Wednesday marked the last of three nights in a row of class, in an attempt to keep conditioning and also running through pieces of my routine. I’d been run down all week, either from vacation recovery (you know…getting back into life, massive amounts of errands, etc) or allergies. Monday’s class went slow for me, but I got some stuff done. Tuesday’s class…I remember doing conditioning for the straight leg splay shoulder mount and doing headstands, in which I realized that I could finally (*finally*) sweep my legs up in one fluid motion, instead of kicking up. That’s huge for me. So much strength that I didn’t have a couple of months ago!!! I was able to work on a spinning pole move that I learned in the class I took the other week, and just play on the spinning pole in general during my freestyle – it helps. More time on it is giving me some more balls with it, which is good. 🙂 Also, one of the girls in Tuesday had this bitchin’ freestyle to a hilarious song from a kid’s tv show – she rocked it. Gotta give her a nod for that!!

Wednesday’s class had more conditioning with certain things – shoulder mount again, for example – but I also worked on meathook, which is still a bit baffling, but I want to see how you would turn it into a dismount transition (that’s a future goal, I guess). I also took another pass at my twisted hand grip conditioning, holding the entry position, then holding the aerial ayesha in it, with Drea spotting me – she didn’t have to do much for the spotting, and while I wasn’t completely solid, I have come far. She gave me hug when I was done, saying how much stronger I’ve become. It’s such a nice thing to feel. I know there’s such a long road to go in terms of being aerial, but these are very important milestones.

She gave me some tough love on Monday about how I invert, telling me to remove a step that was a force of habit, which I no longer needed. I’ve been consciously working on it ever since, taking my time to think before I move. I also took a beat to think about my movement before I went into the twisted hand grip from the inversion position. As Drea had said, it’s good to be selfish and take a beat before you start anything – it’s also good to take the time to hold a trick and enjoy it.

I thought about that and realized it’s a bit of a life lesson, too. How many times do I go rushing through stuff in life? Go, go, go! Okay, doing this, going, done! How many times do we ALL do this? I realized that, in some ways, it might be inhibiting my growth and what I accomplish, because just because I jump to do something doesn’t mean I am doing it correctly or in the best manner possible. This is so true with pole. I’m so eager to try stuff and be able to get through the first pass of the trick (nerves!), and I want so much to be better, that I rush instead of taking the time to get it right. To take my time and be deliberate in my movement is so important to my growth and betterment as a poler. It’s going to be something that I carry with me now – a mental check that I can use from here on out.

Years ago, in my first pole related class, our teacher (who was also a life coach – the classes combined movement with life coaching) pointed out that I was always rushing – I move quickly and talk quickly and think quickly – but her assessment of this was that I was doing much of it to avoid being seen. If I moved quickly, unconsciously, I thought I would go unnoticed. But, as she said, I had to consider the possibility that people already saw me.

Let me tell you…that was dead on. It rocked me when I realized she was right. And, it still holds true. I will catch myself sometimes and realize that I am motoring down the street, and for what reason? One of the things she had us work on was just sitting and BEING. For me, that meant slowing down and being present to A LOT of stuff – and, in movement, I had to work really hard to slow it down. I still am conscious of it to this day, but for some reason, I never connected that I was going fast ON the pole – only in floor work. Kinda crazy to realize it now! But, at least I am now aware of it, accepting of it as part of who I am and something to work on, and interested in moving forward. 🙂

I took today off to work and spend time with my mom, who is in town visiting through the weekend. She’s actually coming with me to a teaser class at my pole studio on Saturday! It was her idea, which I love. I’m a mix of nervous, terrified, and excited – which, really, is all energy of the same kind. 🙂 I’m back to class on Sunday – possibly with a choreo session in the evening – and class Monday. Tuesday is a private lesson, Wednesday is my last class before the competition, and I have another choreo on Thursday. Eep!!! Got word that a major part of my costume will be arriving in time for the competition, which is so great – still need to pick up one piece and check on two that were custom ordered. I went heavy with the costume, but I’m leaning more toward “going all out” than not!

Once the competition is over, I’ll do a tally of what I spent on everything and post it – I did some mental math the other day and…wow. This is not a cheap endeavor! It’s such a learning experience in so many ways, though – love that. 🙂

Also, if you’re looking for a fun workshop, Kat of Pure Delish is teaching one of her infamous Twerkshops tomorrow (Friday 5/11) at 8pm! Follow the link to the invite page for more info! By the way, if you haven’t been in Pure Delish to shop, it is a MUST!

In honor of Kat, here’s her first-ever performance at Girl Next Door, from back in March! She’s supposed to be performing in the June show, which you MUST check out if you can!