[Miraine]

I certainly hope so 🙂   I'm very out of practise with pole, but hopefully this will be an incentive to get practising again!

[Miraine]

I missed this thread until now, somehow!  So glad I spotted it now, and not on the 20th November or something equally frustrating. 🙂

I skim read the thread, is there still likely to be some aerial equipment too?

[Miraine]

There's full kits for sale at various places online, but if you want to source the individual bits separately to get it cheaper that could work.  Here's a list of what you need for a fairly standard setup:

About 16 feet of approx 72" wide "pongee" fabric.  That's a guess, but I can check it for you, I don't have mine at home at the moment.

Two karabiners of the type that are wider at one end (this makes tying the fabric more secure)

Two "daisy chains" to give you the ability to change the height of the hammock easily.  Not essential, but really useful.  Like this: http://www.theoutdoorshop.com/showPart.asp?part=PN31075

Two standard safety karabiners.  These clip the top of the daisy chain to the ceiling mounts, then the egg shaped karabiners with the silks on go in whichever hook on the daisy chain brings it to the right height.

 

The ideal mount for the hammock is two fixings on the ceiling about 50cm apart.  So long as they go nice and solidly into a load bearing joist that will be fine.  A "load bearing" joist is about 9" deep, that's the type that you'll have between floors.  I say this because if it's an attic above that isn't intended for regular use, it might only have shallow joists (since it only holds up the ceiling below, not furniture and people above).  If that's the case, reinforce it just to be sure. 🙂

 

Sorry for the wall of text, hope it helps 🙂

[Miraine]

Happy birthday Tigger! 😀

[Miraine]

I have a pair of Pleasers but they're too wide for me…  However, a friend pointed out that those gel inserts that go under the ball of your foot to help prevent blisters would probably solve it completely.

If you find something just a *little* bit too loose that might be worth a try 🙂

[Miraine]

Some people do find certain anti-depressants make them exhausted though.  My bf was on Citalopram years ago for a while and while it helped in some ways, he also found he needed crazy amounts of sleep and was exhausted all the time.

Perhaps mention it to your doctor in case it's a simple case of the particular type not suiting you well?  There are a lot of different antidepressants so they might be able to try you on another.

[Miraine]

Oh, great idea Tigger, thanks!  I hadn't even thought of putting it on my profile either 🙂

[Miraine]

Well we had a photo posted but I don't know who Vicie is in Veener names, so I don't know who to thank! 😀

It's great though, lovely photo.

[Miraine]

Well they finally sent out some details…  Sounds like quite a selection of awesome pole idols are in attendance.

"Alethea Austin, Jenyne Butterfly, Jamilla Deville, Evgeny, Karol Helms, Suzi Q & Toby J, Zoraya and Nic Judd, Oona Kivela, Fawnia Monday, Rafaela Montanaro, Anastasia Skukhtorova and the current World Pole Champion, Alesia Vazmitsel – together with a host of the top UK instructors including Karen Chaundy, Jo Foley, Kate Johnstone, Justine McLucas, Edward Muir, Nicole Pearson, Lauren Red, Deb Riley, Beth Williams and of course the UK's latest champions, Bendy Kate and the new Miss Pole Dance UK – Sarah Scott."

I'm just wondering…  Are any of those *not* pole?  It's nice to have something happening here, but why have they called it a Pole and *Aerial Arts* Convention if it's just pole?

 

Prices stand at £300, £200, and £100 for three, two, and one day passes respectively.  Obviously the £300 has all kinds of other stuff thrown in as you'd expect.  It's a bit difficult to decide what's best given that the actual schedule isn't available yet, though.

[Miraine]

I might be biassed but Manchester does seem like a good place to be right now.  Even if you didn't find a studio, I think there's a high possibility that you could fill up your week with private lessons, especially if you could travel to some of the, erm, slightly more affluent areas 🙂

Plus then you'd definitely be able to learn hoop and other aerial stuff!

[Miraine]

Argh!  I totally could have too!  Whoops 🙂

[Miraine]

I hate actually feeling full!  That's not to say I don't sometimes eat too much of delicious things and end up that way, hehe.  But my bf and I have discussed the benefits of the whole "5 smaller meals per day" idea over the traditional light-medium-heavy situation that usually happens with breakfast lunch and evening dinner.  It's supposed to be better for regulating weight (up for me and down for the bf) as well as smoothing out energy troughs through the day.

The downside is, it's a complete nuisance to plan and actually do!  And goes straight out the window if you visit people, lol.

[Miraine]

I used to get knee pain from stretching too.

If you're doing "passive" stretching, e.g. your legs are completely relaxed, it might be that your joints are not being well enough protected by the muscles around them (there is an ever-present degree of tension in a muscle, the "tone" of it, which keeps things like kneecaps in alignment etc.).  Try stretching with quads active (tensed), and see if that lessens the problem.

If it does, you might want to look into PNF stretching.  I only ever lightly stretch passively now, and not for an extended period, and use PNF stretches for flexibility gains.  I don't get the knee troubles from that 🙂

[Miraine]

Ah botheration, for some reason the clicky link on that last one decided to include the next part of the sentence too.  It should be: http://bit.ly/yykrkL

And the others didn't turn into links anyway.  Whoops.

