What’s the Difference Between Yoga and Pilates?

Think Medium vs. Instagram

All images created by the author

I’ve been a yoga teacher for two years, and a regular yoga practitioner for about eight. I’m also German — like the founder of Pilates, Joseph Pilates. And yet, Pilates as a form of exercise somehow passed me by.

Well, at least until recently. When I reinstalled Instagram and created a yoga-focused account a few weeks ago, I realized just how much of a hype Pilates has become in recent years. Signing up for a social network really makes you feel like you’ve been living under a rock in some respects.

Anyway — I bought two books about Pilates, attended some (online) classes, read some online sources, and dedicated an Instagram post to what I found. The following are the images I posted. I know it’s more visual and less text-heavy than a usual Medium post, but I hope this format is still enjoyable and insightful.

I’ll also wrap up by briefly comparing yoga to Medium, and Pilates to Instagram. With only 92 people following the topic “Pilates” on Medium, versus 3.9k following “yoga”, it’s safe to say that Pilates isn’t really “a thing” on this platform.