Pilates Yoga

Joseph Pilates, a German immigrant, developed the famous and highly popular Pilates exercise program, designed to get you fit without the bulky muscle of the Mr. America type. He spent many years, beginning as an adolescent, studying various body disciplines in his search for a program of exercises to promote health and fitness with a lean look and a graceful demeanor. Among the disciplines he studied was yoga, which he integrated into his method. Developed in the late 1920's, Pilates yoga today is a well respected and wildly popular form of this ancient art and body discipline.

Although Joseph Pilates did not achieve fame in his lifetime, his work was practiced and carried on by a small group of devotees to his methods, for decades, before the recent explosion of Pilates exercise programs and Pilates yoga. Today, Pilates' form of yoga is at the forefront of exercise and self discipline regimes. Pilates yoga is especially popular with dancers and athletes, as well as celebrities who've caught on to the superior benefits of Pilates' methodology.

Pilates yoga requires an instructor to have expertise in human anatomy and movement, physiology and the principles of yoga. In order to evaluate the knowledge and integrity of the yoga instructor, several yoga organizations offer online information on choosing a qualified yoga instructor. There are even certification programs which require months or even years of study.

If you choose to pursue a Pilates oriented yoga program, you'll want a well qualified person as your instructor. Be aware that some “certified” instructors may have as little as a day's or one weekend's training. In order to gain maximum benefit of a Pilates yoga class, look for a teacher with at least the minimum certification of 250 hours of training. An instructor with a 500 hour training certification will likely prove a good choice.

With the current popularity of the Pilates programs, you need to be careful in choosing an instructor, as certification programs are not standardized and vary widely in both standards and depth of training a certification may represent. So how do you make an intelligent assessment of your Pilates yoga instructor?

The Pilates Method Alliance (www.pilatesmethodalliance.com) has a database allowing you to search for qualified Pilates instructors in your locale. In addition, they give you a run down on the profile and standards of a qualified instructor, as well as tips on interviewing your potential instructor.

Another resource is the non-profit Yoga Alliance group (www.yogaalliance.org), dedicated to serving the yoga community with resources and their own searchable database of Pilates yoga instructors meeting their strict standards of qualifications.

If the Pilates yoga program holds an appeal for you, invest a little time in finding the right instructor and you'll soon be on your way to that fit, lean body you always wanted.

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