DAN'S PAPERS, October 10, 2008 Page 52 www.danshamptons.com
Health/Fitness
By Emily J Weitz
Yogalates: A Healthy Marriage By Emily J Weitz Over the past 10 years, both yoga and Pilates have grown in popularity to become two of the most practiced wellness disciplines in the country. But when you ask someone if they’ve ever tried yoga, it is not uncommon to hear the response, “Oh, no. I do Pilates,” or vice versa, as if the two are mutually exclusive. The fact is, yoga and Pilates are markedly different practices that, in turn, have varied benefits and can complement each other. Yoga is a 5,000-year-old discipline from India that focuses on the breath, and it uses strength and flexibility to help open the energetic channels of the body. Pilates was developed by westerner Joseph Pilates in the 1920s as a practical way to help people engage their cores to navigate through injury and to strengthen the body. By using techniques from both, some practitioners say you can get the best of both worlds. Yogalates was founded by Louise Solomon, an Australian woman. Solomon had been a devoted yoga practitioner for years when she sustained an injury during her yoga practice. She moved on to Pilates, which she felt offered more support for her injury. She fell in love with the method and went on to become a certified Pilates instructor. She had been teaching Pilates for over two years when she realized she was missing something in her practice: it was yoga. Even though Pilates fulfilled her physical needs, there was something from her yoga practice that she longed for. She missed the ambience and the spiritual connection of yoga, so she returned to the discipline. This time, she brought her knowledge of Pilates with her. Solomon incorporated core stability (a Pilates fun-
damental) into the yoga practice, and she trademarked it as Yogalates. Since then, she has traveled the world teaching her method, and has trained instructors and created a Yogalates manual. From yoga, the mother and Pilates, the father, Yogalates was born. Out here on the East End, there is pretty much a yoga studio in every town. And if you look up Pilates, you’ll find that instructors abound. But Yogalates is just making its way to this corner of the Earth, and for those who have been intrigued, but not entirely satisfied by either one or the other, this may be the answer. The Ward Melville Heritage Organization in Riverhead is offering Yogalates at its Educational and Cultural Center in Stony Brook. The teacher, Desiree Tyers, believes that “Yogalates is meant to meet people wherever they are in their lives. It can transform their lives if they open themselves up to it.” She explains that her classes begin with yoga and end with Pilates. For the first half of class, Tyers sets up a yogic breath, in and out through the nose. Then she sets a strong metaphorical connection to the physical experience. For example, if the students are in Warrior II, with feet spread wide and one hand forward and one hand back, she asks them to visualize the backhand as their past and the front hand as
their futures. Then she reminds them that even with their past and futures connected, they are rooted firmly in the present. Then, with this spiritual connection in place, Tyers leads students into Pilates. The breath transitions from in and out through the nose to in through the nose and out through pursed lips. Using this focus on the breath, she asks students to strengthen their cores. As they inhale, she encourages that they shorten the core, and as they exhale, she leads them to lengthen it. As Tyers explained the aspects of yoga and Pilates that were incorporated into her teaching, I felt like she was speaking two languages. Because I am more familiar with yoga, she told me she’d explain it in “yoga speak.” But the fact that she could describe Pilates actions in yoga terms goes to show the common thread between the two disciplines, a thread that Tyers has mastered. While Yogalates is still growing in popularity, Tyers may be offering Master Classes at studios on the East End so that the discipline has an opportunity to expand. For now, you can find her at the Ward Melville Heritage Organization in Riverhead on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. Classes run through December. Each class is $15, or $55 for a four class series. For reservations or more information, contact (631) 689-5888 or visit wmho.org.
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