Don't Do It Alone!

I don’t know about you but I’ve got so many pole friends – some real and others just through Facebook. I ‘like’ so many pole sites and groups that I am surrounded day in and day out with pole images, crazy flexibility tricks and our Kings and Queens of pole. I love it.

It’s great for me to see where my pole journey could take me and all the cool transitions and moves that I might want to try.

Once in a while I find it tricky to separate fantasy from reality and wonder why I can’t lift my leg backwards over my head while balancing one handed on the pole!! (Yes, I tried this yesterday!)

Friends

And this is why we need pole friends. They keep us grounded and let us know what is what.

If you’re in a class – make friends and talk to people. Even if you just want to ask if their pole seats still hurt them, it’s great to know how others are getting on. Sometimes it’s hard to look around and see others who can magically invert without any effort while you’re still trying to get that little claw toe to grip on the pole even 1 mm more at a time, to drag you up to invert.

But you don’t know their story. They might be crying inside and breathing through the pain, or have a pole at home and invert 20 times a day…on each side. They could be a pro set back by injury or can invert but can’t spin. Or, they could just be good at inverts.

It’s super important to not judge yourself on what others can do. If you talk to those around you, you’ll soon see that everyone has their own hang ups. No one ever turns around and says they can master every move, easy peasey (and if they say that – ignore them, they lie!)

Online

While we all know that there are a few dodgy people out there who join pole groups for the wrong reason, most people you find in pole groups, forums etc are amazing!

We started our PoleFreaks Pole Chat group in Jan, which now has over 4000 members! It’s unbelievable to see all the great polers on there.

We have beginners who are showing us their first ever move, polers who are inverting for the first time and those who can almost, almost get the move of their dreams. I find daily there is someone I can relate to. It is nice to see the truth of pole – it’s not all spins and smiles. It hurts; We fall off. The pole can go from being our best friend to our worst enemy in the space of 5 seconds.

And on the motivational side, there’s loads of fantastic pictures and advice to help us on our pole journey too.

I just need to remember this! So put yourself out there. Ask questions, give advice, share pictures. You can always share strategically placed pics where your face is not towards the camera if you want a little privacy. 🙂

Practice Parters

I’ve enlisted the help of my partner many, many times. It helps that he is 6’6 and can lift me through most movements. I’m very lucky to be able to say ‘I want to try this flip and see where I land’ (as I did yesterday) and have him lift me through the movement to try it safely.

Now I’m not saying you all need to go out and find yourselves a giant 😀 Even the smallest assistance can help. I get help for training so many moves, such as my Shoulder Mount Plank in the above image. This just takes a light grip under the legs to keep them up. You’re on the pole doing the hard work, but they help you stay up longer.

If you have access to a pole while not with an instructor, any friend can help you train. Now don’t go and try the craziest move 3 meters high, when they’re still at the front door – that’s not going to help any one! But a little help here and there does wonders!

It’s amazing to see the amount of people who are willing to cheer you on and want you to succeed. So don’t get stuck in your head wondering why you can’t triple back flip off the pole when so many people seem to be doing it! Don’t do it alone – make pole friends. They are all around you, every where you look 🙂