Yogalates: Benefits of Combining Yoga and Pilates

Yogalates is a type of class that combines yoga and Pilates and focuses on strengthening the core while eliciting the meditational and flexibility benefits of yoga. This yoga and Pilates fusion works well for many people, especially those who are beginning to tire of the usual yoga and Pilates classes and want to try something new. Yogalates is also a great option for people who enjoy both yoga and Pilates but don't have the time to take both classes a week.

Yogalates was first created in 1997 by a yoga and Pilates instructor who thought that the two could easily be joined in a yoga fusion class. The yoga fusion combination of yoga and Pilates worked very well, because both yoga and Pilates emphasize the same ideals: proper breathing, strengthening, flexibility and meditation.

Yogalates can also be beneficial as a yoga fusion class for those who have been dissatisfied with yoga because they haven't gained much in terms of core strength. The yoga and Pilates combination allows these people to retain the benefits of their yoga class and add core strengthening moves that will slim their bodies. The benefits of Yogalates also can be seen for those unhappy with the Pilates emphasis on core work alone and nothing else. These people will enjoy the yoga fusion of yoga and pilates because they can work on other parts of their body as well as the core.

In a yogalates class, you will be exposed to both yoga and Pilates of course, but more often than not, the poses and exercises from both are separated, instead of being combined into the same moves of yoga fusion. Instead, a typical yogalates class will begin with traditional yoga poses such as the downward dog, warrior or the tree. These moves emphasize warming up of the breathing, improving balance and flexibility. Then, the yogalates class moves onto to yoga poses that involve more movement, such as the sun salutation. After completing these poses, the yogalates instructor will transition to more intensive core exercises that are known as Pilates.

There are a few drawbacks of yogalates as compared to traditional yoga and Pilates classes. The main problem with yogalates is similar to problems encountered in other yoga fusion classes. In combining yoga and Pilates into a yoga fusion style of yogalates, one risks losing or detracting from the benefits of yoga and Pilates taken on their own. Yogalates, as compared to Pilates, will bring a lot less in terms of core strengthening, and not as many benefits of flexibility and meditation as yoga. In fact, yogalates causes one to lose almost every meditational benefit of yoga because the exercises can be so intensive and fast paced, which make concentration and meditation difficult.

Despite the perceived drawbacks, yogalates is a great option of a class to take for those who would like to try something beyond yoga and Pilates. You will enjoy the challenges brought by this yoga fusion combination of yoga and Pilates and will find them extremely beneficial.