20-Minute Yogalates for Strength and Flexibility

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This quick, 20-minute morning yogalates workout is essentially a vinyasa yoga practice with some classic Pilates movements interspersed throughout the sequence. It’s a fusion of exercises that cultivate strength, flexibility, and steadiness that focuses on some yoga poses and some Pilates movements in a way that’s accessible for anyone.

If you’re new to and curious about Pilates, yogalates can be an easy entry point. Pilates means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Much of what you experience in a typical Pilates class will feel similar to yoga because the founder, Joseph Pilates, took inspiration from yoga. So a lot of it is basically the same movement that we would do in yoga but the breath is a little different and the purpose is slightly different. You can keep the same focus as you would in yoga by moving with intention.

Although you can practice this yogalates hybrid class anytime of day, it’s designed to bring you a boost in the early morning.

20-Minute Yogalates Video Workout

No props are required in this yoga and pilates fusion class, although of course, you can use them for additional support.

Child’s Pose

Let’s begin in Child’s Pose with your big toes together, knees as wide as you would like them to be, and your hips reaching back toward your heels, and your chest folding forward as your arms extend long and straight toward the front of the mat. Odds are there’s probably some tightness and tension first thing in the morning so you’re not trying to force anything with these movements. You’re simply softening and inviting the body to slowly release and open a little more.

For now, just focus on your breath and maybe use this time to set an intention for your day and to check in to see how you’re feeling right now.

Stay in your Child’s Pose and crawl your fingertips a little farther away from you to lift your elbows off the mat. Just coming high onto those fingertips, pushing your shoulders down, and stretching a little more through your arms and upper body.

Cat-Cow

Come to hands and knees and bring your palms beneath your shoulders and your knees beneath your hips. As you inhale, lower your belly and lift your gaze in Cow Pose.

As you exhale, push the floor away as you round your back and contract your core in Cat Pose. Just keep going in and out of those two poses, getting some articulation through the spine. See if you can put a little more weight and pressure into your fingertips and knuckles. Take one more inhale into a big backbend and then exhale as you reverse it.

Kneeling Side Kick

This kneeling side kick series from Pilates is almost like a modified Side Plank. From hands and knees, stretch your left leg back and roll onto the inner edge of your left foot. Bring your left hand to your left hip and make sure you have your right wrist directly underneath or just slightly in front of your right shoulder.

Find your balance and then float your left leg at hip level. Flex your lifted foot and kick it forward twice. So kick, kick.

Then point your toes and sweep it as far back as you can and then kick, kick. And repeat. So flex, kick, kick. Point, kick kick. You’re using your core here. Stay stable through your right shoulder. Do one more like this, forward and back.

Now come back to neutral, where you started. Flex your foot and see if you can lift it a little higher. Then point your toes as you return to your starting position. So flex as you lift and point as you lower to neutral. Keep repeating. It really does not take very long to feel this activate and strengthen your glutes. Do one more set.

Now keep your toes pointed as you make little circles, like you’re tracing a dinner plate, trying to keep your leg about the same height as your hip. Then reverse the direction of those circles for 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

Low Lunge

Look down at the mat and step or inch your left foot forward to the top of the mat. You can always grab a hold of your ankle to help it along. You want your left knee over your ankle with your fingertips framing your front foot in a Low Lunge.

At first, I’m going to keep my hands on the mat for a little extra support as I let my hips sink forward, letting gravity pull them down a little more. Try to broaden through your collarbones so you’re not rounding or collapsing through your upper back.

Staying in your Low Lunge, lift your upper body a little as you draw the lower belly in, lengthen through the spine to get taller, and sink the tailbone down. Then reach up with your arms and maybe send your gaze up. This will challenge your balance. If it feels like too much, keep your gaze forward and steady. You can also press your hands together and loop past your thumbs.

Let’s circle the arms back down to the mat.

Half Splits

Come into Half Splits (Ardha Hanumanasana) by straightening your left leg. Flex your foot and draw your toes back toward you. You might need to wiggle the heel a little closer or farther away here. If the hamstrings are feeling tight, keep a bend in your front leg.

When you’re ready, come back to hands and knees. Then take the Kneeling Side Kick series and your Low Lunge on the other side.

Downward-Facing Dog

Instead of staying in hands and knees, find Downward-Facing Dog by tucking your back toes under, lifting your back knee off the mat, and stepping the right foot back so your feet are hip-distance apart. Do whatever feels good here, maybe bending and peddling the feet. You can keep a deep, generous bend through both knees. Think of lengthening out through your arms, stretching out long through your spine.

Plank

Come all the way forward into Plank Pose and then  lower down with control for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,

Cobra Pose

Take a slight Cobra Pose here by inhaling as you lift your chest and exhaling as you release your forehead back to the mat. 

Swimming

You’re going to extend your arms straight in front of you, palms facing down. Keep the back of your neck long as you lift everything off the mat—head, arms, hands, legs, and feet—and flutter kick in opposition. So you’re moving opposite arms and the legs and you’re going fairly fast here for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Beautiful.

Child’s Pose

Sink your hips back into Child’s Pose and give yourself a little stretch.

Spine Stretch Forward

Go ahead and lift your chest from Child’s Pose and swing your legs straight in front of you as you come to take a seat. Widen your feet toward the edges of the mat. Really anchor and push down through your sit bones as you lengthen through the entire back body. If the hamstrings are really tight, you can absolutely keep your knees bent and lifted off the mat.

Reach your arms straight out, palms facing down. Flex your feet and push down through the heels.

