If you’re looking for the ways to mend both your mind and body, then you should look no further than Pilates. Developed in the 1920s by Joseph Pilates, this form of exercising offers much more than people usually think.
Not only can it heal your body, by providing it the much-needed strengthening through performing various Pilates movements, but it can also help your mind in numerous different ways.
In this article, we’re going to present you with the ways Pilates can help almost anybody. The great thing about it is that it’s suitable for all age groups. Nevertheless, we strongly encourage you to talk to your physician prior to engaging in any kind of unmonitored activity.
Pilates Improves Your Flexibility
The way Pilates works is that it safely increases your body’s flexibility, by carefully stretching your muscles. As a result, this type of motion leads to an increase in muscles’ length. The important thing to note is that, unlike yoga, Pilates doesn’t aim at primarily providing your body stretch and flexibility, but these come as a direct outcome of different movements that also help you improve in these areas.
Related: Yoga Ideals You Can Apply to Your Life
We should also note here that Pilates, compared to yoga, is mainly directed towards building your core strength. This doesn’t mean that yoga doesn’t work your core muscles as well, but the key difference between these two forms of exercise probably lies in main targets and focuses on one another.
Pilates Strengthens Your Core Muscles
Speaking of core strength, Pilates offers one of the best ways to train your core muscles. These muscles include a plethora of different muscles on your back, as well as abdomen muscles. Pilates also works your pelvic floor, thus providing you with the complete core workout that can greatly improve your posture. A strong back and abdomen are essential here for a couple of reasons.
First of all, a strong core gives muscles in your neck and shoulders the opportunity to relax more. Besides this, a direct benefit from having strong core muscles is the ability to perform everyday activities more easily. Not to mention that a nice side benefit of strong core muscles can also be those flat abs, that we all covet so much.
Pilates Helps You Alleviate Stress and Relaxes You at the Same Time
Thus far, we’ve mainly talked about healing your body through Pilates. But what many people don’t realize is that Pilates also offers a great way of coping with stress. In today’s day and age, we’re prone to stress probably more than ever, and Pilates can certainly help in decreasing the stress-related hormones, like cortisol.
Read: 30 Ways to Relax on a Budget
So, in order to get the most out of Pilates, we encourage you to find good physiotherapist services, like those that Movement 101 provides to their clients. That way you can be sure you’re pumping your body with the ’feel-good’ chemicals and that you’re alleviating stress at the same time.
Pilates is a Potent Tool in Treating Depression and Anxiety
While we’re on the subject of healing one’s mind, Pilates is also a potent tool in treating depression and anxiety. There are numerous studies and research on this topic, and they all point in the same direction: any type of exercise can help immensely in treating mental conditions like those we’ve just mentioned.
The way Pilates can help in this regard mainly revolves around its potential to change the levels of chemicals (such as serotonin, cortisol, endorphins) in the brain that are responsible for our moods, thoughts, and feelings. By focusing on putting one’s body through movement and proper breathing techniques, Pilates certainly has the potential to provide a distraction from negative thoughts and help people socialize.
Pilates Helps Build Both Strength and Energy
On top of all these things, Pilates can also help you build strength and energy. Everyone knows just how important these instances are in a person’s everyday life. Often time we wake up in the morning feeling lethargic and unenergized. As a direct consequence of this, we have trouble performing even the easiest tasks at hand. We also have trouble concentrating on our jobs.
This is also one of the main reasons why we strongly encourage you to try Pilates. You should note that Pilates doesn’t actually aim at building your muscles for show. Its main goal is to provide you with long, lean, toned muscles that are harmonious with your body. But this doesn’t mean that your muscles won’t get stronger because they most certainly will if you regularly follow Pilates workout program.
The Bottom Line
In today’s world, more and more people are facing both mental and physical problems, due to irregular sleep, eating bad food, and lack of exercise. That’s why it’s so important to get all these things in order.