[Miraine]

I don't get why anyone *wouldn't* want to be able to do this 😀

Bridges will likely make you dizzy until you're stronger and can hold them with less tensing all over, which gives a rush of blood to the head.  There's also an element of getting used to it, I found them awful when I started doing them, but can hold for 45 seconds now without exploding, lol

Cobras are a good place to start though.  Be aware that a cobra stretch on the elbows stretches the mid back, and with arms extended works on lower back, if you're doing it right.  It's not quite a simple as "more extended arms = deeper stretch".

There's also "kitty cat" stretch up against a wall, which looks like this:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/131619/Picture%202.png

That helps with upper back flexibility and shoulders (more flexible shoulders = easier bridges, and also easier to reach back and catch your feet!)

Definitely work on your thighs and hip flexors too!  That makes a huge difference, because with the length of the leg from hip to knee, a tiny change in angle makes quite a big movement of your foot.  Pigeon pose is great for this. http://portlandmainechiropractor.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/pigeon-pose2.jpg

First stretch the back hip flexor, then lift the back foot from the floor carefully (you have a lot of leverage, don't overdo it) to stretch the quad.  Lower your foot gently when you're done.

Since you're a poler, you also have the necessary prop for this stretch, which is basically working directly on the whole foot to head thing anyway: http://api.ning.com/files/VrO5RvCgXCBs-Mz9uOp0mWY9AoEbo1ykSVWiW2neaRvmA7*Tk-iYZ0UFDwrsztnxUd-Y1fgXBLmGAsVejn6k3HM*BJ82ObN*/20111024_2.jpg?width=737&height=553 (please excuse shortened link, it was just silly).  Kneel infront of your pole, put one leg back, and prop the foot up against the pole.  Then reach up and back to the pole with your hands, and walk them down a little if you can.  I guess you can do this in doorframes too and so on.

Good luck 😀

[Miraine]

Can't say as I've seen any indications that there's a lack of free speech around here…  That wasn't a thread about Platinum Stages, it was hijacked from another subject. which helps no-one: how are forum searches supposed to remain remotely helpful if the answer to the original question posed gets lost amongst off topic comments, and why would anyone look for information on Platinum Stages poles in a thread with "X-Pole" in the title?!

 

As for the "pushing X-Pole" theory, utter nonsense.  So many people ask "which are the good poles", and there's always a variety listed in the answer.  First concern: making sure people don't injure themselves with play poles.  Sure, Veena may occasionally say "we sell them on the site here!" when someone is asking where they can get them, but I'd hardly call that pushy, lol.

[Miraine]

Probably should have bumped this thread yesterday, when people would actually have a chance to see it before the exact time it's happening, whoops!

Yes, erm, this!

[Miraine]

I think the move to the new server undid the maximum number of people change again Webmaster, it's full at 5.

[Miraine]

Oooh, come join me in the new room people! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[Miraine]

If anyone's free this is in about 10 mins, do pop by chat and say hello 🙂

[Miraine]

For anyone that's "following" this thread, I've made a new one now that clocks have changed so that anyone that needs to calculate their time zone stands a chance of making it.  The difference is subtle, but still, figured it was worth the effort 🙂

Hope to see you soon!

https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/4ec6c82c-82f8-486e-899b-6b8f0ac37250

[Miraine]

Hey, I missed this thread before!  Silly busy weeks with work, but indeed, Tigger and I are on a mission 🙂

If anyone fancies joining us for the Monday stretch session, details are here:

https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/4ec6c82c-82f8-486e-899b-6b8f0ac37250

[Miraine]

Regarding the original post: I personally have no fear of going upside down when I feel in control, but utterly freak out when I don't.  I mean like, serious panic attack screaming digging my nails into anything nearby type stuff…   Drew blood on my bf once when he randomly decided to pick me up high and let my head go slightly below my hips.  Silly boy.

I feel pressure in my head very strongly when I'm upside down, and it's not to do with holding breath, though it is worse if I'm having to tense to hold the position (mild pressure if I'm lying relaxed, head-going-to-explode pressure if I'm trying to elbowstand).  Perhaps this feeling is part of what triggers the panic.

And there's the disorientation of having the world the wrong way up https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif   It doesn't look pretty, but you can always practice the CKR (and eventually gemini/scorpio) keeping your head tilted up a tiny bit, just to get to the point where you're more confident that you're secure.  Lean back in CKR but keep your abs tense to curl your spine and keep your head just above horizontal.  Nice workout for the stomach too, hehe.

Maybe you could try relaxing a bit in an inverted position by lying on your back close to the pole, then propping your legs and hips up against it (shoulder stand kind of thing).  You'll get the head lower than body pressure, but without the disorientation of head tipped back.

…And I should practice what I preach!  I also need to get my body used to this. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_eek.gif

[Miraine]

If not tomorrow then later in the week perhaps. 🙂

[Miraine]

Super slow typing on bf’s phone… Have fun stretching then ladies, hehe.