What’s important in this yogalates class is that this Pilates move is different than a Seated Forward Bend in yoga. You want your spine to be extended and long in the starting position. We’re merging movement with the breath. Inhale to lengthen, and as you exhale, tuck your chin to your chest and it’s almost as if you’re trying to bring the crown of your head down toward the mat.

Instead you’re rounding through the spine. Keep your arms lifted and parallel to the mat as you curl the abdominals inward. Then inhale as you unroll and come back to the starting position. So exhale, tuck, curl, and reach, reach, reach, reach, reach. Inhale, scoop, and lift all the way back a few more times like this.

Even though this might not feel like a core strength exercise, there’s so much abdominal engagement, so it’s a really big lift and scooping the abs. Last one here. Inhale slowly as you come all the way back up.

Spine Twist

Bring your hands behind the back of your head and keep the elbows wide. You’re going to inhale as you lengthen up, and as you exhale, twist to the right, and then stay here for two exhales. So exhale once, and then see if you can twist a little deeper as you exhale again. So inhale and exhale twice. Then inhale and come back to center. Then exhale and exhale again as you twist. Inhale, center exhale, twist right and a little bit more back to center. Last one. Exhale left and exhale again as you twist a little more. Then come all the way back up.

Side Body Stretch

Bring your left foot to your inner right leg. Turn to face your bent leg and reach your left arm overhead in a big side body stretch. Keep rolling your left shoulder back as if you’re leaning against the wall behind you as you lengthen and reach through your top arm. Flex your right foot and reach your left fingertips toward your right toes.

KneelingWild Thing

Then lift your chest, place your left hand behind you, and press your left knee and shin into the mat to lift your hips. Swing your right arm up and over as you come into a kneeling version of Wild Thing. Push those hips forward.

Then sit back on the mat and take your Side Body Stretch and Baby Wild Thing on the other side.

Cancan

Straighten both legs in front of you, bring your elbows down on the mat behind you, and lean back on your lower arms. Focus on lifting your chest as you point your toes and lift your feet off the mat. Bend your knees and try to keep your thighs perpendicular to the floor. In the Cancan, you’re going to drop your knees as far over to the right as you can. Then push into that left hip to come back through to center and then over to the left, and then come back over to the right. Do one more like this.

Next time you’re leaning toward the left, hold and straighten your legs. Push down into your right hip to come all the way over to the right as you keep your chest lifted and extend long through that left leg, push down into your left hip, come all the way back over to the left, really, using your obliques. And then go ahead and bend your knees one more round like this. So you’re taking the legs over to the right in a twist and then back over to the left in a twist and all the way back to the right. Continue a few times.

Come back to center. Notice if your knees have come in and keep them lifted. Your belly is hugging in and your chest is proud. You’re going to straighten your left leg. If you’d like to intensify, you can tap the heel down although you can also simply hover. And we’re going to alternate here. So tap and return. The lower the leg goes, the more you’ll feel this through your lower abdominals, so you want to maintain lots of integrity through the abs.

After your last one, rock yourself up and straighten your legs in front of you.

Bridge Pose

Slowly roll all the way down onto your back, inch by inch. So come onto your lower back first, then the midback and then the upper back. Stretch your arms overhead. This should feel really good.

Then bend your knees and bring your feet flat on the mat, hip-distance apart, as you set yourself up for Bridge Pose. Shrug your shoulders down and away from your ears. Push your heels into the mat, squeeze through your seat, and lift your hips as high as they can go. Hug through your inner thighs.

Take an inhale as you lift up a little more and then exhale as you slowly lower the spine as you roll down, inch by inch, so again your upper back, midback, and finally, the lower back come into contact with the mat. Let’s do that one more time. So tuck the pelvis under in order to lift the hips, push into the big toes, and be careful not to splay the knees wider than your hips.

Find that full height and then slowly lower down, inch by inch, controlling that descent.

Reclined Pigeon Pose

Use your abs to cross your right ankle over the top of your left knee. You can reach with your arms around your left thigh. Give yourself a big stretch here, through that right glute. Maybe you rock a little side to side. Try to keep your head and shoulder blades on the mat.

As you slow down your practice, this is a good time to ask yourself what your intention is for the day, what matters to you, what you want to focus on. I like to focus on a one-word intention. I find it a little bit less overwhelming. It can simply be the first word you think of and something you want to remind yourself of throughout the day,

Reclined Twist

Release hold of your left knee and keep your right leg in toward your chest as you straighten your left leg out in front of you, and guide your knee over your body toward the left in a reclined twist. You can extend your right arm straight out to the side to help your right shoulder blade stay in contact with the mat. Breathe here.

Then untwist and come back to center and come into your Reclined Pigeon Pose on the second side. Then come into your Reclined Twist.

When you’re ready, come back through to center.

Savasana

Find your way to Savasana. I don’t like to leave you in Savasana for too long as I don’t want you to accidentally fall back asleep. But that’s up to you. So close your eyes and give yourself at least 10 long, slow breaths here. This is your time to set an intention for your day, show yourself some gratitude, and just notice how you feel now as opposed to when you stepped onto your mat.

Maybe stretch your arms overhead and get really long here before you turn onto one side. Use your arms to push into the floor as you come all the way up to take a seat in any way that feels comfortable for your hips and low back, closing your eyes. Bring your hands together at your chest and close with a big inhale through the nose and then let it out through the mouth in a big sigh.

Thank you so much everyone for trying this morning yogalates practice!