Move Beyond Blue Monday with Pilates and Yoga

Pilates and Yoga can help unwind, relax, sleep better & reduce stress levels.  The art of slowing down your breathing, movements & finding awareness within your body will help.

STRESS REDUCTION- sometimes we need to simply take time for ourselves, relax or learning to use simple tools like correct breath.  A Pilates fundamental is ‘breathing’ &as Joseph Pilates stated “Before any benefit can be derived from physical exercise one must first learn to breathe properly. Our very life depends on it.”  Ivenga stated ‘The mind is king of the senses and the breath is the king of the mind.

The SCIENCE: When we get stressed our breathing is shallow & rapid.  This causes us to tense our muscles around the shoulder especially.  Our volume of breath decreases & we don’t exhale fully. This can lead to anxiety & depression.  A 16-week Pilates programme was used with a group of 146 & measured depression scores before & after.  It concluded that Pilates lowered depression (Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation, 2016).

MENTAL CLARITY- focussing on the physical aspect of Pilates & Yoga such as alignment or posture enables YOU to be ‘in the moment’.  This emphasis on movement immerses yourself in the class & takes your mind off other things.

The SCIENCE: brain function was improved (30 volunteers) had a cognitive function test after a Yoga class, a treadmill session & a baseline assessment.  After the Yoga session cognitive function was significantly improved (Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 2013)

MOOD- exercise increases the production of endorphins known as ‘the feel-good hormones’.

The SCEINCE: A study on just over 300 subjects compared Pilates and a “special recreation” exercise class which was a class suited to the subjects exercise ability and needs.  It demonstrated that Pilates led to a better ability to regulate mood, a more relaxed state & a better sense of well-being (Abstract Pilates, Mindfulness and Somatic Education, 2013)