Here’s What You Didn’t Know About Pilates Mental Health Benefits

Exercise has proven to be one of the best remedies for our increasingly stressful lives, and as time continues to test our physical and mind, a consistent workout has been and will always be serving as our vital pillar of great health.

While there are plenty of exercises that drive us to lead an active and healthy lifestyle, Pilates has been around for decades as the all rounded exercise that serve the noble purpose of lengthening our life span, in the process of making us feel tip top too.

Pilates, an exercise that tests your mind and physical strength, builds your strong core, improve your pliability as well as trains you to be stronger holistically. 

Most importantly, the feel-good factor you gained from the sessions is worth the studio visit. Because how you feel is a great measure of how your new commitment towards this healthy lifestyle is about to change your life for good.

How Pilates is affecting your brain growth

Sometimes we’re too engrossed in sculpturing our figure, so much until we have forgotten about our mental health.

Mental illnesses have long been shunned off because of nations and people, as they are often “not prepared to deal with this often invisible and often-ignored challenge.”

To date, a common mental degradation—depression, has alone affected 350 million persons on a global scale and is the “single largest contributor to years lived with disability.”

So how is Pilates even remotely linked to the betterment of our mental health?

A better question to ask is perhaps, how does Pilates benefit our human brain while practicing?

Turns out, it has to do with the use of our cognition that involves thinking, reasoning and remembering the exercise itself.

A research by Eleanor Maguire and Katherine Woollett posits that our hippocampus in the brain region can continue to grow with constant trigger and training.

And this trigger correlates to your conscious intellectual activity (i.e. Pilates) produces physical changes in the brain is attributed to the fact that Pilates consists of numerous “mindfulness” bouts of the mind-body appeal.

Even with age, the brain remains plastic and you can still be smarter than a sixth grader.

That means, with your frequent Pilates classes, you’ll become more alert and sharper at the end of each session. Talk about brain booster!

The Pilates movements require our body to efficiently multitask, with multiple commands of body parts, which ultimately develop our brains in remarkable ways. At the same time, promoting physical strength, coordination, and balance.

Pilates principles that promote mental health

The Pilates principles are usually completed in a particular order; usually seeming simple but challenging as it requires a great deal of precision and control for execution.

These demanding exercises target your abs, glutes, legs and back muscles, all the components that make up a strong core.

Incorporating these six pillars of strength, Pilates believed would “give you suppleness, natural grace, and skill.”

Great advantages follows one with great mental health

The Harvard University research team agrees that individuals with “power posture” who benefitted from their Pilates training (shoulders back, spine straight), are more likely to be hired for a job, as good posture presents a positive first impression (stand tall and look professional!) and improves your work performance.

Whether you’re in a workplace or simple strutting your A-game in social networking, confidence empowers you to be more diligent, smarter and driven in achieving life goals.

Research has also associated correct posture with zest, powerful self-esteem and vitality, whereas a slumped posture gives off feelings of fear, hostility, and anxiousness.

Since Pilates is known to improve on one’s sense of well-being; practicing it is the first right step to fixing a simple behavioral change that, through the test of time, will help you build resilience to stress and negative life force.

Got less than an hour for a quick Pilates session? Get a boost with these simple 15 minutes mood booster:

 

Thinking of trying these moves but still unsure of your posture and form practice? It’s okay, we’ve been there! With practice, you’ll soon be a pro in Pilates! Talk to any of our instructors today to find out how you can improve your overall wellbeing.