This blog blossomed in 2010 to chronicle my adventures in pole dance after weight loss surgery. Although I am pole dancing less these days, I still hike and do yoga. I sometimes still have to remind myself that the size of my body doesn't dictate my worth. I believe living a life full of gratitude and joy helps lead to a true mind, body and spirit connection. You have the power to manifest your best life!
It has officially been one year since I started Operation Upside Down. You can read the latest update HERE. (For the fun of it, you can also read the most recent flexibility update HERE.)
I am thoroughly enjoying Janet's movement class. I really love finding new and different ways to move. I'm not super fluid or sexy or able to dance amazingly. So its nice to be presented with ways to move that I can actually do. I will be in her class this week, however, I am then going to be in a Wednesday night women's group for five weeks. Then it's September and NCPP prep will take over my life. Then I have surgery in November, which will require a minimum of three months off (I'll do an update about that soon). So, its not going to leave me much time for pole/dance/lyra/movement, or any upside down stuff in general. Lunchtime yoga will continue, of course, until surgery. So that will be my saving grace.
Therefore, this will be my final Operation Upside Down update (unless something amazing happens). You can always keep an eye on my Confessions fan page on Facebook. I regularly post videos and photos there.
Thank you for coming on this upside down journey with me! I am excited for the next chapter. I will share more with you soon!
I had hoped to be reporting major gains after my disappointing update two months ago. However, over the last two months, I have had more of the same. Sick. Tired. Lazy. I did find out I was slightly anemic last month, so that (with some other low numbers) were probably contributing to my exhaustion. I was also sick for over two weeks straight. I increased my vitamins, am back on my protein shakes, and have already noticed a huge difference in how I feel. I am back to getting up at 5:30 AM for mini-workouts, am walking more, stretching at night and am ready to get back to Twirly Girls full time. I have been marching around my house in my new seven inch heels so I can get more comfortable walking in them (which ends up being a workout). I am not fully back to my flexibility training but feel like I am almost ready to get back to that as well. My knee doesn't necessarily hurt anymore but I have a general tightening of my hips and knee, which is making me nervous. I just can't sit on my knees or squat down for long periods of time. I don't want to lose mobility but I don't want to injure myself. There has to be a middle ground.
That being said, I still feel strong. I kept up with my yoga practice, and I feel like that is always my saving grace. I also feel like it's time for a change. I had been feeling lost for the last few months because I wasn't really sure the purpose of my need to get upside down. Just to say I did it? Was I going to get good enough to drop it into a routine? I really still don't know. But what I do know is that I have been away from flowy dance classes too long and I feel like I'm losing my ability to free dance. So, I was excited to find out that Janet was going to start teaching a movement class on Wednesdays. Beginning this week, I will use lyra to get strong and pole movement to learn how to flow. I am really excited about my new schedule!
Despite being light on classes (again), I still have a few highlights from the past two months. You can see those below:
I also joined Wildcat Parlour, LLC for the Empowerment Through Movement day in March. I took Jen's class, then taught the Closer routine. I was nervous because my knee still hurt a a bit, so I was stiff and unable to spend a lot of time on my knees, but I otherwise did pretty well. You can read about that and see videos at the link below:
I haven't posted an update in awhile. If you want to read my last upside down update, you can find it HERE. Where do I start? I guess here, with the excuses and whining. I spent most of January sick and February with a knee injury. Also, I am just exhausted, and it's freezing cold (well, California cold, which is cold to a Californian), so making a 25 mile drive for an 8 PM class requires a special kind of motivation that I just don't have right now. I'm tired and frustrated, so I missed many classes in the last two months.
I enjoy Janet's Bottoms Up class because I like and trust her. I know I won't completely squish her when she tips me backwards. But the 8 PM start time means I don't get home until after 10 PM on a work night. I enjoy Jen's lyra class, but the 6:30 PM start time means I need to leave straight from work and pray that the traffic gods are on my side. It stresses me out. Plus lyra hurts 100 times more than pole. And I feel like since I've turned 40, I ache a lot more than I used to. My hands hurt for two days after lyra. Currently, I'm rocking a bruise across my hips from a forward fold. I barely did a forward fold. I'm not trying to be a circus performer. So what I've determined is that I really go to lyra to see my friends and laugh.
