These days, yoga is firing up the exercise circuit. Whether it’s yoga sculpt, Vinyasa or hot, everyone’s heading to the studio for more.

But there’s plenty of reasons for us Pilates lovers to stick to our mats.

And, plenty of room for yoga students to to add Pilates to their heady exercise elixir. Pilates develops the core strength you need to stay steady in a 105 degree Warrior II or Zoom for hours on end.

At Elmhurst University, I had my Pilates students write what they had gained in seven short weeks of class. “Pilates has helped me open up and strengthen parts of my body that I never thought would recover from injury,” said Mari, a former dancer. “For that, I will be forever grateful.”

The aspiring hospital administrator was once marooned in a leg cast for months as a teenager. The cast finally came off, but her dance was never the same. As Mari explained, it was one thing after another, a tweaked knee leading to a tweaked foot that kept her spinning in circles for several years.

Pilates was slow, at first. Single leg circles with the Theraband showed Mari how tightly coiled her hips were and gave her the support to let go a step at a time. As her hips began unwinding, hamstrings, knees and feet began finding symmetry and she was ready to open the door to the dance studio.

Mari wasn’t alone in finding Pilates bringing movement back to life. Many students find it gives you a great tool to resist the tech-heavy pull on the spinal column. And if you hang in there, you’ll find yourself learning effective body mechanics to shoulder the challenges of yoga class and modern life.