muroo
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if it's someone worth caring the opinion about (a good friend or something, who would be open minded if given the chance) I just show them a favorite video or two. 🙂 I tend to go with the popular Jenyne Butterfly one to Dogs Days Are Over since the lighting is bright, she's just wearing some plain ol' black fitness stuff and you can see the muscles at work. it's changed the minds of many of my friends. =P
I hope it's not a bad thing (call this a confession of a former skeptic), but I'm sure I did a double take the first time I heard someone who pole danced for fitness. I was a quick believer since I knew this person through an athletic context first and admired her. she was also very open about her new passion and posted awesome pictures all over facebook. If I had instead heard of it first all the celebrities doing it (as in, people I don't…necessarily respect to begin with…who also may or may not do crazy diets) or maybe just heard it in passing about someone else I might've dismissed it too. as a gut reaction. internally.
but that doesn't really give anyone the right to insult you right then and there. so like chem says, you just gotta learn how to ignore it. 🙂 some people are just not worth it. it's just like any other kind of prejudice or stigma…whether things you can't choose like sexuality or race (I can't choose what I love, and I love pole dancing!), or things you do kind of choose like becoming a housewife/pursuing your career or being vegetarian (I choose pole fitness for exercise because of the efficient workout) …
get rid of the energy vampires and haters from your life! no need to have to justify it to anyone. maybe to yourself, but hopefully that's not too elaborate. 🙂
the blog posts linked here are great, btw. I'm just pretty caffeinated still and felt like sharing a bit. 🙂 in case you haven't stumbled across other posts of mine and witnessed this already…
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I will try all of these later and try to remember to report back. 🙂 I get the feeling I just need to play around with positioning…
so frustrating thinking about pole when I'm nowhere near one. 🙂
nolaelle, I also would like to cross my ankles for those purposes. 🙂 I feel like I've been avoiding thigh holds where the legs aren't crossed because I'm mentally convinced it just doesn't work. if my legs aren't physically locked together then I have no confidence I can make them stay…=P
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I also at least for my hands periodically wash my hands with soap when I pole. (haha it's good living in a tiny 1BR like that…the bathroom is right there.) It's funny how that soap scum film that commercials make fun of ends up being a good thing. =P was it ivory or lever or something that claims they don't have one?
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The most vodka I’ve ever had was in the form of espresso vodka. But I can’t say much about the hangover…other than being tired, the hangover is always very clean! Not sure why I don’t just always have it…
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aw I love this thread. 🙂
my last hangover was due to poorly timed eating (my office has no windows and I am not a structured eater!) and a one hour (ONE) open bar I wasn't even on time for. my fault for tipping the bartender 'cuz I'm pretty sure my jack and cokes didn't really have coke. then again I managed to fit in 4 of them so the night was doomed either way. I'm sure there were shots. I can never remember to count shots.
I tend to get delayed-onset hangovers remedied with powerade and ramen around 5-6pm. That is unless someone can help me get some pho. 🙂
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I was trying to go for it but I don't think I can get through a song without my giant foster cat getting the in way. =P
he has no healthy sense of fear! I remember when I was working on hip holds close to the ground he'd just settle in right under me. he also has a knack for knowing where I'll dismount…
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haha yeah it's crazy how different we can be!
focus on what you can do and not on what you can't yet. =P who says you have to invert? maybe you can work on yogini or the skater poses or other upright moves and have those be your trademark. 🙂
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Haha okay. Well, for those who might consider using bobby pins but don't understand how to get them to stay, get the Stayput ones. =P They have grooves on the inside and actually do something.
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I hardly use "normal" shampoo either. 🙂 I didn't know if it really helped with growing faster, but I guess I've been told that I don't get split ends (thus not needing trims as much?) and maybe using less harsh shampoos help with that. 🙂
Sometimes I use a shampoo bar from J.R. Liggetts (just made of lye and oils), sometimes I use a baking soda then vinegar rinse, sometimes I do use shampoo, and sometimes it's just water. A lot of times I just wash my bangs out with soap in a sink real fast in the morning too…
Oh and for growing bangs out, I suggest Stayput bobby pins. You'd think that bobby pins are all the same. Untrue.
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Porshka, sassyboots — I definitely know the feeling. I mean, that's one of the requirements for depression, right? Not finding things you used to find enjoyable enjoyable? I also feel guilty that I'm not loving it more, and then I go into some downward spiral of "you can't even have fun right…everyone who does pole loves it unconditionally and SO MUCH" and "so you've just been sitting on the couch in your underwear staring at your pole, how sad". Anywayyyyy
I've never thought about pole itself as having any special effect on my depression. I do know that singing out loud and dancing to music in general (if I manage to get myself to start) always does make me feel better though. And I know exercise helps, etc, but I've never been a complete couch potato, so I am aware of the limits of exercise and training.
