Is This Practice Essential? On Pilates, Yoga, and the ironic way we participate in mindful health.

The other night I asked myself a simple question: if Pilates and yoga are frequently written about in public research and journalistic articles as being essential for human health and preventative care for thousands of ailments, why are they treated as luxuries for the white woman? Why are they not covered by insurance? Why are they the first thing to get cut from personal budgets? Why do we say “maybe later” when it comes to the very practices that allow us to function, to move, to breathe, to sleep well, to avoid falling apart slowly in the chairs we sit in?

I read the articles when published by my preferred news sources... but how many other resources are publishing this opinion. How many studies are being published each year with the conclusion that the population should keep moving and move mindfully?

As a busy mom of two running a studio, I ran a little experiment with my dear friend Chatty AI: I asked her how many articles had been published in the U.S. over the past five years about the benefits of Pilates and yoga.

She instantly broke. The polite version of a shrug. She said, there are simply too many. Too many to count, too many to list, too many to reliably date and too many that repeat the same message: Pilates and yoga are good for you. Not as luxury but as necessity. As a preventative system of human health. As a preparation for physical and mental health.

I wanted more so I refined my question...

I asked again. Can you give me a simple range of total publications? Could you give me a list of all the research articles published with the past five years? And with much hesitation, it reluctantly gave me its best offer. It responded stating a point for perspective that in the past five years there have been thousands of titles so it put together "a curated list of 50 widely read articles and studies emphasizing how Pilates and yoga form essential components of a preventative health system."

The 50 Headlines are:

• 19 Pilates Benefits Backed by Science • Effects of Pilates on Health and Well-being of Women • Pilates: How Does It Work and Who Needs It? • Yoga for Better Mental Health • Pilates Aiding Fall Prevention • Pilates vs. Yoga: Which One Is Right for You? • 10 Health Benefits of Pilates for Older Adults • Pilates for Multiple Sclerosis • Pilates Prevents Sports-Related Injuries • Yoga Reduces Cortisol • Yoga Therapy in Sports Medicine • Yoga for Prenatal Depression • Pilates for Osteoporosis • Yoga Builds Mindful Awareness • Sleep Quality: Pilates • Mood Improvements from Pilates • Cognitive Function: Pilates in Seniors • Yoga for Hypertension • Yoga as Therapy • Functional Alignment Pilates • Comparing Pilates and Yoga: Which Is Right for You? • Pilates vs. Yoga: The Real Difference • • •• Fitness Expert Shares 5 Yoga and Pilates Exercises • Debunking Six Common Myths About Pilates • I Tried Pilates Hundreds Every Day • Here Are the Health Benefits of Pilates • Pilates Aiding Fall Prevention • The Yoga Pose That Strengthens the Core and Lowers Cortisol • I Switched My Studio Pilates • Why HSA/FSA Funds Should Cover Pilates and Yoga • Evaluating Yoga-Based Intervention on Mental Well-being • Yoga as Exercise • Pilates and Yoga Recruit Health-Promoting Behaviors • Harvard on Yoga and Memory • Cochrane Review: Yoga for Low Back Pain • Clinical Review: Prenatal Yoga • Yoga Therapy in Sports Medicine • Yoga for Hypertension • Yoga for Prenatal Depression • Breitenbush Integrative Practices • Pilates for Multiple Sclerosis • Pilates for Osteoporosis • Cognitive Function: Pilates in Seniors • Sleep Quality: Pilates • Mood Improvements from Pilates • Circulation and Immunity: Pilates • Pilates Chair for Limited Mobility • Heavy Research: Pilates in Pregnancy • Enhanced Proprioception from Pilates • Yoga Builds Mindful Awareness • Mental Health: Yoga During Cancer • Yoga Body and Breath Therapy •

Did I need to list these all? Probably not, but I’m trying to make a point about this bottomless rabbit hole... The big question is why do we still treat mindful movement as extra and not essential? Also, why do we put this very important preventative care in the hands of the individual when it probably should be a funded system of support for a local and global health network???? Why, if Pilates demonstrably helps prevent falls (a leading cause of injury in older adults), is it not covered by Medicare? Why, if yoga demonstrably reduces hypertension, improves mood, strengthens memory, supports immunity, is it relegated to the category of elective hobby? We do not question physical therapy coverage. We do not question statins or surgery. But we question whether to spend $25 to go to a class that might help us avoid both. And then, when budgets get tight, we cut the thing that makes us stronger, softer, clearer, and more connected to our own body.

The Quiet Epidemic of Disembodiment

I suspect this is a cultural story as much as an economic one. In a system built on reactive medicine, we are conditioned to wait until something is wrong, rather than invest steadily in what keeps us well. Pilates and yoga teach patience. They teach embodiment. They teach how to work with your body as it is today, not as it was, or as you wish it would be tomorrow.

That is perhaps why these practices are so often undervalued. Because they cannot be commodified into a quick fix. They require presence. They reward presence. They build not only muscles, but a relationship with yourself that is not easily priced. And yet, the data is there. Article after article. Study after study. Headline after headline. So I ask again, as I sit here, as you read this... WHY? My opinion is that maybe the answer is simple. We know this is essential, we just don’t have a system that enables this essential piece of our health to be accessible. So I don’t blame any student ever, I blame the system and will continue to complain, rant, write, record, study, teach, advocate, and irritate the system. And maybe through my ruthless stream of consciousness musings, someday with enough voices, and enough articles, with enough stubborn embodied students, the system will catch up to what the body already knows.

Happy practicing.

You are doing a great.