feel like after I experience yoga and pilates, I will choose pilates over yoga. I like pilates because it focuses on strengthing and toning your whole body, not just certain areas. This workout seems to tone your whole body, but it doesn't seem too hard. It seems like it would be relaxing, but help your body get into shape more.

Reddy, Nishanth. "Top Six Benefits of Pilates Exercise ." Articlebase. N.p., 20 Nov 2006. Web. 8 Apr 2010. http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/top-six-benefits-of-pilates-exercises-74468.html.