From magazine covers to overheard conversations in the lunch room, everyone is talking about yoga and pilates. You know that both forms of fitness stress the importance of strengthening the body through length and flexibility, but you wonder what the key differences are between these two popular forms of exercise.

The differences between pilates and yoga, particularly Mark Blanchard's Progressive Power Yoga are both physical as well as mental. Both yoga and pilates have different birth places, philosophies, and different objectives.

THE ORIGINS OF YOGA
Yoga is a 5,000 year old philosophy that originated from India. More than a form of exercise, it encompasses an entire lifestyle and aims to unite body, mind, and soul. Because Progressive Power Yoga incorporates mind and spirit as well as an intense rhythmic workout, it is a therapeutic practice that help practitioners to become more aware of his or her postures, alignment, patterns of movement, and balance (in both mind and body).

THE ORIGINS OF PILATES
Pilates, a much more modern practice was invented in the 1920s by Joseph Pilates as a practice to help World War I soldiers recover from their injuries. Unlike Progressive Power Yoga, which is strictly performed on floor mats without any props or music, pilates incorporates the use of machines designed to strengthen the abdomen and stabilize the spine, making it ideal for rehabilitation of injuries. Not as ancient and spiritual in its origin, pilates first gained popularity in the 1990s among the dance world.

THE MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES ARE SUBSTANTIAL
Yoga in general has a more holistic approach, which emphasizes balance in all areas - it equally supports and strengthens all muscle groups while it creates mental clarity and physical balance. Pilates focuses on building core muscles, and although it also stimulates mental balance, the principals behind yoga involves uniting body, mind, AND spirit. Its ancient philosophies are Hindu-based, and its teachings reach deeper into the cavities of the spirit, balance, and harmony than that of pilates.

THE PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES ARE SUBSTANTIAL TOO
The physical difference between the two are vast. Mark Blanchard's Progressive Power Yoga is an intense, upbeat, high-energy practice where poses flow smoothly into one another, targeting the entire body from head to toe. Its benefits are endless - lengthens and leans out muscles, increases metabolism, decreases stress, and enhances mental clarity and focus. The practice of pilates on the other hand (whether machine or mat based), is significantly lower in impact and concentrates more on non-repeated movement patterns and stretches.

UJJAYI BREATHING
Both yoga and pilates place a strong emphasis on coordinated breathing; however, with different approaches. Pilates incorporates a basic style of breathing with the purpose to stabilize and protect the spine. Coordinated breathing is integral to the Progressive Power Yoga practice. It incorporates "ujjayi breathing" meaning "victoriously uprising" which refers to the upward expansion of the energy of the breath. Ujjayi breathing is an intense, smooth, even, and controlled breathing technique that helps to calm and relax the mind. The deeper "ujjayi" nose breathing practiced during Progressive Power Yoga classes also increase power and breath strength throughout the heart and lungs. It is this combination of breath and movement in Mark Blanchard's Progressive Power Yoga that  connects mind  with  body, and creates balance and stability.

SUMMARY
Although both yoga and pilates certainly share their similarities (and not just in their increasing popularity), the key difference rests within their core objectives. Whereas Progressive Power Yoga is a complete balance and holistic exercise that also strengthens muscles while providing greater flexibility, pilates simply focuses on the body's core strengths. Yoga has a rich and ancient history that dates back 5,000 years, and by contrast pilates is a 20th Century invention originally developed as a form of physical therapy.