[Adrestia]

I have been MIA from this site for awhile…life changes… (divorce, move, turned 30, kitten died, car died, new job…. does it sound like a bad country song yet?) but I’m getting my act back together finally.

Anyway, I just got the go ahead that I have the weekend off for Pole Expo so I’m going by golly!!
I’m just signing up for some workshops now… I’ve got 2-3 per day which may be ambitious but I really wanted to get the most out of this since… well I don’t get to do this stuff often and I need to get the hell out of dodge and forget about everything but pole!

I’d love some pals to hang with! I used to live in Vegas so I know some things about the place. I don’t have Facebook so I can’t join the fun there but… anyway, It’d be fun to make some new friends.

What workshops are you guys taking?

[Adrestia]

I’m going to have to give that Vega stuff a try. I’ve been using the NOW brand egg-white protein and I like it well enough. It seems like it’s hard to find the protein powder that doesn’t have weird artificial sweeteners.. (sucralose, aspartame) which, I’m no chemist, but I’m pretty sure they are about one molecule away from being plastic and give you cancer or something hahaha. Also, the hubs is lactose intolerant so he can’t do most whey protein powders because they aren’t pure.
Thanks for the suggestion Veena!

[Adrestia]

PolarGirl, my studio teaches that same cross ankle with the foot hook. My instructor has been working with me on it because I start leaning back then sorta… get stuck with my hands and trying to take one leg and hook it and BLAH. I feel like a fish out of water. I can do it most of the time… it just looks like ass. (OH! Just saw Phoenix Hunter’s post about the reverse inverted thigh hold and that looks like the hook thing I’m talking about!) So when I wanted to do what we call a “waterfall” for my showcase my instructor was like “lets try this a different way” and taught me the basic cross ankle release. WOW SO MUCH EASIER FOR ME! It sometimes hurts my coccyx a bit but wow way easier than trying to hook my ankle. So now that I have that down I have to go back and learn the hook………. oy oy oy.
I just recently learned the cross knee release during one of my first spinny pole classes. It didn’t seem much different in difficulty to me than the basic cross ankle other than trying to keep my lines looking nice.
Polereveur I didn’t feel like i had more skin on the pole with the cross knee honestly. I like having my sorta chunky thighs sticking together around the pole more I think actually than just one thigh and a calf. I did find it took me some time to just “let go” and lean back. Like you said, you’re going to catch yourself. There are several safety mechanisms in place. What helped me was thinking less about leaning back or not falling or whatever but trying to think about being GRACEFUL. Haha when I focused more on the lovely opening flower I wanted to look like I guess I thought less about grabbing on for dear life. Hahaha maybe that doesn’t help.

[Adrestia]

blueyedgrl – I’m not super familiar with ipads but I know you can skype and facetime with them so I figure we can make a pole jam work! For me the chatrooms are on the bottom of the page. I have just never set a time to meet up with someone to give it a try. Let me know if/when you wanna give it a try and we can experiment!

calipolepixie – grats on going to nursing school! it totally sucks! hahaha

[Adrestia]

Ok I’m in! I had been posting to the Christmas Splits Challenge but I never managed to get pics taken with the darn tree! haha. Anyway, I’ve been doing Cleo’s splits stretches two-three times per week but now I’m going to do Cleo twice per week and Veena’s splits stretching once. Hopefully three times a week is adequate? I find that I can get a little sore so a rest day in between feels pretty good….
Here are pics I took TODAY…. I’m SOSOSOSOSO far away from my straddle splits… but I think I’m a contender for getting my front splits this year!! What do you think?

[Adrestia]

I would love to hear the responses to this post too because I feel the same way. Maybe not a kamikaze squirrel…more like a stiff minion from Despicable Me! Haha. I don’t ever FEEL sexy either.

What I HAVE noticed in people I think are sexy when they dance is that, yes, they slow down but also they aren’t afraid of small movements. Like, Alethea Austin has just amazing floorwork but some of the sexiest movements she does are simple things that I feel totally ridiculous and silly doing like….simply lifting a leg into the air…or rolling over very slowly… or even just laying down and moving only her arms. Things I would never even think to do because …. “well that isn’t a MOVE that’s just…sorta MOVING!”

I can’t wait to hear people’s suggestions here!

[Adrestia]

Cazzz I think it’s AWESOME you are working on splits with a hip done! I’m a nurse and I see so many people who have had joints done that just….don’t use them and then complain that the surgery didn’t bring them back to normal. I’m not an ortho nurse but it doesn’t take a nurse to know that if you don’t work a muscle it’ll get lazy and stiff and same goes for joints. So props to you!

We’ll give the ol’ college try and see how we do… if nothing else we can always try for the umm… Valentine’s Day Splits Challenge right? hahaha

[Adrestia]

Ok I’m in. I’m not real sure I’m going to get there since I’ve never had my splits in my whole life and I still feels like I’m miles away from the floor but I’m down for trying!

I’ve been doing Cleo’s splits training from Rockin’ Legs and Abs until I get off my lazy behind and get a foam roller so I can work on Veena’s. Then my plan was to trade off between the two: Cleo one day, Veena the next time and so on.

What stretchers/routines are you all following?

[Adrestia]

Well let me know if anyone is interested in setting up some times! Feel free to shoot me a message. My new webcam should be here any day now. Again, I’m in the US mountain time and I’m generally up nights (my schedule changes every week so I may not be able to be consistent the same day every week).

Holla! 🙂

[Adrestia]

12 hour nights are exactly what I do. You a nurse too? 😉 I’ve never heard of that code but I’ll be happy to look into it. I’m getting a new web cam here in a few days so hopefully we can make some magic happen. Being up at night by yourself sure can get lonely!

What would a Skype session entail? Excersizes then pole moves and some stretching? Just pole? I’m sorta nervous hahaha

[Adrestia]

Hello! I’m pretty new to this site and I’m a pretty new pole dancer (Just started in late August) but as dustbunny said I would be up to having a Skype pole friend. I work nights here in the US so I’m usually up throughout the evening.. I’ve have to check the time difference for where you are in the UK but it could possible work out! 🙂 I’m not sure I’d be helpful… like I said I’m so new… but we could help keep each other accountable!

Let me know if you’re interested. 🙂