You've promised yourself you'll keep up your fitness regime, but don't get around to going to the gym or find other things take priority. Does this sound familiar?

Setbacks are common in any practice. A difficult pregnancy, an injury, illness, or an emotional upset can take the steam out of your practice. There are times, too, when life just gets in the way. With all that you have to do — children to raise, aging parents to care for, jobs and chores to do, committing to practice isn't always easy but even those of us with lapses of months or even years can make a successful return to the mat. By taking time to examine the reasons you stopped and your motivations for returning, you can ensure that this time around, your practice remains a permanent part of your life.

If it's been a while since you've seen your mat, try the following:

Identify and address your reasons for having left so those same issues won't thwart your attempts to return.
Make adjustments. If a major life change precipitated the end of your routine, you may have to make significant alterations to succeed at a new start.
Do not skip a scheduled workout. It’s a slippery slope. You skip one and soon you begin to miss two or three. Then, you’re not working out at all.
Plan your workouts in advance and make sure you have a contingency plan for bad weather and unscheduled meetings. You're more likely to work out if you have strategies to overcome obstacles.
Jot down the details of your workouts. Note what works for you and what doesn’t, modify accordingly so that you will continue to work out consistently. Use the positive results as motivation.
Set goals. Once you've explored your history, you can begin to specify your present intentions.