[Runemist34]

I've had tendonitis a LOT, though not from pole- just from everything else! Wrist, ankle, shoulder… the last one is the one I've been dealing with the most, now. I get it from having bags and my backpack on that side, actually, and it's quite painful and frustrating.

From what I understand, from my doctor, tendonitis is what happens when you strain the tendon, because your muscles aren't strong enough for what you're doing. That's why repetitive motion really makes it suck- your muscles and tendons can take it now and then, but over and over, all the time? Not likely. So, it freaks out and gets inflamed.

So, the best advice I can give is this: Ease off, for sure. Give the tendon time to calm down. Put ice on it if you can, and if you know what's causing your pain, either find ways around doing it, or find ways of just not doing it.
And then slowly, carefully try to strengthen the muscles around that tendon. Once the inflammation goes down, obviously you don't want it back! So, do just a little bit of strength training in that area. Go easy on it, though!

It takes time to get over this stuff. I've had my shoulder issue for a long time- probably more than a year. I have to keep reminding myself, still, to take it easy, and to watch what I'm doing. Sometimes it gets better, sometimes it gets worse.

Be nice to yourself and your body!

[Runemist34]

I'd actually like to know about that, too!

I've wanted to work on the backbend… it seems that all I manage to do is stretch my abs and feel like my spine is being crunched. I keep hearing "extend the spine" but I'm not sure what that looks/feels like! I do try, though.

[Runemist34]

Which part of your right hip? Like, back, front, side?

If your physiotherapist says you need to strengthen your glutes, I assume this is an issue with the "back" part of your hips? Perhaps underneath your glutes?

That would be your hamstring. I've got super tight hamstrings, and I know they can be horribly uncomfortable!

Things to avoid: Pushing too hard (if it hurts, frigging ease off! Hurting doesn't help them… I just made mine worse by pushing too hard), not stretching at all, stretching when cold, and… sitting on your wallet.

I'm one of those girls with a man-wallet. I hate having to carry stuff around in a bag if all I'm briging is a wallet! So, I stick it in my back pocket and off I go. I've discovered this is a very bad idea if I'm sitting on it for a while. My hamstring on that side just freaked out and stayed painful for days!

My suggestion would be to try to keep it warm, don't bother it too much. These things can be pretty picky sometimes. Very light stretching. That's what worked for me!

Good luck!

[Runemist34]

I think this really depends on "who you are" when you pole. Do you like the idea of being on stage, and imagine yourself performing when you're dancing? Do you like the strip club atmosphere, or something else? Would you prefer it to be a private sanctuary for relaxation, or someplace you play hard rock really loud and kick your own rear with a workout?

I know that some people have employed things like disco lighting (including disco ball!), the flashies that they have in clubs, even smoke machines!

You could go for the boudoir feel, complete with red velvet curtains and deep, sex colours. Smoke machine might also be good here, as well as red or blue lights set at a low intensity.

For the relaxation, maybe some kind of inspirational saying stenciled on the wall, some soft green or pink colours (or whatever your favourite is), keeping things simple, minimal and organized. Candles, either scented or not, and some whispy, light fabric would also work.

For the hard rock, I'm not so good at that one… I would imagine some stronger colours, maybe some posters around, a great big kickin' stero for those tunes… you could look at some big concerts from your favourite bands and see what's common, what you like, and if you can replicate it!

Just some thoughts!
I, personally, have danced in many different rooms, though none of them were particularly decorated by me for a "pole room." I don't really care where the pole is, as long as I can dance on it! 🙂

Good luck!

[Runemist34]

Why did I start? I thought it'd be fun, and because I was often amazed by the things I saw as I slowly entered the wild world of pole dance via the Internet.

Why do I keep going? Because it IS fun, and I want to do those amazing things that I see in the pole dancing community on the internet!

What did poling do to me that I never expected? Taught me to be okay with being upside down, and to enjoy exercise. That was certainly a new one for me 😛

[Runemist34]

Hey! I might actually like to do this, too!

I've been trying to stretch when I come out of the shower- things have been hectic, so not a lot of time for dancing. I'd still like to get more flexible for when I can dance, though!

I'll try to post some pictures soon. I'd like to work on… well, all kinds of splits, and hopefully back flexibility too, though I feel like I'm doing it wrong!

[Runemist34]

I'm sorry to hear that all of this has happened. You're pretty strong to have not spoken up when people were making those jokes and such!

As for your mom, unfortunately this sounds like a pretty common thing- you ever heard the "When are you going to get a REAL job?" That's pretty hard to take. Especially when you're a writer, artist, comedian, or some others that aren't "desk jobs" or what society thinks of as being lucrative. Having a "real sport" is very similar… maybe you can sit down and talk with her? Find out what her criteria is for a "real sport." Does she mean that she doesn't want you to be associated with a stripper? Does she mean that she doesn't think pole dancing requires a lot of finesse, grace, and strength? Is she worried that you would hurt yourself, not being on the ground?

As for other people, I've heard it all. The "stripper pole" comments, the stripper comments, all of it.
I've also had a lot of positive feedback. People around here are so bored they're likely to try almost anything! And, pole dancing really speaks to a lot of women. A form of exercise where one can have fun and feel amazing? Yes please!

I find most of the derogatory comments to be funny. Stripper pole? I can accept that as a descriptor. I'm a stripper? Probably closer to true due to my burlesque than my pole dancing 😛

[Runemist34]

I've been trying this move from the floor, too! I don't quite understand this "letting the hips drop" part. Every time I tried, I just ended up sliding farther down the pole, till I didn't have any left and I was on the floor…and my head and feet were still farther down than my hips!

