[DedeJoy]

42 and yes, it's possible. When I started poling in June of 2010, my split was a good foot off the floor.

 

Last week, I got my Jade Split.

 

You have to stretch every. single. day. Sometimes, even if I don't work out, I will at least sit in front of the TV in a stretch. I also did the Splits in Six weeks program, although I am not completely down to the floor on my splits, that program helped a lot. I probably have just about 2-3 inches to go. It can be done. 30 is not even a little bit old.

[DedeJoy]

Another good link: Scroll down to "Fix your Upper Back & Shoulders."

http://www.floota.com/carpal_tunnel_syndrome.html

One more comment: Carpal tunnel has a terrible effect on grip strength. This will make it difficult to get some of the trickier tricks until wrist and hand strength is built back up. I pinched a nerve trying to get my Spiral spin; my right hand was numb for two months! I had to back off and work on easier tricks and spins for a while until the nerve was released.

[DedeJoy]

Thanks, yogabeachbabe!

 

Here's some links: Note, this may not work for everyone. My reading indicates that exercise and strength building only seems to help for mild to moderate cases. If it's severe enough to warrant surgery, probably no amount of stretching and exercise will help all that much.

http://www.eatonhand.com/hw/ctexercise.htm

http://carpal-tunnel.emedtv.com/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/carpal-tunnel-exercises.html

http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/how_can_carpal_tunnel_syndrome_be_prevented_000034_6.htm

[DedeJoy]

I will be 42 tomorrow and was diagnosed with bilateral carpal tunnel a few years ago. I was doing some reading about some yoga stretches designed to help. I found them to be excruciating. So I went back to the internet and came across a web site that said if you build  core and upper body strength, thus improving posture, you can reduce pressure on the nerve that starts in your neck and goes down to your hand. I started pole for this reason!

After a year, I'm pleased to report that the increase in strength has helped tremendously. I cannot stress that enough. I have no pain in my left hand anymore, ever, and only occasional mild pain in my right wrist (which I think is actually arthritis and not carpal tunnel). No more tingling or numbness in my fingers!

Split grips have never been a problem for me. What hurts, and what I have to be careful with, is anything requiring a handstand. Build strength, especially core, before doing too much with handstands. My advice to her is: do what you can and stop if it hurts!

[DedeJoy]

Have you tried talking to him about it and letting him know how you feel? If you haven't and you want to do this (I think you should, but that's just an opinion), my advice is to be careful to not make any demands or ask him to do anything.

 

Simply tell him that you feel hurt and disappointed that he doesn't seem to be very interested. And then stop talking. Let him address your feelings. See what he says.

 

I had a similar situation with my BF. There was this one need I wasn't getting met. I understood how he felt about it, but the compromise I'd agreed to wasn't really working for me anymore. One night I burst into tears and the issue came kicking and screaming out into the light of day. I was careful to not ask him to meet this need — just told him why it was important to me and how I was feeling about not having that need met. I told him, "I don't want you do this because I want you to or because I asked you to. I want you to do this because YOU want to." He did not commit to or agree to doing anything at that point. The very next day, his behavior changed ever so slightly and he began meeting that need.

 

I'm a big fan of just telling him how his actions make you feel. And yeah, post vids here, focus on your girls you work out with (if you have pole buddies), and think about why you're poling. If you're doing it for yourself, then it really doesn't matter — at the end of the day — if he's interested in watching or not.

[DedeJoy]

Look at it this way: How many sweaty creepers living in their mother's basements are watching our vids (wherever we post them) and doing god only knows what with them?

 

We're pole dancers, ya know? I don't want to think too much about what people are thinking about when they watch us dance. (Except my BF and I know exactly what he's thinking about…) So what difference does it make if someone has a shoulder lift fetish or a foot fetish or a stripper heel fetish…? I feel like we provide a public service for all the freaks out there.

 

As a writer, I learned a long time ago that my art is only personal until it's finished. Then it becomes a product. What people do with that product after I release it is their business and I have no control over it. I feel the same way about dance (and any other art form, really).

[DedeJoy]

I'm dating a guy with a foot fetish. That could very well be the case. But I echo the other posters' advice: if you're uncomfortable about it, thank him for the flattery but politely decline.

 

You have given me ideas about a vid I could make for my guy, though. ;>) Heh.

[DedeJoy]

The first (and really, only decent) trick in the movie Dancing at The Blue Iguana is Darryl Hannah doing an Iguana Mount. She doesn't do it very well — legs bent. But you can at least see how not to do it. LOL.

[DedeJoy]

I started at age 40.

 

You're never too old. There is no such thing. You can do anything you want to do, if you want to do it badly enough.

 

Enjoy.

[DedeJoy]

Blondie. Rapture.

 

Yes. I am old. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif