Yoga + Pilates: A Love Story

I just want to be clear: this isn’t a competition.

Pilates isn’t “fitness” while yoga is “spiritual.”
Yoga isn’t “stretching” while Pilates is “strength.”

You don’t have to pick a side — you’re allowed to want both fire and flow, strength and softness.

Coming from the school of Classical Pilates, I loathe to think of Pilates like a fitness class - it’s a holistic practice, and there’s a mind-body connection there that makes you really tune inward and connect to yourself. Plus, as I mentioned before, the functional nature of Pilates actually really helps me tap into my breath.

Equally, although I love to take things a little bit more slowly in yoga, there’s still an element of strength there that I like to channel with softness. (And let’s be real - chaturangas - enough said).

Photo by @andrewprod

A love story for the ages

Yoga and Pilates are an amazing complement to one another. While yoga encourages a deeper range of flexibility (hello backbends!), Pilates forces you to take it all back into control (one of Joseph Pilate’s Five Principles - it was originally called Contrology, you can see why!)

After a huge obsession with yoga and gaining flexibility left me with yoga butt (NOT as sexy as it sounds - it’s essentially overstretching the hamstring tendons that connect to the sitbones) - and noticing a lack of muscular connection in the left side of my body due to nerve damage from an operation and a horse-riding accident when I was a teenager - I found Pilates at the right time to help strengthen and create connection to muscles again.

Fun fact - Classical Pilates was actually developed as a rehabilitation system and many of Joe’s earliest devotees were injured dancers looking to heal their bodies - It’s still recommended now for rehabilitation across all sports.

While yoga allows you to trust your core, Pilates strengthens your core.

Yoga reminds you that your centre isn’t just physical - it’s energetic, something deeper, something that connects us all to the One. Pilates sharpens your connection to your physical body through precision and alignment.

One teaches control. The other teaches surrender.

Pilates invites precision and control. You’re present in every movement.
Yoga asks you to let go — into sensation, into stillness, into trust.
Balance the two, and you build a body that’s strong and intuitive. A mind that’s clear and open. A spirit that’s centred but still playful.

Photo by @andrewprod

We’re not here for dogma — we’re here for joy.

There are no gold stars for mastering the “perfect” practice.

I want to bring you yoga and Pilates because the joy lives in the mix, in moving, in playing, in finding freedom in your body that allows you to find freedom in your mind. When you dig deep and find the inner fire to make it through a class, you realise just how strong you are.

When you realise that showing up for yourself with movement and making the decision to look after yourself is an act of self-love, you learn to to show up every day with that same love and kindness for yourself and for others.

And that’s where the magic really begins - because you realise that you are so connected to yourself, so grounded, so proud of your accomplishments on the mat - that confidence and self-love shines through to everyone else.

That’s why I’m so passionate about what I do, and sharing this feeling with others.

I can’t wait to share this with you on retreat.

• London day retreat: 26th July 2025 - Details TBA soon

• Italy retreat - 3-9 September 2025

• Ibiza retreat - 11-15 April 2026

Love,

Abby x

How I fell in love with Classical Pilates

Photo by @kirthana.amirthavasani

I used to think Pilates was boring.

To be completely honest, I used to absolutely hate it.

I was a yoga girl through and through. I loved flowing through a Vinyasa, how strong it made me feel in my body, seeing the results of a strong practice increasing my strength and flexibility daily.

Yes, I am ashamed to say that one of the big reasons why I loved yoga (at first) was because of the sense of accomplishment I felt when I did manage to ‘unlock’ an asana (yoga pose) that I had been working towards for a long time.

Yoga felt good in my body. I later found out that there’s a scientific reason why - most people who enjoy practicing yoga have the musculoskeletal structure to support that. Typically, they might have hypermobility, or a leaner structure (which makes binds easier to access), or longer limbs (easier to catch overhead poses like king dancer or king pigeon), their femur bones might sit in their hip sockets in a way that allows ‘open hip’ poses to come more easily to them and feel good, the list goes on.

Classical Pilates, however, works with all body types. And I have noticed that the way that Pilates translates to students when I teach - and myself as I practice - is so much more accessible.

But really, the key reason why I fell in love with this practice isn’t just about the movement. It’s all about the breath.