Any suggestions there?

[Runemist34]

While not a belly button, I had two cartilage ear piercings that attempted to reject. I had them for 5 years, and every 6 months or so, they'd get really upset and bleed. Constant crusties, and they swelled up pretty good all around the piercing. I couldn't move the rings at all, other than turning them, because the swelling hurt so much.

There are a lot of things I could have done, or that I could have been told, about having those piercings. To get one at a time, so I could sleep on one side and keep the other without pressure. To keep my hair back and away from them at all times. To not get them when I'm working a job where I have to wear a headset (I was working in a call centre).

I tried the salt, the oils and everything… I did a lot of research. By the end of 5 years, I decided that they would never heal, and I discarded them. Very little scar tissue, so that's good. They healed up perfectly fine with the rings out.

However, I wanted to say this: Using things like polysporin, or something oil based, is not recommended because it doesn't allow the wound to breathe. It's a very particular kind of thing you're trying to do, and suffocating your skin around the piercing may cause it to stop healing, reject entirely, or other nasty things.

Using salts (such as epsom salts or seasalt) can be very beneficial. I didn't find that it helped me, but there were a lot of people that I read about that found it amazing, so you can give that a try.

Otherwise, belly button piercings are, from what I've seen, just as bad as any surface piercing for being rejected. I've heard of them being rejected only to one side, so you end up with a piercing somewhere near your hipbone, and some just are rejected out. That's where the skin becomes smaller and smaller… till the piercing itself comes out. 

Specifically, crusties are a fluid that our bodies use, created by the Lymph node, in order to flush out foreign objects- namely, the piece of metal you've shoved in there. They're normal, and natural for your body to be producing.

I'd say, leave the piercing in for a bit, try to be very careful of it (if it keeps wrenching or moving, perhaps put a bandage over it to keep it from doing so). Pulling or moving it when it's not healed, and discovering it bleeding, is a sure sign that whatever healing had been done was wrecked by the movement. It's a very delicate process!

And… some people heal differently than others. Some people take ages, some take days. Some don't heal up at all- such as myself.

I wish you luck!

[Runemist34]

I sure do have dry skin! Especially with my work these days (coffee shop), the sanitizer is pretty harsh to the hands, and I know it takes a toll for the rest of me, too. I shower too often (I have curly hair, shower at LEAST once a day, and it can dry me out a lot, too), and I know it…

I'll try getting some pole-friendly lotion on the legs, though. I think I have one or two kickin' around!

I'll check my climbing position next time, because I usually create some kind of hooking point from the top of my bent foot to the inside of the knee… and sometimes it works, and sometime it doesn't! It also requires the bent foot, which I find not very pretty looking!

I did actually try to do the "chair position" today, because I've wanted to be able to do a bit of playing while I climb… and I just slid right off. It was frustrating! Like, I can climb, but no fun while doing it! So, I'll see if I've got it wrong and get back to you girls!

Hopefully try it tomorrow, if I'm not too tired 😉

[Runemist34]

I don't currently have any videos of this one- I've not been recording most of my practices, and since the move, my video camera has been packed. I just found it this afternoon, actually!

[Runemist34]

If you click the link, and then the title "I am a pole dancer" you'll get to the main blog, and see what's going on.

I really like this! It's pretty cool!

[Runemist34]

It's actually funny you mention that, because I've encountered a third way- bottom hand with all fingers facing up the pole, and not gripping it, just pushing. Jamilla teaches this in her DVDs.

I would think that, for most split grips, fingers pointing down is "the least straining," because you are creating less of a bend in your wrist while doing it. However, I've very rarely strained my wrists doing anything, as they're quite flexible and used to a massive amount of strain (I'm a writer, it's all about the wrist!). I wouldn't reccommend testing the resilliency of your wrists, though.

I know that Veena teaches the "Gun pointer" method, which is to say that your thumb wraps around the pole, and your pointer finger points down, and then your other fingers sort of wrap around the pole, too. This keeps your wrist pretty well supported, and also keeps you from slipping. This is more or less the hand-down method, just with a little modification.

[Runemist34]

I C Anuka – Normally, my workouts are intended to be around an hour long… though these days I don't seem to have the stamina to go that long! Honestly, if I could find my weights and stuff (they're packed somewhere!) I might be able to make the one hour.

But you make a really good point. If I split up my routine, then perhaps I'll be able to do as I want in less time 🙂

[Runemist34]

Sounds very burlesque to me 😉
Some ways you could do it…

If you can do an Invert into a V-hip hold (challenging, I know) you could strip off those legwarmers upside down, showing off your amazing skill and your sexy legs at the same time!

Otherwise, if you're flexy, a lot of the ladies in Burlesque like to grab the toe of their stockings and bring their leg up behind them. You could do this while standing and holding the pole for one leg at least!

And then for the other leg, you could potentially climb the pole with the now-naked leg, straighten your other leg, and lean over to push/roll that thing down off your foot!

If you really want to make a show of it, I would say (depending on how it fits with your routine and song!) that you could play with each one. You could push them down around your ankle, like JeHanne said, and then very slowly tease them off your foot… or once their off, you could do something like spinning them around and throwing them away, or put one around our shoulders like a towel (for fun!) and… well, I'm sure you could come up with some fun stuff like that, too!

Hope this helped!