Needing motivation-Beginners

[Ninaklein]

Hi!
I can relate, staying motivated can be pretty hard!
What are you working on? And how many times a week/ a month do you practice?
Why did you start pole? And what are you hoping to achieve?
(For example, I care more about flow, freestyling and movement rather than strenghtbuilding and difficult tricks. I’d love to be at a point where I can design my own choreo’s to whatever song I want and also be comfortable enough to freestyle.) Do you know what could be the reason for not progressing as fast as you’d expected?

[Veena]

How long have you been consistently training? What were your expectations?

I might help to know that most of the time moves will take weeks, sometimes months of practice before they click.

[Katherine McKinney]

Hi, there!

I think it helps to have a starting inspiration for yourself. There are a lot of all-time greats out there, both exotic and otherwise. If you haven’t yet, start searching for videos to see which ones move you. For example, Alethea Austin, Sarah Jade, Marion Crampe, Marlo Fisken, Jenyne Butterfly, Cleo the Hurricane. When you find someone’s style that calls to you, pick out something you’d like to work toward, and begin working up to that move (baby steps or strengthening/flexibility if it’s a hard one!) as well as dancing/freestyling or creating a routine in their style.

On active rest days, you can keep the fire burning by searching for songs you want to dance to, building a playlist, planning out your routine, or watching the next Veena video you want to incorporate. I hope this provides some ideas!

[Katherine McKinney]

Oh! On the inspiration side, it’s good to keep on mind that your desire to pole will ebb and flow, and that’s okay. It’s good to build up some habits so during the low times, you can keep going and enjoying the benefits of dancing. I’ve found that even in my lowest times, I never regret my worst practices because of the endorphin rush after. I also think this comment I saw on Reddit is very helpful for continuing on the path:

Hello lovelies, I’ve seen some people and comments feeling discouraged lately both on this reddit and in the gym I attend. Just wanted to say something about mindset that has helped me keep silks as something I love even after 3 years of slow progress (I started from zero strength and little flexibility). 3 years may not seem like much to some but I have ADHD and VERY rarely stick to a hobby for even half a year, plus had two non silks related physical injuries with months of recovery each and it was tough to lose so much progress in that time

I’m not sure who all here practices yoga, but there’s this concept in yoga that each class, sequence, pose is completely independent from the next so you should never compare yourself to the last time you did a pose, and you should never expect anything for the next time you did a pose. Before and after each yoga class, some of my favorite teachers have asked that we let go of expectations whether we felt great or terrible, you don’t take it into your day aka “leave it on the mat” and just enjoy the process of showing up.

Well, sometimes when I’m in class and I can’t get my damn hip key even though I got it in the last few classes, and I just want to cry! I stop and think of this yoga principle and try to let go of my expectations for myself. Bodies change every day, some days I fuel my body super well and feel really strong! Other days its the day before I’m gonna get my period and my strength is drained whether I know it or not. Sometimes I can look good in a split in the air, other days I have to settle for a stag pose and enjoy the challenge of finding pretty poses even though my spatial awareness is historically lacking.

And one more comment that spoke to me:

If I was always able to do the things I could do last class, then every day would be my best training day ever. Which is obviously not realistic.

But if you imagine your progress more realistically as an overall upward trend with small fluctuations, like a graph of the stock market, then you know that even a bad training day right now is probably better than your best training day some weeks/months/years ago, which is a pretty great feeling! And (safely) pushing yourself on an off-day will still help you build strength and stamina, so you have the right to feel proud at the end of a hard class regardless of what skills you accomplished.

[polertamikia8851]

Thanks for the reply Fever, great little reminders. I have finished up 2 of the beginners rounds on here and floor work, I just feel so uncoordinated I guess would be the best word. I wish I had someone to show me in person but the closest studio to me is 2 hrs and 25 minutes away so it’s not even an option to consider. I will continue to work at it, I show up most days, some days I do freestlye ( which im unsure how it looks) but I do it on my “Rest” days. Is that okay? Or do you think the body needs full rest days. I also walk at least 5 days a week if not all 7 days. My strength is low and my flexiblity isn’t that of a dancer but it is probably that of an average person. I am plus size and wish I could find more inspiring stories online of plus size dancers, I know they’ve got to be out there! I turn to my pole because it makes me feel good behind closed doors and no one judging me.

[Katherine McKinney]

I think some light freestyling is a fantastic active rest activity! Walking is great, too. I also walk every day, whether I’m practicing or not.

Whenever I feel like my body needs it (usually 1-2 times a month) I give myself permission to laze about and do nothing for a day. Every 6-8 weeks, I also deload for a week, which gives me renewed energy and strength the following week.

Regarding feeling uncoordinated: This is such a normal feeling! I’ve been dancing over 10 years and only in the past couple of years do I feel proud of almost anything I throw together in a freestyle.

I think we sometimes think learning to freestyle should be one of the easiest things we do and get frustrated when it’s not. In reality, I think freestyling is one of the hardest skills to learn because it involves unconscious pulling from a big repertoire as well as really good prioception and body awareness. These things come in time and are a reward for the time you spend learning your body and what moves you enjoy putting together. Doing the movements many, many times is what smooths them out. For me, at least, there was no shortcut to that.

On the other hand, getting a trick, while not easy, can be simpler because there are often straightforward progressions and strengthening/flexibility exercises you can do to get you there. But with freestyling/flow, different things work for different people, and again, just putting the time in is really important.

All that is to say that you sound like you have a great, healthy routine in place! As long as it brings you joy, you are excelling in pole. If it isn’t, then maybe take a closer look at what is bringing you down (for me, I make sure I skip right past the 10-year old gymnast pole videos, lol. Nothing wrong with them, but they do not bring me joy!). If you haven’t already, search out plus-size dancers like Roz “The Diva” Mays to see how gorgeous diverse bodies can be in pole.

[PoleAdventures]

Hi polertamikia8851

I would just give you two tipps that helped me a lot with progress and motivation to stay on track:

First, film yourself while doing tricks, spins and even strength work. You will see progress over time that you can compare. And only compare your progress, not progress made of others.

Second I would suggest to follow one of Veena’s programs. 30 Day start off is great for building a foundation and not to overwork your body. Or if you ready do the beginner levels oder later the invert program. They are so well structured and you will see some progress after finishing those.

[polertamikia8851]

I’ve not filmed myself but I probably should….

[amelia2000]

Everyone progresses differently so don’t pressure yourself!

When I first started I took ages to get good. I took lessons to start with but didn’t really like being watched XD It took me a while to progress to start with, but when I started cross training it really clicked. I didn’t use SV at the time so to start with after quitting the studio I was only using Youtube videos and this was 8 years ago. Anyway, after a while I started progressing at a level I’m happy with 😀 but key is making sure you are doing enough strength training/conditioning

[Colleen Larson]

The only way I progress is if I pole consistently. For me, at 60, that means poling three days a week (classes at a studio/home practice with Veena). The other days I do other exercises, like swimming or body weight training, I also take a rest day. If I’m not consistent or if I take time off, I’m set way behind. (For example, I broke my right big toe and had to have surgery. When I returned to pole, I had to get good at a straddle invert again, for example. I couldn’t do it immediately after I returned. 🤷🏾‍♀️)