Yes.
While pilates is a form of exercise to strengthen the core and many muscles that can become weak in our bodies, yoga is an ancient philosophy, of which movement is only one small part.
Yoga as an exercise:
Yoga movements can be a wonderful way to mobilise, lubricate, strengthen, lengthen and stabilise the muscles, bones and connective tissues in the body. The owner of my yoga school in Byron Bay always said that we should aim to move every joint in every way, every day. Some styles of yoga, particularly here in the west, are very focused on exercise. Styles like hot yoga, vinyasa, ashtanga and many more can provide a full body work out that leaves you sweating, yet unlike some other forms of exercise; in yoga we use the power of awareness and dharana (single pointed focus, often on the breath) to find a sense of calm even in our stresses and exertions. It’s often due to the physical aspects of yoga that many people find themselves attending a class, without realising what lays behind this supposed form of movement.
Yoga as more:
Asana (which translates to ‘comfortable seat’ but is understood as the postures we make with our bodies in order to find our ‘comfortable seat’) would be a much closer comparison to pilates; asana is merely one eighth of yoga, according to Patanjali. In accordance with ashtanga yoga, there are eight elements to this practice, in sequential order, moving towards enlightenment. Before we begin practicing asana, really we should work on our morals, both toward the world around us and within ourselves (yamas & niyamas), then we can begin to work physically with the body. It is understood that the body is important because it is where the soul resides. Our physical yoga practice is also a good place for us to begin to practice the rest of the limbs of yoga which work with breath control (pranayama), sense withdrawal (pratyahara), single pointed focus (dharana), and meditation (dhyana). For serious yogis, they may even begin to take small steps towards the final stage: samadhi, which means complete transgression of the physical body, unity with the divine and a feeling of complete ecstacy.
As you can see even from this extremely tiny description of a gigantic topic; yoga goes miles beyond a physical practice. Asana is an important factor which plays its role within a much larger holistic, sacred practice.
Nourish: Yoga, Ayurveda, Plants & Travel 