Partnering with The Pole Dancing Shop

The Pole Dancing Shop has offered me a regular writing gig!  I will be submitting a post each week and am really excited to share the first one with you.  Please sign up for the newsletter on their website so you can be the first to read future posts!  You can also join them on Facebook or Twitter. 

The post went up last night and I woke up this morning to many new friends and messages on Facebook.  I am really excited to hear that this post struck a chord and that there are many pole dancers in my shoes!  [Please join our accountability group on Facebook!]

I would like to thank them for this opportunity and look forward to a long partnership!

http://www.thepoledancingshop.com/your-own-worst-enemy/#.To9FLnLGCSo

Your Own Worst Enemy

Posted on 6th Oct 2011 @ 9:38 PM

Last year I wrote a blog for The Pole Dancing Shop called Powerful Bodies, Even More Powerful Minds.
I explained my situation -- that at 6 feet tall and over 200 pounds, I wasn't the "normal" pole dancer. I promised to get into shape. At the end of the post, I asked what was holding you back.

I already know what is holding me back. My own worst enemy is...ME.

It is a year and a half later. I still have 40 pounds to lose and have really spent the last year losing strength and feeling worse about myself. I keep seeing amazing dancers perform and I tell myself, "this is IT, I am back on the horse -- eating right and exercising!" Then I see a cookie or a bag of jellybeans and I'm right back where I started. That depresses me, so I don't exercise as hard as I should. And that's how the downward spiral begins.

Two weeks ago, I traveled to Los Angeles for the California Pole Dance Championships. I also took classes at BeSpun and OC Pole Fitness. I had an amazing time and met a lot of really awesome people, and I really came away with a whole new respect for the sport and a desire to be better. When I came home, I had a private lesson with Shelly Lamb. It made me want to be stronger.

I really have been getting in my own way for the last year. I spent my first year pole dancing by gaining strength and learning how to move. I have spent the second year letting myself get out of shape, making excuses and not working hard -- at anything, except maybe eating. I have had a lot of stress in my life in the last year and I have allowed that excuse to give me permission to eat or not exercise or not work on my pole moves. So today I take that power back. I took my home pole down in January of 2011 due to some construction. I need to get that back up. I used to go to class at Twirly Girls twice a week and I've only been going once. I need to start going more often.

I did just start pilates reformer classes, which I need to help me with my core strength, but I also need to get back into the gym for spin (cycle) and to run on the treadmill (another excuse: my gym went out of business with no notice awhile back, and I haven't joined another "real" gym yet). I have no desire to compete but I am having fun visiting other studios and I don't want to feel like a failure on the pole when I don't have the strength to do basic moves -- especially when I'm trying to show off in front of other people.

So today I really do make a commitment to myself and to pole dancing. I will continue with pilates reformer twice a week. I need to add in spin twice a week and running once a week for cardio. I need to get into the studio for pole at least twice a week. And, for good measure, I need to add one yoga class a week into the mix.

How about you? Are you holding yourself back? If you are, I hope you will commit with me today to be a happier, healthier, more fit pole person. Leave a comment [on the PDS' website] and share this article with other Polers out there, then add me on Facebook and we can be accountability buddies!