Breath is a key part of yoga, but did you know that it’s also a key part of Pilates? (If you’re going to a Pilates class and they’re not cueing breath - it’s literally not Pilates - but that’s a rant for another blog post!)

Now I’ll be completely honest, I lose the breath in yoga and have to really work to keep it consistent. But the structural nature of Pilates - working with movement within the functional range rather than out of functional range (which is a key element of why hypermobile people might love yoga, and others not so much) combined with the measured breath control is a lot easier to maintain.

This in turn has really helped me tap into Pilates as a holistic practice - and honestly, sometimes I just find it translates to my body so much more easily.

If I’m feeling a bit rubbish, and I have the opportunity to do self practice, the thought of moving through a Vinyasa flow can sometimes just feel a bit overwhelming.

But Pilates? Pilates can help me connect to myself and ground me in a way that yoga just doesn’t (unless I’m really in the mood!)

We all know that breath is the key element of a healthy working nervous system. Multiple studies have shown that in times of stress, measured and slowed breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting the ‘rest and digest’ functions responsible for helping the body relax and calm the nervous system.

The ability of moving the diaphragm (the balloon-like muscle underneath the lungs and heart) to a measured steady state is a wonderful skill to unlock to help to relax the body during a time of stress. With Classical Pilates, the focus is on a nasal inhalation and a controlled exhale through pursed lips and stream of air, creating a ‘whoooosh’ sound, but nasal breathing is also more than fine if that resonates more with your body. (Move! The New Science of Body over Mind by Caroline Williams)

Photo by @kirthana.amirthavasani

My amazing teacher Sabrina Kelly, who has over a decade teaching experience in Classical Pilates (full comp), put this theory beautifully - that Pilates is so much more easily accessed by individuals because of the controlled movement that only works with functional range - combined with a steady breathwork pattern, it really helps to tap into the mind-body connection that creates that amazing post-practice high.

Classical Pilates isn’t a fitness class - it has peaks and troughs, and is intelligently sequenced to allow individuals to tap into their breath and connect to themselves holistically.

The feeling of being completely centered and grounded in the body is the result.

So, although I still love to practice and teach yoga, Classical Pilates has quickly become one of my favourite ways to move my body in a holistic way - and I really can’t wait to share more with you as I learn more on this journey!

What do you think? Does a particular practice resonate with you more? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Abby x

Photo by @kirthana.amirthavasani

rebel radiance Spring Equinox Mini-retreat

Our Spring Equinox mini retreat was a such a joyous celebration to welcome the solar new year!

We welcomed 20 beautiful souls join us for a day of movement, sound, and self-nourishment at Yoga Base London on Saturday 22nd March 2025.

Abby and our wonderful sound healer, Cathy Henderson

We started off the day with a beautiful cacao ceremony, with ethically-sourced ceremonial grade cacao provided by Common Roots Cacao. We created intentions for the afternoon, with the theme of self-love running throughout the retreat.

After mindfully accepting the cacao and speaking our intentions into it, we embarked on some breathwork and meditation to ground ourselves as the effect of the cacao began to flow into our bodies.

Grounding cacao supplied by Common Roots Cacao

We then moved into our flow, led by yoga teacher Abby. The flow was layered for all-levels, designed to provide something for everyone - a challenge if desired, but also space to soften.

As the heart-opening effects of the cacao began to take hold, we opened our hearts through physical movement.

Setting up the space, ready to go

Our gorgeous guests were delighted with their goodie bags!

After our flow, it was time to come down with some gentle breathwork and a savasana head massage before we embarked on the sound bath.

The sound bath was an aural delight, led by Cathy, the most wonderful sound healer. She truly is such a talent! Tuned to the Love Frequency, the afternoon blended together perfectly to allow the guests to melt into their mats and let the healing vibrations of sound wash over them.

Our incredible sound bath set up!

After our journey of sound, the room was brought back softly to then close out with a beautiful angel card pull.

The guests were given rose essence to cleanse their space before speaking their intentions into the angel cards and pulling them.

Our beautiful guests receiving rose essence before taking their angel cards

The set up was so beautiful and we harnessed the healing energy of crystals

It really was such a magical afternoon of self-love and nourishment, and we are so thankful to the 20 beautiful souls who showed up with open minds and open hearts to this event.

We are already planning the next mini retreat, and cannot wait!

One of our beautiful guests selecting her angel card