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Webmaster – is this the final version or will there be some things changed? There are some things that I would like to comment on but I don't want to pass judgment unless I know this is the final or not. 🙂

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New interface! Sweet! This was a pleasant surprise when I logged in this morning! 🙂 I had a sneaky suspicion this was coming (that logo had to be changed to the new one eventually, right?). :tongue: It looks great. 

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I’m going to try to go – I had a blast last year! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif But this time I won’t be only three hours away… I’ll be coming from the other side of the country! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_eek.gif So I’ll definitely be booking airline tickets ahead of time, hehe. And we’re going to have to start another roommate thread! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif

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Thank you, Webmaster! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

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Thanks, Chem! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif That’s a lot of good info. I’ve been drinking that Emergen-C which has Vit. C in it and I also bought those Halls Defense drops (that have Vit. C and I think zinc, too?) along with a bag of regular cough drops and have been alternating them. I might have to run to the drugstore again today so I’ll see if I can stock up on more Vit. C stuff (my daughter’s sick now, too, so I need to find something for her… she was up crying several times last night because she’s so congested… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif). And that Sudafed I got was from the pharmacy – most of the cold meds were; the store shelves were bare because most of it had to come from the pharmacy!

I’m feeling much better today but still not 100%. I’ll keep doing what you ladies suggested and kick this thing’s butt. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_rambo.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif Thanks again!

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Thanks for your responses, everyone! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif I’m taking the Sudafed tablets, and I’ll have to check the label for the ingredients… And I think we have some Emergen-C in the cupboards, actually, so I’ll take some of that before I go to bed. I’ll look into that echinacea tea, I’ve never heard of it before. And we have a humidifier but I have no clue where it is… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif Maybe I’d better go find it, hehe.

Thanks again, everyone! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

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I see where polebunny and Audball are coming from and I still disagree – but to each their own.

And none of that would apply to Flexx10’s idea of having a forum for the studio owners, which I think is still a good idea in and of itself. I was just piggybacking it. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

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Hey charley, thanks for the reply! 3 other quick questions, 1) do the gloves run true to size? I tried on a friends non tack size small that fit ok (the left glove seemed smaller that the right?!?) 2) have you had issues with holes or seems ripping? (my friends gloves already had 2 holes near the fingers after only a months use!) 3) does anyone know if/when they are making new gloves? Thought I recalled reading something about a new product?

1) There are 2 different manufacturers for the gloves and one company makes them slightly smaller than the other. Try a pair of smalls and if they don’t fit, feel free to email Joel at MG (there’s a contact form on the website) and let him know. He can help you and swap out for ones that will fit.

2) There have been some problems in the past with some splitting but he has added extra stitching in known problem areas. If your gloves are damaged before their time, Joel will send you a new pair. Also, he LOVES feedback – so email him with any problems and he can look into making some changes to avoid problems in the future.

3) New gloves are in the works but I don’t know how much I should be saying about them so I won’t say anything unless Joel gives me the go-ahead https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif You might also be referring to a different product than I am, so… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_silent.gif

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Haha my pole name has been quite the saga and I’m sure there are several people rolling their eyes when they see that I’m posting to this thread (and I don’t blame them). https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif Names carry a lot of significance for me so I take it a lot more seriously than I should (yes, I admit it).

When I first joined this forum, you could change your username. I just did the first four letters of my real name because I didn’t really think about it too much. Then I finally picked a "stage name" (or pole name or whatever) after posting a thread asking for input on what it should be. After all that I came up with Foxy Rei – so yes, if you dig up some older threads with posts by that name, it’s me. Several people thought I looked like a "Foxy" when they looked at my pictures and I’m a fan of Japanese Anime and liked the name Rei ("Ray") so I stuck the two together. So I changed my username to Foxy Rei with my old first-four-letters-of-my-first-name together so people would know I was the same person. Then they changed the site so the usernames had to stay the same, and this was the same day that I had planned to go with just Foxy Rei. But Veena was able to change it for me before the changes were made permanent.

Last year, I took an unintentional pole sabbatical and was off the pole for several months. I went through a hard time emotionally and financially and just never poled. When I finally got back into it, I felt different in a lot of ways. I had started pole dancing for the sexy side of things, hence the "foxy" name, but over time it turned into something different for me. Plus I’m Christian and was struggling with how pole dancing fit in with my faith (I knew they could coexist somehow but couldn’t quite articulate it). I finally got everything to click into place and somehow my old name just didn’t seem to fit. (I also wanted to start a pole dancing blog and kinda wanted a fresh start.) It didn’t feel right.

I went back over my old list that I had narrowed down to in my original search for a pole name and Journey jumped out at me. The word entails change, growth, pursuit, moving forward – which is exactly what I have done in pole dancing and what we do in life. I loved it! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

So I made a new username here and started my blog, PoleSpection, using the name Journey. Some people weren’t too happy about the change and a few people still call me Foxy – which is fine, I’ll answer to it https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif it’s still a good name! – but the change is something that I did for me.

There you go. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

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Hi Foxy glad to know you are progressed with your knee hold https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif …I’m posting for any other girls working on this at the moment

Thanks! Yes, I finally recently got this so I thought I should probably post what finally "clicked" although it can be difficult to isolate exactly what I was doing right or wrong. LvpPole has a pretty good rundown so I’ll just post tidbits. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_tongue.gif

I switched back and forth between trying this from standing and trying it from a gemini. Standing is nice because you’re closer to the ground and less likely to hurt yourself if you fall off the pole, but I found that you get a more secure grip with the top knee if you do it from gemini (something that stuck in my head from watching a video of Roxy’s back when I was a newbie…).

