This morning I was working my way through squats in a body pump class and I had a giggle to myself about how things used to be for me back in the day (oh about 10ish years ago!) when I used to teach it. Back then my intention (although I wasn't so conscious of it at the time) was to lift as heavy a weight as possible for as long as I could so that I would look strong. Yup, achieved. I had some big plates on my bar back then but I had no real understanding of how to align myself and move to the best of my biomechanics. I was only strong to do body pump, but the strength didn't translate into the rest of my life or into my functionality. Infact, what I was doing in body pump was making my functioning movement and spinal health weaker. It was all about the external and essentially it was all for show. 
Now I go to bodypump to build my alignment endurance. It's taken me years of undoing lots of compensations in my body to realise that my joints can be fairly unstable. Body pump is incredibly good for me - now. It is now that I know my body and now that I understand how I tick. Each time I go to pump I become more stable and I find strength that I can maintain in my body for other functions.When I squat with a weight I can feel where I am potentially pushing too much through one SI joint, so I get 5 minutes to feel the weight equally through both feet and control my pesky mobile right SIJ and make my left leg do some work. When I chest press I check in with my over-rotating right shoulder and it's gradually correcting itself. When I deadlift I maintain my spinal alignment and swing my tailbone to stand me back up so that I don't compress through my lumbar. And so the picture is similarly through each of the other tracks.
This is not all that body pump shows me. Back then I wanted everyone to like me, and I thought that if I could push a big huge weight then people would admire me. My internal acceptance was based on external reassurance. Now I understand the strength that it takes me to not care what others do or may think and instead to remain strong and stable in my own intention.
Sometimes I still have to fight my ego and resist the inclination to load up and go hard for the sake of going hard. Sometimes I have to shush my internal apology to the teacher when I prefer to go slow and steady when everyone else is pulsing short ranges. But I'm there to reground, realign and essentially sort my shit out. I always come out feeling lighter in myself, firmer on my feet and more agile through my spine.
Apply intention to your physical activities and you may find that they're as 'mind and body' as any yoga or pilates class is. Take intention out of your yoga or pilates class and it's most likely just a physical workout. Intention is everything.