This knee injury has been plaguing me for a month now. I believe what happened is that I hyper-extended it while doing the flexibility DVDs (you can read the first post on that HERE), then went to Twirly Girls to dance for an hour, and teach a two-and-a-half hour party. By the end of that night, I knew I wasn't okay. I've been limping along by icing and heating, taking cinnamon, using arnica and being extremely careful in yoga (I have to do some kind of movement). I haven't done the flexibility DVD in a month. I feel like the worst of the pain and swelling passed within a week or so. But one little wrong step or tweak puts me back in it. I am 95% better, but that 5% keeps me down. I can't climb the pole because it hits my knee in just the right (or wrong) spot. I can't hang from my knees in the lyra. I can't sit on my knees for any reason. I tried to just simply squat down on Monday and that actually put my recovery back at least another week. In fact, as I write this, I should be in class, but I am aching so much (let's blame the rain), that I don't want to chance hurting myself any further. I am supposed to teach a workshop in ten days so I am just trying to keep myself at this level until I get through that. Then I can fall apart. In fact, it is probably time to get myself to the doctor, but I know they're going to tell me to stop doing what I'm doing and I don't want to be told that.
All this being said, I don't feel like I've lost any strength. On the nights I have been able to get to class, I do get upside down. I haven't improved, but I haven't moved backwards. I can kind of get my knees driven upward, but Janet still has to tip me backwards. I also wonder if part of my problem is that I need a new goal. If the goal was simply to get myself upside down, I've done that. My goal never said: get upside down alone or gracefully or whatever. I also wonder what's the point? Just to say I do it? I don't see myself getting comfortable enough with it to suddenly start throwing it into routines. So, if I just simply wanted to be strong enough to throw my ass upside down, I did that. I am in the process of figuring out what I want out of pole. Is it to be strong? I haven't been taking any flow or dance classes, so I feel like I've lost a lot of that fluidity. I think I have a lot to figure out in the next month or so. I only have this one body and I don't want to be lazy but I also don't want to push myself into injuries that could be avoided if I just listened to my body. I mean, I can't even squat down to 90 degrees. I don't want to lose mobility, and I feel like that's happening at an alarming rate.
So the whining is done. Here are some videos from the last two months.
Performing for Robert and Twirl for a Cause:
The day of the knee injury:
Bonus:
This is where I am pretty sure I hyper-extended my knee. I was doing the flexibility DVD and trying to take photos to show progress over the previous month. Someone on Facebook talked about yoga being the portal to hell and then a friend photoshopped this. So, it's kinda true. But the photo makes me laugh so I am sharing it here with you.
Made it back to class last week, although I was pretty limited on what I could do.
So, there you go. I really don't know what the future holds for my "pole career." I am trying to be kinder and gentler with myself in 2018. Judge myself less. Love myself more. And I don't know that pushing myself through injuries is honoring that. I guess I have a lot to decide, with no real deadline forcing me to make a decision. I will certainly let you all know what is coming next!
So last night I missed pole class. I had to get my door handle replaced and would have had to rush out to class. I decided instead to set up my yoga inversion chair, which was recommended by someone in my plus sized poler group on Facebook. It was AWESOME! So easy to put together and use. I am going to get a ton of use out of it. Now everyone is asking me where to get it, so I figured it was easiest to put out a blog. I got it on Amazon. Link below! I also did a little video for my friend, Keri, so you can check that out as well.
As most of you know, I am six months into Operation Upside Down. You can check out my latest blog on that HERE.
Want one for yourself?
Get it on Amazon!
Try it out, then let me know what you think! Happy inversions!
