Yoga Pilates: Yogilates as a Workout for Body and Mind

Yoga and Pilates are currently the most popular sports among women, as they shape a beautiful body and provide relaxation at the same time. The combination of both, also called Yogilates, combines relaxing elements from yoga with the back strengthening and body toning exercises of Joseph Pilates.

What Yogilates can do

Yoga Pilates is the perfect blend of strength elements, breathing exercises, balance techniques and stretching – for a beautiful body. Through concentrated training, a better body feeling sets in after just a few exercise units and you become more resistant in stressful situations. The dangerous visceral fat on the abdomen and the unloved pads on the buttocks and legs can be fought through regular training.

6 simple exercises

Warm up
Sit comfortably cross-legged. Inhale deeply, raising arms above head. Exhale, bending arms and torso slightly forward. Straighten back up as you inhale. Repeat 5 times, lowering the torso all the way forward the last time.
Swimming – for toned legs and beautiful shoulders
Lie on your stomach. Raise head and pull in abdomen. Inhale and exhale deeply, alternately lifting left arm and right leg or right arm and left leg. Note: Keep shoulders as low as possible. Perform 15 times alternately.
The bridge – for legs and buttocks
Lie on your back with your feet hip-width apart. Gently lift the pelvis so that the body forms a straight line. Inhale deeply while extending one leg all the way up (bend the tops of the feet). As you exhale, lower the leg again so that it continues the line of the body (see photo). Repeat 5 times, then switch sides.
Leg Lifts – for a toned waistline
Sit on knees and rest sideways on left arm and left knee. Inhaling bring the right arm over the head and stretch the right side of the body by lifting the right leg (see photo). On the exhale, lower the leg again, and on the next inhale, lift and stretch again. Pull in the abdomen to stabilize the pelvis. 10 times, then switch sides.
Scissors – belly and legs in top shape
Lie on your back, close your hands behind your head. As you exhale, pull the abdomen in and lift the shoulder. Stretch the right leg long and stretch the left leg upward. Inhale and exhale deeply, then slowly lower the leg. Change sides. Repeat 8 times per side.
Relaxation
Staying on your back, pull your knees to your chest and enclose them with your arms. Roll your whole body forward and back again, rocking back and forth a few times. Then squat down and come up out of it, straightening up vertebra by vertebra.