Okay. Before this turns into a big ball of emo since I don't think this is making anyone feel better, pole does help me! 🙂 There's usually music involved (and singing =P), and dancing, and exercise. There's also the feeling that this is something unique about you, and you're working on it all your own. No offense to athletes in other fields (hey, I am one too!) but it's always nice to know you're doing something unusual to make yourself feel special. "Guess what, I'm not boring!"
And just FYI, after being reluctant and inconsistent for a while, I've finally been taking medication for almost a year, and it's been good. There are still bad days/weeks of course, and it might be true that no one "needs" drugs to battle the demons, but the stigma is no reason not to take them if you can afford them and have a therapist/doctor to monitor it. As my friend put it once "hey, most of my family is on it, and they are happier and better people because of it, so there's no problem." Anti-depressants aren't shortcuts, or happy pills…they just give you a little help if you meet them halfway.
In fact, I had a pole for almost 2 years before I started consistently using it at all. It was about month 2 of antidepressants and feeling better that I got *just* enough motivation to work at it a few times a week. 🙂 It's only been a few months since then, but it's longer than I've worked at a lot of things already. =P
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I agree with everything said here. Just one more thing I'd like to add though (something I used in an argument).
I have a guy friend who touts himself as super progressive 'n open-minded and whatnot. Talking to him about pole dancing was always fine. Then one day I mentioned chair play lessons and stuff. Out of nowhere he was like "I can see how you can pull off pole dancing as exercise, but chair? Come ON. this is only destigmatized because it's for 'fitness'."
The point that got across to him was, no matter what the dancing or exercise, it's not "just stripping lessons" if it's for you. Sure, we might post videos because we're proud, or want some constructive criticism, but there's no audience we "need". And maybe we use this on our sig others, but haha, really, you should have some arsenal for that in the first place. =P (Hopefully!) The viewer has no power over what we do. And because of that, choosing to do pole dancing instead of any other hobby is just that — a hobby, an art form, a passion — that has to do with no one else.
Even if I were stripping or dancing for money or an audience…as long as I'm the one who wants to do it, and that's common knowledge now, destigmatize it already!
Anyway, a bit off topic, but I kind of had to get it out there once I was reminded of this friend. Who I'm not really great friends with any more for other reasons. Reasons including that thinking about him always gets me worked up and angry!…which wastes a lot of my time. =P Energy vampires, begone.
Allll thatttt said, stalkers are scary. But avoiding stalkers means avoiding any public exposure of even any pictures, so…impossible. =P
My boyfriend is supportive of my pole habit, even though I have a rule that he can never watch. 🙂 (Maybe one day, for a special occasion…)
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yes, same! this might motivate me to do my first challenge and video! if only I still had pink hair highlights… =P
one of the first songs we did a mini routine to when I took live classes was "Tear Away" by Drowning Pool. I think it was a good intro to pole since I love that song and I was like "this is so much more awesommmme than I thought it'd be".
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ps – I don't feel like I'm getting "good" yet. 🙂 to each their own
pps – I need to cut down on my response lengths…I try to prune them down until they seem short enough but then I click save post and it's so much longer than everyone elses. =P
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aww, that hard on yourself after a SINGLE class? 🙂 I guess you're driven at least. =P
first off, yes, record yourself. it seems vain, or only for people who clearly intend to post themselves on youtube to show off, but it really isn't. (okay, maybe sometimes. =P) but it really can be a good tool.
also opposite of everyone else, I wasn't a dancer but I did have a good strength base and I thought it'd be easy because of that. SO wrong. =P I probably did have an easier time with some things (I was climbing by the third class and attempting to invert*) but I'm sure I'm still lacking in the gracefulness department. =P
my biggest problem was, and still is, even though I haven't taken a live class in forever, is letting go. maybe you're just ridiculous-looking in your head! I remember watching myself try and do things like snakes and hair flips and I was like "wow, what a poser". Poser or not, once you start having fun, you start thinking you look better too. 🙂
* – before you blame the school for letting me do that it's because my schedule didn't really fit well with the beginner classes and so I e-mailed the studio asking if it was okay to try a higher level class since I didn't want to wait another few weeks until the schedules matched up again. I think especially since I was going to a class with an instructor who remembered me and could keep an eye out for the newbie they said I could go for it. she called me "the strong girl" because at my first class she showed us fan kicks as a bonus strength building move and I apparently did them really well. that little strength didn't get me too far though… =P
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As my picture shows, I'm a fan of martial arts. 🙂 I haven't really been practicing it for a long time (I still teach once a week or so though) and it's not really pole-specific at all, but it's kept me springy and strong. I'm sure it's helped with some pole moves having that strength base (holding out kicks and stances during class must be doing something), and it's the only reason I'm anywhere close to splits. 🙂