I can't believe we are already six months into this project. Although I still struggle lifting into a chopper, I can definitely throw myself into an invert. Now, whatever happens next still leaves much to be desired, but I CAN get upside down. If you want to see my month five update, click HERE. December was another light month for me. I was in Vegas and I missed another class because I was on a date. I also only made it to lyra once. I haven't been to yoga much in the last two weeks either. Basically, I've been a lazy butt.
Here's how the month went!
I celebrated my 8th twirliversary on December 2nd!
Here we go. Another month gone. I can't believe I have finished five months of trying to go upside down already. This month was way less exciting than last month. I'm not suddenly busting out Iron X just because I went upside down once by myself. You can read the Month 4 update HERE.
I don't feel like I gained or lost much this month. I couldn't take lyra as much because I had an appointment on Monday nights. And Thanksgiving was last week, so class was canceled. I am writing this on the final Thursday of the month but I feel a cold coming on and my head hurts so going upside down doesn't sound fun.
It looks like I will be adding two more lunch time yoga classes at work next year, so that should help with strength and flexibility. However, I may also be facing more surgery to fix the last surgery (which was fixing the last surgery before that). If I go forward with that, its another three plus months off the pole. I still haven't decided what I am going to do.
So here's how the rest of my month went.
Early in the month, trying the bad side:
Monkeying around:
Almost!
And some more trying..
Scary but super cool:
Take 2:
False start, but then we go upside down:
Scary for me:
I'm not touching the ground!
Getting back to lyra after almost a month off was difficult...my hands hurt!
It all hurts, actually...
I'm still progressing, although I know I'm not working as hard as I could to get to where I'd like to be. Still, I do often like to take the long, meandering path, and I am still enjoying the journey, so I won't beat myself up too much. See you next month!
I did it. I went upside down. By myself. Before we get there, check out my month three update HERE. And now...rejoice...Even if it's a pretty sloppy attempt, that looks like upside down to me!
WHAAAAAAT....
So I had another light month. I went to San Luis Obispo and Disneyland last month and had a work event, so I missed a couple of classes, but I am still progressing. Check out some other highlights from October below.
October 5:
October 9:
October 12:
October 30:
I'm pretty pleased with my progress. I will have to take a lyra break in November as I have an appointment on Mondays all month after work. But I will try to step up my yoga and pilates reformer at home to keep myself from losing any strength. I also need to drag my lazy butt up to start doing squats again in the mornings. I have no booty!
If you've been following me lately, you know I've been on the hunt for inversions. If you haven't, you can check out my Month 2 update HERE. September began with recovery from NCPP, a long weekend and a trip to Las Vegas for Pole Expo. So, I missed the first two weeks of Bottoms Up class with Janet. I did make it to lyra twice with Jen. I did a choreography class with Jill. Plus, I did a floor flow workshop with Morgan. I also performed (if you could call it that -- I could barely walk in those heels) at Robert's Twirl for a Cause show. I feel like I got some decent practice in this month. At my final Bottoms Up class for September (just last week), my first chopper actually felt strong. I felt like *I* actually lifted myself up. You won't be able to tell on the video, but I felt it and Janet felt it. The choppers that followed went back to feeling like Janet was pushing me into them. BUT, that is PROGRESS! I have been frustrated because I feel stronger in lyra than I do in pole. Maybe because I can throw myself around a little easier in lyra. So this was the first time I felt stronger in pole as well. I am so excited!
So enjoy some videos and photos from the previous month of strength training and fun!
Preparing for a photoshoot at Pole Expo in Vegas
We love our Vegas nudies
Jill's Pony routine:
Learning new things in Lyra wearing my new She-Fit bra, which I loved!
Whoops...sideways chopper:
Flowing with Mo:
Look who hauled her ass up into the tall hoop!
Robert's show:
I did it! Almost by myself!
Mermaiding...cuz mermaiding
Something about these glasses automatically makes you a bad ass
I just completed Month 2 of Operation Upside Down. And by using the word "completed," I just mean that the month did, in fact, happen. My last update was from Week 4, and you can read that HERE.
