Yoga Vs. Pilates

[GeorgiaDancer06]

I know there are a ton of threads about exercise and dance, so if my question is answered elsewhere please just point me in the direction of the thread!!

In working to gain the strength, flexibility, and look for ballroom and latin, will pilates or yoga be the most beneficial? Or both?
I'm doing classes through the local YMCA, so I can take as many classes as I want, it just might mean that I have to skip a dance class or two. Would it be worth it? Or should I just do one (yoga or pilates)... and if so, which is best?

[Katarzyna]

I think they are both extremally benefitial.. I try to do the classes as frequently as I can.. I've done a lot more yoga than pilates but that's just because I've had better time finding good yoga classes.. I think if you can take as many as you want, I would recommend doing both.. I think they both help with alignment, posture, core strenghth, balance and flexibility...

And you're right, there are tons of threads about yoga/pilates, I'm sure people will point you in the right direction

[dancesportgirl21]

I would say to try both classes to see which you prefer and which has a better teacher and to go from there. Yoga and pilates are both excellent, but it depends on what you want personally and what will suit you better.

[Shooshoo]

You should try both. Depends alot on the instructor/classes available.
I enjoy pilates more than yoga but I do it in a class and the instructor is very good. I find pilates alone/using a dvd extremely boring.
I managed to do yoga using a book for a while, but I reached my maximum limits on my own and I felt that I needed an instructor so I could go further.
But as far as I know there are also many types of Yoga, so you'd have to investigate that too.

[leftthebuilding]

I cannot make yoga anymore so I do pilates. It is pilates class today, YAY!

[samina]

gyrotonic has been called "yoga for dancers", and many formerly rabid pilates instructors and practitioners are transitioning over to gyro instruction & practice.

i've done yoga, done pilates, done gyro... if i had to choose, gyro gets my vote over the other two for a variety of reasons.

fwiw, gyrotonic uses equipment, and gyrokinesis is a way to use the principles/exercises of gyrotonic with just a chair or floor mat. so there are two options in that camp.

[opendoor]

Hi GeorgiaDancer06! It is very important to do some strengthening and basic workout besides your dancing. But the question is not whether Pilates or Yoga, the question is, how good and experienced the instructor actually is!

As a patriot, I would recommend Pilates, because this system was invented at the Hamburg Opera especially for professional dancers before Pilates moved to NY. But what usually sailes beneath the label Pilates today is very often not worth the name. So better take a close look at either class. By the way, today Gyrotonic is taught at the ballet school of the Hamburg Opera.


wr. from Hamburg
OD

[samina]

By the way, today Gyrotonic is taught at the ballet school of the Hamburg Opera.


wr. from Hamburg
OD

lucky them. :)

also, gyrotonic was invented by an injured ballet dancer seeking to restore his spinal health, with an emphasis on core strength and the kind of rotational movement natural to the body.

[Larinda McRaven]

signed up for my first gyrotonic class for next week!

[mop6686]

I agree, try both.

IMO, they're both great for the body, but yoga is rooted a little more in spiritual practice. Pilats barre is ballet mixed with pilates. Or try yogalates!

[j_alexandra]

signed up for my first gyrotonic class for next week!

Oooh, enjoy; I would love to hear what you think. I find it extremely useful.

[Larinda McRaven]

I also started going here

crossfitnewton.com/videos

[v22TTC]

Gah, I'm about the least superficial dude on Earth, but I'm super-interested in gyrotonic... just because it's such a cool, Sci-Fi-sounding word....:oops:

[samina]

signed up for my first gyrotonic class for next week!

very cool

[samina]

did a very challenging hot yoga class tonight and this thread crossed my mind, once during and then as i was leaving and feeling so light, relaxed, and energized. i think there are some excellent options and additions to straight pilates & hatha yoga, each with its benefit. lots to explore, for variety and their unique gifts.

one thing i really enjoy about yoga is how it takes you to the edge of your limitations and allows you to breathe thru them... breathe oxygen into parts of your body that may not get activated quite that way at any other time. and staying there, with equanimity, creates the capacity for deeper stillness. i need more of that. :)

kundalini yoga, which is different from hatha-style yogas in that it has repetitive movements rather than poses which are held, is great for the nervous system, for strengthening the legs and heart, and increasing flexibility of the spine and core strength. and the creator of gyro has a kundalini yoga background, which i believe deeply influenced his use of the breath in gyro.

when it comes to pilates floor exercises, i usually opt instead for callanetics. still haven't found anything that's better on the floor than that stuff, which is tied to the "the bar method" and "the lotte berke method" in origin. personally, i do any of these three before hitting up pilates.

[3wishes]

I have been thinking of visiting a yoga class, a close friend suggested the "hot" session style, samina - question - exactly how "hot" degrees wise does the room get?

[Larinda McRaven]

"Hot yoga" is very warm, usually around 95-100 degrees, and is a generic term for yoga in a hot room. Bikram yoga is supposed to be at 105 with a humidity of 40%.

[Angelo]

I also started going here

crossfitnewton.com/videos


Does crossfit still refer to Uncle Rhabdo or Pukey the clown?

[Larinda McRaven]

:shock: not that i have heard yet... ???

[Warren J. Dew]

I also started going here

crossfitnewton.com/videos

So is that a Zone or Paleo crossfit?

[Larinda McRaven]

Paleo

[Angelo]

:shock: not that i have heard yet... ???


Hopefully you will never encounter them, either in reference or experience.

[Larinda McRaven]

google..... :shocked:
well I have no problem setting boundaries and limits and will quite happily sit down with a defiant smile on my face rather than get to that point.

[samina]

I have been thinking of visiting a yoga class, a close friend suggested the "hot" session style, samina - question - exactly how "hot" degrees wise does the room get?

varies, you should ask the host. i think where i take it is 85-95 depending on the instructor... one is far more challenging, and even puts the fans on much very low so you feel it more. with another instructor, it is just cozy-warm, with the heat not very challenging in itself. with her class, i will sweat constantly, but not as profusely as with the other, where i cannot take the class without an added "yoga towel" on top of the mat because my dripping sweat makes a grip on the mat impossible. attractive...:rolleyes:

but "bikram" style yoga is *very* hot, more like a sauna... some contend dangerously so, while others are rabidly devoted to the style. i have never tried it. it would be too much for me at this level of my ability...and perhaps at any level.

[samina]

"Hot yoga" is very warm, usually around 95-100 degrees, and is a generic term for yoga in a hot room. Bikram yoga is supposed to be at 105 with a humidity of 40%.

have you done bikram, larinda? if so, did you like it? how did you find the experience...

[Larinda McRaven]

Actually... Yes I do like it. The only thing that keeps me from doing it more is that they are hell bent on every pose being a pole straight leg and locked knee. There is no such thing as a straight but soft knee. They actually say "Lock it. Pull it in tight. Straight like a lamp post." And to me that is the absolutely the worst thing for my knees and my chondra malacia. Other than that I love it and if I had a studio (with a shower) close to work I would do it several times a week. As it is now I simply go on a day off once in awhile.

[samina]

well, that is actually very encouraging to hear... aside from the straight leg business. i shall bear that in mind. but at the moment, i'm so not ready to try it out. i think i would collapse from that degree at heat.

[TinyDancer109]

i really enjoyed pilates and felt it helped but must admit i never tried yoga. I only stopped pilates because of difficulty finding affordable classes on during convenient times (i have a long commute daily, which takes a lot of time out of my day).