Getting that top knee to maintain its grip was a big challenge for me, until I got some tips over USPDF weekend; hooking your feet together is part of what holds that upper leg tight around the pole, turns out – that bottom leg’s foot goes in front of the top one and pulls against it.

Another big thing was for whatever odd reason, I was trying to hook my feet after putting the bottom knee on the pole and that’s very difficult to do. Definitely hook the feet first. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_tongue.gif

Also, I know they say that you should put the outside/bottom hand between your knees while you get the bottom knee into position, but I found that extremely awkward – I thought it was easier to put that hand under the bottom knee. :shrug: Not typical, I know, just another example of how different things work for different people. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

And finally, pushing the hips forward was the thing that finally just made it all make sense. When I started out, I was struggling so much with the knee grip and trying not to fall off the stupid pole that I never got to that point. But when I finally got that far, I was thinking, "Oh goody! I can go on to the next step now… Okay, push hips forward, and…. OH MY GOSH there it is! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_surprised.gif I did it!" https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif and I wasn’t even afraid to let go, either. It seems to give that top knee just a bit of an extra twist so it actually helps the grip slightly, too.

It’s just one of those things that takes practice and a lot of muscle memory. Oh, and let’s not forget pain tolerance… the bruise is just now finally healed enough on my knee that I can do this again after shooting my last video. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_tongue.gif Be patient… (I posted this thread back in February, and here it is the end of the year!)

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UH-MAZE-ING! Jungle it brings me to tears to see how far you have come in the pole world… God certainly has blessed you with a lot of talent and I feel so blessed to know you! (seriously, not exaggerating…) You’re awesome, no ifs, ands, or buts. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

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Personally, I like the anonymity that boards provide. I’ve heard from some of the professional polers that they have profiles on boards that are not their real names as well. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif I think it’s good to be able to just be "polers" on the board and not have to identify with a specific group. But that’s just my .02 cents.

I just meant to help know where someone is speaking from when they ask for or give advice, etc. Like if I post for help on a move, it would be nice to know whether or not the advice is from another pole dancer or if it’s coming from a professional instructor. And of course, if someone doesn’t want to be known by who they "actually are" on the forums, they don’t have to join the group or they can always use a pseudonym or make sure they never reveal their identity. I can understand wanting anonymity – I have 2 Facebook profiles – one for "me" and one for my pole persona – for that very reason. It was just a thought, that’s all. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

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Maybe just try what I did – go without for a trail period (trick yourself and switch to decaf *shifty eyes*) and see if you notice a difference??? https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_scratch.gif But like I said, with me, I didn’t notice a difference until I went back to caffeine and it was like, "Holy crap! This SUCKS!!!" and that alone was enough motivation to make more of an effort to go without.

Oh, just FYI: if you’re used to that much caffeine, backing off slowly might be a good idea because you can get addicted to caffeine, and it’s most likely that you are if you drink that much of it… So have painkillers on hand for those withdrawal headaches. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumright.gif

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I have anxiety and depression problems, too – I used to be on medication for the panic attacks (chest pains) but all it did was change my daily, dull panic attacks into a once a week, completely debilitating one. I stopped taking the meds when I got pregnant because I didn’t want to risk the effects on my baby. I never got back on them.

This is obviously still a struggle for me, but I have had to learn just to make myself change the subject sometimes; worrying and stressing over stuff obviously doesn’t help or solve anything, so I’ve just had to learn to think about something else. And if I can’t get my mind off the stressful subject, then I physically go find something to do that will keep my mind occupied.

For me, my mind is my own prison; getting my mind to shut down has always been the biggest challenge. However, there are a few things that I’ve learned that help me "stop" thinking: reading and writing. I find a book that isn’t very long, doesn’t require much to figure out what’s going on, and has good pacing so it holds my attention and won’t let my mind wander. Cheap romance novels work pretty well for me. Also, I like to write fiction, and the stuff I write is similar to what I read (not the cheap romance novel part, but the other stuff https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_tongue.gif). Journaling is nice, too, but doesn’t always help me. And pole, of course, is another outlet.

Also, another thing (I’m sorry if someone else mentioned this and I missed it): caffeine makes anxiety worse. I had heard that but never really bought into it. But to test it, I cut caffeine out of my diet for a few weeks once and while I didn’t notice a difference initially, I had a Mountain Dew after the break and I was a wreck for a few days afterward. Just one bottle of soda gives me chest pains, jitters, makes me jumpy, and restless for 2 or 3 days, so I avoid it. It doesn’t help with my thoughts, but it’s nice to not be in physical pain… Everyone has different sensitivities to caffeine, and you might avoid caffeine already, but just thought I’d put that out there.

Good luck, Glitter, keep us posted! Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help!

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Also, along these same lines, is there a way to mark people by who they are? Like how Veena and Webmaster are administrators/moderators, is there a way to add the groups and titles of studio owners, professional performers (like Amber and Karol), venders (like MightyGrip and PoleSkivvies), "regular" pole students, etc.? I’ve seen other forums do something along these lines, don’t know if it would be possible for this forum or not… Just a thought. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif