Similarities

A. The Importance of the “Center”

• Pilates: The entire method relies on the “Powerhouse”—the band of muscles circling the torso (abdominals, lower back, glutes, pelvic floor). All movement must radiate outward from this stable center.
• Vinyasa Yoga: Krishnamacharya’s teachings emphasize the Bandhas (energy locks). Mula Bandha (pelvic floor lock) and Uddiyana Bandha (abdominal lock) are essential for stability, controlling energy flow, and protecting the spine during asana practice. The anatomical engagement is very similar to the Pilates powerhouse.
• Dance: In ballet, there is no way to maitain the full posture without engaging the “core” – not a term in dance, until Pilates, but always an essential. To go up on one leg, for example, is not about balance: it requires engaging the serratus anteriror, the transversus abdominis, the ab-ductors and the ad-ductors, and the glutes. If you try to “balance”, like a knife on the tip of a fingertip, you will fall when the inevitable laws of physics overtakes you.

B. The Primacy of Breath

• Pilates: Joseph Pilates viewed breath as a “internal shower.” He taught specific lateral thoracic breathing (expanding the ribcage sideways while keeping the abdominals engaged) coordinated precisely with exertion and release.
• Yoga: Krishnamacharya revolutionized postural yoga by linking breath and movement together—the concept of Vinyasa. His teachings emphasize long, deep Ujjayi pranayama (victorious breath) as the metronome for the practice. While the techniques of breathing differ, the centrality of breath is paramount in both.

C. Mind-Body Focus (Concentration)

• Pilates: “Concentration” is a core principle of Contrology. The mind must be fully engaged to ensure precise muscle recruitment; mindless repetition is discouraged.
• Yoga: Krishnamacharya taught yoga based on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Asana practice is viewed as a tool to develop Dharana (one-pointed concentration) to prepare the mind for meditation.

D. Flow and Precision

Pilates emphasized grace and fluid transitions between exercises. Krishnamacharya’s vinyasa system is built entirely on flowing sequences. Both also demanded absolute precision in alignment to maximize benefit and prevent injury. Dance is the perfect artistic combination of all these elements – the fluidity, the “flow”, the precision, and the concentration. There is not a dancer alive who has made it without all of these.

Differences

A. Closed-chain versus open-chain

• Yoga: The bulk of Vinyasa asanas are “closed-chain”: there is some fixed element, which stabilizes the stretch. For example, in Paschimottanasana (पश्चिमोत्तानासन), the hands grab the toes, the floor stabilizes the legs.
• Pilates: The notion of open-chain in Pilates is central to the isotonic, self-stabilization of the body. In comparison, The Pilates Seated Forward Bend (similar to yoga’s Paschimottanasana) is performed with legs extended, feet flexed, and the movement involves rounding forward to bring the head towards the knees, then scooping the waist to roll back up, maintaining length and control – but no assistence from grabbing. This forces the “powerhouse” to do all the work, and increases the difficulty and concentration requirements one-hundred-fold.
• Dance: It may be evident to the reader that there is little chance of closed-chain in dance. Simple knowledge of the barre in ballet reveals that in battement tendu (“stretched beat”), requires maintaining a straight standing leg, engaging the core, keeping shoulders down, and articulating through demi-pointe to point, ensuring a fluid, continuous motion with the heel leading the return – and, in practice, no assistance for stabilization (the barre, in practice, is only used as physical cue, and, abviiously, not a part of live performance).

B: Movement vs Stasis

Here the movement practices diverge almost complety, Pilates and dance, in direct philosophical and practical contrast to yoga. While there is dynamism between asanas, in Vinyasa, the actual pose is intended to be quiet, to allow the mind to focus on the breath, and there is a specific “count” for the duration of the hold. In Pilates and dance, there are no real “poses”: each position contains a movement.

A good example is Navasana (नावासन) – whic is is entirely static. The Pilates exercise – clearly derived from yoga – called Teaser, adds constant dynamic movement (pumps) to the same position as navasana

How significant is this, in terms of the results? We will have to explore this in greater detail in later post. But at the outset, it really emphasizes the difference between stretch, and stretch-and-strengthen: in navasana, there is stretch, and potentially concentration; however, many yoga practitioners more likely “space out”, naturally, when they are only required to hold. In Teaser, the repeated pumps stimulates muscular blood flow, but also, critically, compresses and releases the cisterna chyli, the collection point for fatty chyle, and, stimulates the flow of synoval fluid to the hip joints, as they compress and release the joint, nourishing the cartilage and spreading lubricant, effectively acting as “motion is lotion” for your hips.