Irrational fear of shoulder mounts??

Doe started this discussion · 1/30/2015

Hi everyone, I havent ever posted here, but have read many helpful discussions, which leads me to believe someone will give me some good advice with a problem I've been dealing with for a while now. So you know how you get bruises doing pretty much anything on pole? I have a pretty strong fear that I will burst the artery in my neck while shoulder mounting. I still do them although, only one at a time and then I take a break to make sure I survived. I know it sounds crazy and everyone shoulder mounts but I am terrified. Is it possible to damage arteries in your neck while shoulder mounting? Did anyone else have this fear or still does?

9 replies

dustbunny · 1/30/2015
I should ask my chiro what she thinks of shoulder mounting...Lol. I have never felt like I was doing permanent damage. I hope not, I love my shouldermount. It was one of those moves that I saw back when I first started pole and thought that there was no way I could ever do that!
Doe · 1/30/2015
I want to love it! I have the strength and ability and it leads to so many other moves. I just was this weird anxiety thing with it where I feel as though I might die. It's really affecting my desire to practice. My instructor just laughed when I told her about it but it's quite serious... Any tips on how to get rid of odd fears?
Rachel Osborne · 1/30/2015
I find immersing myself in scientific rationality helps with weird fears. So - if it were me freaking about the artery bursting during shoulder mounts I would Watch a trillion shoulder mount videos of people doing them and not exploding in a splat of arterial blood Get technical with the anatomy and physiology of the shoulder mount; what exactly are you doing? The pressure is a rolling of the pole over the large muscles of the shoulder: read up on exactly what muscles and look at diagrams This is a good start http://www.poleathlete.com/posts/why-shoulder-conditioning/ Finally, I would look at all the Veena lessons on shoulder conditioning, do shoulder slides, side planks, handstand presses with legs on pole and pull downs, flies, press ups all the dynaband training stuff, to reassure myself my shoulders and core were strong cos shoulder mount is actually more core than anything else - and then pay for a private with a good spotter and just do it. Film yourself doing it. Even if you just do it once. Then watch it til you're desensitised to it and actually slightly bored of it. That's what would work for me, based on how I've got past crippling fear in the past. But I'm not you. Hope you find a way. And the shoulder mount is not essential. You can be a lovely pole dancer and not shoulder mount. So try not to beat yourself up about it. When you're ready to try is the best time to try.
EtherealAnnie · 1/30/2015
In answer to your question. When you do a shoulder mount the pressure should be on the trapezius muscle which sits on top of your shoulder. If feel past your collar bone you can't miss it. There should not be pressure on your neck at all therefore you should not break a vessel in your neck. The only artery that can be a problem is the subclavian artery which sits under the collar bone and the only way you would damage a vessel of that size like that (it is large and if the central vascular system) is if you break your collar bone. And you should not have pressure on your collar bone with shoulder mount. So essentially you should never break a major blood vessel. If you bruise on the muscle it is superficial and is caused by breaking superficial capillaries in the skin which won't kill you. You could get a hematoma (a pocket of blood in the skin) but that stops bleeding on its own due to pressure in a confined space. Although that may hurt this also will not kill. I hope that makes you feel better, so shoulder mount to your hearts content. 😉
AllysonKendal · 1/31/2015
EAI love and agree with everything you just said. Takes me right back to Netter's Head and Neck 💕 Shoulder mount away ladies!
Wcox · 1/31/2015
I was absolutely terrified of shoulder mounting when I first started. My instructor started by teaching me the princess grip and we eventually moved to cup grip. I wasn't afraid of anything bursting but I did have an irrational fear of it and I'm not sure why. I would only ever do one just as you mentioned. I kept with doing at least 1 per practice and that fear went away as I progressed to more challenging moves. I am now working on the aerial shoulder mount without using momentum and it's like I am re living the whole thing again. I am sure it will go away as I continue to progress just like I did when it first started. Keep working on it :)
Doe · 1/31/2015
Thanks so much for your advice ladies! I like the idea of going scientific on this problem and also conditioning like crazy. I have to face this head on. I know it makes no sense, I don't put any pressure on my neck yet I feel like it's so close to it that it may do some damage. Thanks for the link too. I'll definetely do some reading!
Sabina Rex · 1/31/2015
Well I've done it thousands of times and never had a problem...but we all have that one scary move
Tamarinda · 1/31/2015
Veena is very safe and all about prolonging the health of a dancer by being safe and doing things that's won't hurt the body over a period of time. That way a dancer can dance as long as possible. She's also very knowledgeable about anatomy and physiology, so if she doesn't see a problem then I would assume there is none. Twisted grip many people have a problem with. If the pole community saw an issue with sm's then there would be a heavy debate about it like there is with twisted grip. Try and keep these self talks in mind and good luck with your practice! We all have pole fears of some sort but congrats on the ability to have the strength to sm. Try and remember the positive. I hate that it makes your practice less enjoyable. Good luck and I wish you well on your practice. :)