I tried my first Pilates class this week - a friend asked me so I thought I would give it a go but, I have to admit, I was skeptical. I'm a yoga girl at heart and inparticularly enjoy the spirirtual side of my practice including all-beautiful savasana at the end of class. From what I had heard, Pilates seemed a little 'all sequence, no soul' and yet I went anyway, trying to keep an open mind.
What I found seemed to be a hybrid of yoga, ballet and traditional toning moves.
The class started with some hip and shoulder circles to lubrictae the joints and moved through to some moves remeniscent of my childhood dance classes.
The main thing our teacher consistently focussed on was maintaining a neutral spine which she described as pulling our hips together - basically engaging your core - which meant that my tummy, sides and lower back were certainly put through their paces throughout the class. I can't deny I had to work hard and, as I expected, the majority of the class was 'core-focussed' which was great as I knew that building a strong mid-section would benefit all other forms of exercise that I do.
By the end of the class my abs were singing, not only from all of the work they had done but also thanks to much giggling at the ridiculousness of some of the postures.
Isn't it funny that in yoga we hold rather odd looking postures and feel the release of tensions through our quietness and prana and yet during Pilates the same poses are met with hilarity and a real good laugh? Different classes; different release and yet both ultimately satisfying.
So, am I a Pilates covert? Time to make a leap? Urm, no to be frank but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it; I did and I will go again and make it part of my weekly routine, but mainly because of the people in my class rather than the exercise itself which, although effective, I found a little boring. Let's see what the future of my Pilates sessions will be. I'm still a yoga girl but perhaps the two can benefit the other and rather than being an either/or can become a joyous double act.
Namaste xx
Image Copyright CarolLunetta
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