Yoga vs. Pilates

I've done both mat Pilates and a bit of the reformer Pilates before and have tried a couple of yoga classes. For me yoga was a good way to get hurt fast. I have the rotten combination of loose tendons and ligaments and tight muscles. For five years I've been fighting posterior tibial tendonitis in both feet. Due to the loose tendons and ligaments my feet are very flat. Everything hurts them including swimming; swimming just hurts less than any other aerobic exercise. I've found yoga instructors to be very inflexible with regard to accommodations for injuries or weird bodies. They either don't even mention various ways of doing things or flat out don't believe me when I say I can't do poses (or anything else) barefoot. I also can't do plank exercises because of the stress it places on my feet. I always get vibes from yoga instructors that I must be shirking if I refuse to do exercises I know will hurt my body. The Pilates folks are much more understanding; most of them will show you exercise variants Yoga and Pilates instructors along with physical therapists are always big on stretching. I've come to the unorthodox, heretical conclusion that stretching is bad for my body. Every time I try to do it I hurt worse. I don't think it's possible to stretch muscles without stretching the connecting tendons and ligaments and on me they don't need to be stretched further. Jan, whose feet are particularly annoying tonight

I've done both mat Pilates and a bit of the reformer Pilates before and have tried a couple of yoga classes. For me yoga was a good way to get hurt fast. I have the rotten combination of loose tendons and ligaments and tight muscles. For five years I've been fighting posterior tibial tendonitis in both feet. Due to the loose tendons and ligaments my feet are very flat. Everything hurts them including swimming; swimming just hurts less than any other aerobic exercise. I've found yoga instructors to be very inflexible with regard to accommodations for injuries or weird bodies. They either don't even mention various ways of doing things or flat out don't believe me when I say I can't do poses (or anything else) barefoot. I also can't do plank exercises because of the stress it places on my feet. I always get vibes from yoga instructors that I must be shirking if I refuse to do exercises I know will hurt my body. The Pilates folks are much more understanding; most of them will show you exercise variants Yoga and Pilates instructors along with physical therapists are always big on stretching. I've come to the unorthodox, heretical conclusion that stretching is bad for my body. Every time I try to do it I hurt worse. I don't think it's possible to stretch muscles without stretching the connecting tendons and ligaments and on me they don't need to be stretched further. Jan, whose feet are particularly annoying tonight