Patience and persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endevour.

Completing things is hard. I've always found it much easier to begin something thant to finish it. And this is true for most people, in just about every area of life.

Pilates is about doing something right and gaining maximum benefit from it. It takes time to become comfortable with any new exercise regime and Pilates is no exception. But if we want to benefit from our endeavours and not end up feeling dispondent we must persevere!

This is not always straight forward.

It can be hard to be feel motivated. It can be difficult to make time within our busy schedules. It's always eaiser to say 'no'. Developing the patience to persevere with something can often feel harder than the activity itself. It's often the thought of something that puts us off, rather than the practice.

In just under a week's time it'll be Shrove Tuesday (or 'pancake day') and then the season of Lent will begin, leading up to Easter. Historically this has been a time of preparation - especially for Christians who look forward to celebrating Easter and remembering the death and resurection of Jesus. Lent is often used as a good opportunity to form new habits - when the end goal is sufficiently close to not feel unachievable. Often we give things up for Lent which means it can also be a great time for forming new healthy habits.

If you've struggled to get into a good routine with exercie this year, why not use Lent as an opportunity to do so? Set yourself some small targets - for instance:

• A few minute's exercise per day
• Several more intensive workouts within a week, or
• A specific goal for Easter time (running a 10K for example)

Part of persistance is setting goals which are achievable - which do not stretch us too far. So think of something you can do and then work it into your schedule. It may not be exercise at all - it could be diet, or any other new habit. Whatever it is it will require patience and persistence if it's worthwhile, so don't give up too easily!

Comments or Questions?