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Monday, June 24, 2013

Open House: Entangle & Sway

On Friday, I went on an after-work adventure in San Francisco.  I stuck around the City to check out Entangle & Sway's open house.  I have long been Facebook friends with E&S owner, Nikki Brady, but we had yet to meet in person.  I always meant to make it to previous open houses, but have always been wary of coming into the City on a Friday night.  Well, now that I work here and have had some public transportation experience, I felt like the time was right.

Located in an adorable neighborhood near the Presidio in San Francisco, I almost wasn't expecting to open the door into a dance studio.  They are a female-only studio with an emphasis on learning sexy moves and building self-esteem.  They only have two mirrors for those learning advanced tricks, and they turn on red lights when they dance.  It really allows students to get out of their heads and into their moves.  

There was a showcase, which included both students and instructors.  I really enjoyed each and every performance.  I am missing pole since my foot has been injured.  I have also stepped away from "sexy" moves in the last year or so.  I felt very inspired to get back into it.  

I was talking to a fellow local poler (well, newly local...Amy only moved here from Boston recently) about the pole community in the San Francisco Bay Area.  There really aren't a ton of studios for such a large area and we aren't anything like Los Angeles or New York when it comes to being pole-crazy.  I really am excited to support local pole studios so that we can have a happy, healthy community that promotes growth.

Thank you to Nikki and her girls for sharing their pole love with me last week!  I hope to make it out for some future workshops after my wonky foot has healed!  If you are in the San Francisco area and are looking for a studio, please check out Entangle & Sway!  

Friday, June 7, 2013

June Blog Hop: Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Pole Dancing...

This month's blog hop (check out the link to other blogs HERE) is about what we wish we had known before we started pole dancing.  I'm sure there will be plenty of posts about how we didn't know how addictive it would be, or how expensive it would be, so I thought I'd write something slightly different.  (You can also read our leader, Sheena's post about ideas HERE.)  My blog will be: What I wish I had done differently after I started pole dancing.  

When I started pole dancing, I was in the beginning stages of re-gaining weight (for the second time) after my gastric bypass surgery.  I had started a new relationship, and was working from home (after being in an office for years).  Within six months of starting to dance, I also moved into a new place.  I had a lot of things going on, a lot of stress, and I misdirected my anxiety.  

I wish that after I took that very first class on December 2, 2009, I had taken my health and fitness more seriously.  I am not knocking my newly-acquired Health At Every Size beliefs, but I don't think it is disrespectful or improper to say that, regardless of the number on the scale, I did allow myself to stop working out as much and I started to eat a lot more fast food (which helped me gain all this weight in the first place in college).  HAES believes everyone has a right to be treated with respect regardless of their weight, while acknowledging that bodies are entitled to healthy foods and that movement is good for most bodies.  

Anyway, as I started working from home, I really let my gym schedule get out of whack.  I stopped working out with my super awesome gym partner who kept me motivated.  My gym eventually went out of business and I just stopped going at all for awhile.  I have now gained 50 pounds over my personal healthy weight goal (about 25-30 of those pounds were gained since I started pole dancing).  

I didn't initially stress about some of that weight.  Shoot, the two months I did silks, I put on 15 pounds, and I was pretty sure a lot of that was muscle.  My weight has been somewhat stable for the last two years but my friend took my measurements recently and I'm bigger.  A lot bigger.  That means my "muscle has turned to fat" (no, I don't believe muscle actually turns to fat, however since muscle is purported to weigh more than fat, I can acknowledge that if I have lost muscle tone, and gained fat, I may in fact weigh the same but could have gained inches).  Sure, I kinda felt like my clothes were tighter but I guess I didn't really notice it.  But now I'm hyper-aware (and it's a constant struggle to try to accept myself in the HAES way while still trying to bring myself back to a healthy place). 

I realize that there are some things my body needs (and I feel will help me on the pole).  I need cardio.  I am not doing advanced tricks, so I feel like I shouldn't be heaving and breathing like someone who just finished a marathon after dancing a 4 minute song.  I need yoga.  I am not flexible, and yoga is a requirement.  With all the surgical scars on my body, yoga is probably the one thing I should never go without.  I feel like weight training is essential but I do consider pole my weight bearing exercise.  Last of all, the core is key.  Having to give up my pilates reformer class was one of the biggest bummers of being broke and commuting to work every day.  

So I wish I had not given up on myself when I started to pole.  My downer attitude has nothing to do with pole (and pole has probably kept me from truly going to a dark place many a day!!).  But I do wish I had continued to work hard at the gym, which made me a healthier, happier person.  I don't wish to be skinny, but I do wish to be in good health again.  

I did have a bad week this week (thanks to my bone spur) but have been attending cycle classes 1-2 days a week, yoga 1-2 days a week and pole 2 days a week.  In the mornings before work, I do some exercises for my foot that have me doing things like calf raises.  I do hope to turn that back into core workout time soon.  I have been battling this painful bone spur for almost 9 months now.  I do hope as that gets resolved (probably looking at surgery this year for it), I can fully get back into my schedule and make myself into the pole dancer that I have always dreamed of being.