My Pilates Love Story
I fell in love with Pilates slowly, the way you fall for something that keeps showing you a little more of yourself each time you return to it. There was no grand moment, just a steady unfolding. A class here, a session there, and then a quiet realization that my mind felt clearer, my mood more settled, and my whole body more grounded. It felt subtle at first, then unmistakable. I began to feel more like myself.
I wanted to understand why. So I did what I always do when something helps me in a meaningful way. I started reading.
I first came across an observational study comparing people who practiced Pilates with people who were not physically active. Those who practiced Pilates reported significantly lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress (Guidotti, Fiduccia, Morisi, and Pruneti, 2025). Reading that brought a small sense of relief. It mirrored what I had been experiencing long before I ever saw it reflected in data.
As I kept reading, I found stronger evidence. A meta analysis of controlled trials examining Pilates and mental health found consistent improvements in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and related psychological outcomes among people who practiced Pilates regularly (Fleming and Herring, 2018). Seeing this research helped ground my experience. What I felt subjectively was also showing up across higher quality studies.
The more I read, the more sense it made. Pilates is rhythmic, intentional, and anchored in breath. It brings attention back into the body again and again. A large meta analytical review of Pilates training in older adults found improvements not only in physical outcomes, but also in psychological health, including quality of life, sleep quality, and overall health perception (Meikis, Wicker, and Donath, 2021). Another randomized trial showed that women who practiced Pilates based exercise experienced improvements in life satisfaction, body image, and perceived functional efficiency in daily life (Cruz Ferreira et al., 2011). These were the kinds of shifts I felt but struggled to articulate until I saw them named in the research.
There is also a nervous system piece that I keep returning to. Pilates creates a kind of attentive calm that lingers after I leave the mat. Some of the research helps explain why. In a randomized controlled trial, a twelve week Pilates program in healthy adult men led to measurable changes in heart rate variability, suggesting shifts in cardiac autonomic modulation over time (Cavina et al., 2021). Another controlled trial in adults with hypertension found that even a single Pilates session lowered blood pressure for approximately an hour afterward and altered heart rate variability during recovery, indicating short term changes in autonomic and cardiovascular regulation (Rocha et al., 2020). Together, these findings helped me trust that what I feel is not imagined. My body is responding in real and measurable ways.
I keep returning to Pilates because of how it makes me feel. More present. More awake. More steady. More myself. The research helped me understand the why. The experience is what keeps me coming back.
References
Cavina, A. P. S., Silva, N. M., Biral, T. M., Lemos, L. K., Pizzo Junior, E., Pastre, C. M., Vanderlei, L. C. M., and Vanderlei, F. M. (2021). Effects of a twelve week Pilates program on cardiac autonomic modulation in healthy men: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, 10(18), 1363–1372. https://doi.org/10.2217/cer-2021-0195
Cruz Ferreira, A., Fernandes, J., Laranjo, L., Bernardo, L., and Silva, A. (2011). Effects of Pilates based exercise on life satisfaction, body image, and functional efficiency in adult women. Women and Health, 51(3), 240–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2011.563417
Fleming, K. M., and Herring, M. P. (2018). The effects of Pilates on mental health outcomes: A meta analysis of controlled trials. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 37, 80–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2018.02.003
Guidotti, S., Fiduccia, A., Morisi, G., and Pruneti, C. (2025). Benefits of Pilates on depression, anxiety, and stress: An observational study comparing people practicing Pilates to non active controls. Healthcare, 13(7), 772. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13070772
Meikis, L., Wicker, P., and Donath, L. (2021). Effects of Pilates training on physiological and psychological health parameters in healthy older adults and in older adults with clinical conditions over fifty five years: A meta analytical review. Frontiers in Neurology, 12, 724218. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.724218
Rocha, J., Cunha, F. A., Cordeiro, R., Monteiro, W., Pescatello, L. S., and Farinatti, P. (2020). Acute effect of a single session of Pilates on blood pressure and cardiac autonomic control in middle aged adults with hypertension. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 34(1), 114–123. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003060
