Believe and you can!

Stephen Hawking, the physicist and author of A Brief History of Time has died at his home in Cambridge on 14 March 2018 and the world is celebrating his achievements and mourning his loss. In 2016 he said that "However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up" and that has been the motto of so many of our EXTEND class members and teachers.

With class participants with heart and respiratory conditions, knee and hip replacements, restricted movement of the shoulders, aches and pains as well as a multitude of other medical conditions, every day worries and anxieties we are often asked how we plan and deliver a class with so many things to consider. The answer is simple: we look into the eyes, find the smile and work to encourage full functional movement. This is achieved with a careful combination of exercise, music, social interaction and fun. We work hard to make the classes fun, because no one goes to a class if it boring and beyond their capabilities.  

I remember a lady who was so poorly that all she could do was tap her fingers to the music. After a few minutes her pale fingers were pink and after humming a few songs the colour had returned to her cheeks. I recall a gentleman who was so determined to wear proper trousers rather than 'slip on and off' track suit bottoms that he practiced his hand exercises daily. Small movements with maximum impact! 

It is not exercise for the sake of it, we don't do it because the doctor tells us to - we do it for those who don't just give up!