August is the month of Northern California Pole Presentational. We had our fourth annual event on Saturday, August 26. It is an entire day of pole dancing. We set up Friday. Practice starts at 7 AM on Saturday, and the show runs from about 9 AM to 5 PM. Then we tear it all down. The entire month of August each year is generally spent collecting and organizing music for 70+ dancers, making spreadsheets, signs and lists, writing the script, gathering information from sponsors and vendors, designing a program, etc. Basically, I get off work and I go home to park it on the couch and work some more. I also started doing hospice volunteer work recently, and that has added to my already full plate (although it is rewarding work). I did make it to a few classes sprinkled throughout the month, however, I was certainly not in gain-strength mode. Last night was the final day of August -- my 41st birthday -- and my final chance to squeeze in a class before month 2 ended.
Do I feel stronger? Yes and no. I kept up my yoga practice, and I also tried lyra during the month of August (I did a lot better than I expected). I am sure I have mentioned before that I gauge my general strength based on how I feel during "chaturanga." My chaturanga is decent right now. I don't crash chest first into the floor as I start to lower. However, when I tried chopper last night, I felt awkward and weak again. Perhaps it was because I hadn't choppered all month. I feel like Janet really has to push me into the move. Ellen had mentioned last week that I may want to try kind of pushing off of Janet's arm so I'm having to push my own ass into the move. I worry I'd break Janet. She's mighty but she's so tiny.
So anyway, here are some videos from August. Slow and steady wins the race, right??
Starting Month 2:
Practicing on vacation even:
First lyra class (don't wanna go backwards):
Upside down with Jen:
Routine with the Dizzy Divas:
Second lyra class (falling backwards like a champ now):
And last night's chopper with Janet:
Thank you to everyone who is being patient while I slowly navigate the upside down world! I know I play around a lot but I really am enjoying the process.
So, I have completed an entire month of Bottoms Up with Janet! I feel like I'm already making progress, and I will probably move to monthly updates from here on out (unless I do something amazing, of course).
Check out some videos from class last week below:
Plus, here's the mini routine we did with Grace on Monday:
So last week was Week 3 of Operation Get Lori Upside Down. On Monday, I took a class with Grace (gotta keep that flow and dance going) and Thursday, I had Bottoms up With Janet. Although I do feel stronger each time I go in, I also don't feel like there's that much of a difference between this week and last week. I did throw my head backwards a little better on that chopper attempt. Thank goodness for Janet's patience and instruction!
I feel like I have spent most of my pole dancing "career" not trying very hard and kind of using humor to hide the fact that I'm not advancing. It is time to put up or shut up.
I appreciate the messages and comments that I am receiving on my videos and photos. It really is nice to have so much love and support on this journey!
My hip and knee won't allow me to grab the pole in the right spot
So, here we go. The project is underway. Last week was Week 2 of Operation/Project Get Lori Upside Down. I started July by joining Janet's Bottoms Up class at Twirly Girls. I really have so many things to work on.
1. My fear. Of falling and of failing. Right now, my own head is the biggest thing holding me back. Literally. I need to throw that thing backwards and just let my body follow.
2. I need to get stronger. Ellen suggested pilates to help strengthen those abs so I am doing that two mornings a week.
3. I need to get more flexible. My hips and knees always seem to be in the wrong places. I am back into my amazing yoga class 2-3 times per week, as well as doing some morning exercises each day.
So, here is a video of Janet attempting to get me to helicopter backwards. I kept grabbing the pole with my toes. Eventually I did make it kinda backwards and kinda 'coptered. It's a work in progress. I mean, that's the point, right?
I think this will be my move to measure my progress for now. She did get me into a straighter leg version but I just can't yet get my hips up over my head to let my head and body drop back far enough. You can see that below. Again: Work in progress.
Oh yeah, and if you like my outfit, check out Artista Apparel. Use ABALM10 for 10% off any non-sale items!
Thank you to Janet for being so patient with me! I may be your most challenging student ever!
