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An Arizona State University study examining 21 alternative health practices found yoga and Pilates were the only ones associated with significantly lower mortality risk. The observational findings do not show that either practice causes people to live longer, and researchers say other differences between practitioners and non-practitioners may help explain the results.
Yoga and Pilates were associated with a lower risk of death in an analysis of more than 55,000 U.S. adults, Arizona State University researchers reported. The study compared 21 alternative health practices, but it does not establish that either activity causes longer life: the results show an association, and other differences between people who practice and those who do not may affect mortality.
Researchers used nationally representative data on U.S. adults and linked it to mortality records covering about a decade. Among the 21 practices examined, yoga and Pilates were the only ones reported as having a statistically significant association with a lower risk of death. The study reported a 27% lower risk associated with yoga and a 36% lower risk associated with Pilates. These are relative-risk findings, not estimates of how many years a person might live or guarantees for individuals.
According to the report, the researchers adjusted for several factors, including income, education, exercise, smoking, body mass index and self-rated health. Statistical adjustments can account for measured differences, but they cannot rule out the influence of factors the analysis did not capture or measure fully. The findings therefore do not demonstrate that starting yoga or Pilates will reduce an individual’s chance of dying.
Study co-author Connor Sheehan, an associate professor at ASU, said the practices may combine movement with other features such as strength, balance, breathing and stress management. Those potential benefits are an explanation offered by the researcher, not proof that any one of them accounts for the mortality association. The report also suggests that taking classes may add social contact, but the supplied results do not establish that community participation drove the findings.
Movement Practices Led the Findings
The results offer a comparison across a broad set of practices at a time when consumers have many wellness options and evidence about long-term outcomes remains limited. In this analysis, the mortality association was not shared across all 21 practices; it appeared for yoga and Pilates. That distinction may help readers separate evidence from marketing claims about other approaches, while keeping the study’s limits in view.
The findings are relevant to people deciding how to stay active, but they do not justify treating yoga or Pilates as a longevity intervention. The study does not show how much practice is needed, whether one style is more effective, or whether the observed relationship would apply to every person. Sheehan’s suggested combination of physical activity, stress management and social connection is a plausible interpretation, not a result proving those mechanisms extend lifespan.
For clinicians and researchers, the report points to a need for stronger evidence on widely used health practices. An association in a large population sample can identify a pattern worth investigating, but it is not a substitute for research designed to test cause and effect. Readers should weigh the findings as one piece of evidence, rather than as a promise of longer life.
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A Decade of Mortality Records
The research addressed a gap highlighted by Sheehan: many Americans use complementary or alternative health practices, while comparatively little is known about whether those practices are associated with living longer. The report says more than 40% of U.S. adults use at least one such practice, although the supplied material does not specify the survey or time period behind that figure.
The analysis drew on nationally representative information for more than 55,000 adults and linked participants to death records over roughly ten years. It examined 21 practices rather than focusing only on yoga and Pilates. The report does not provide the full list of practices, detailed participant characteristics, the exact study publication date, or the methods used to define participation in each activity. Those details would help readers evaluate how broadly the results apply.
Sheehan also cautioned that people who take part in yoga or Pilates may differ in ways that are difficult to capture in statistical models. Access to health care, genetics, economic circumstances and broader health habits could affect both participation and mortality. The possibility that people who are already very ill are less able to practice is another potential source of bias he identified.
“Maybe the sickest people are too unhealthy to do yoga or Pilates to begin with, so the practice looks protective when really it’s just excluding the least healthy.”
— Connor Sheehan
Association Is Not Causation
The central limitation is that the reported relationship does not show that yoga or Pilates caused lower mortality. The supplied report describes an observational analysis, not a trial that assigned people to begin or avoid either practice. Adjusting for several known characteristics does not remove every possible difference between the groups.
It is not clear from the source material how often participants practiced, how long they had been doing so, which forms of yoga or Pilates they used, or whether the estimates differed by age or health status. The report also does not give confidence intervals, absolute death rates, or detailed results for the other 19 practices. Without those figures, readers cannot assess the precision of the estimates or translate the relative percentages into an individual’s expected risk.
Researchers have also raised the possibility of reverse causation: poorer health could make people less able to participate, rather than participation improving health. The roles of access to care, social connection and other unmeasured circumstances remain unresolved.
Further Studies Needed on Longevity
The next step is additional research that can test whether the association persists across different populations and clarify what aspects of practice may matter. Longer follow-up and more detailed information about frequency, duration and participant health could help explain the pattern. Studies designed to reduce selection bias would also help distinguish the effects of the activities from differences among people who choose them.
Sheehan called for more investigation of wellness behaviors as they evolve, including practices beyond yoga and Pilates. The supplied report does not identify a planned follow-up study or a date for new results, so no specific research milestone is confirmed. For now, the findings support further study, not a claim that either practice is proven to lengthen life.
Key Questions
Did the study prove yoga or Pilates makes people live longer?
No. It found an association with lower mortality risk in observational data. The study cannot establish that either practice caused the difference.
What were the reported risk figures?
The report said yoga was associated with a 27% lower risk of death and Pilates with a 36% lower risk. These are relative-risk estimates from the study, not a prediction of an individual’s lifespan.
How many practices did researchers examine?
The Arizona State University researchers examined 21 alternative health practices. Yoga and Pilates were the only two reported as significantly associated with lower mortality risk.
What could explain the association besides the practices themselves?
Researchers said factors such as health-care access, genetics, economic circumstances and other health habits may influence the results. People in poorer health may also be less able to participate in yoga or Pilates.
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