[Natalie]

I’ve been trying to work out a good balance between weight training and pole – basically I’m doing four days of weight training, one or two of pole right now. I’ve hit a poling plateau so I’m trying to weight train harder for now so I can be strong enough to learn new moves. Once I get there, I’ll up the pole, down the weights a little. Give and take as I work my way up https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Natalie]

My biopsy came back! It’s a benign condition called Granuloma Annulare. Bascially its chronic and these bumps and other such lesions will just keep happening, but they won’t really hurt me. I can take a supplement (Niacinamide) to help reduce the occurrence, and if one of the bumps gets unsightly or painful they can remove it with a cortisone injection. So that’s a relief, nothing terrible, just a little annoying. I can do that https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Natalie]

Thank you so much everyone, all of your stories and well wishes do make me feel supported and less alone. I was hoping a couple of people might read this, but I didn’t expect so many people to give me such kind responses! This is really an amazing community, and I’m grateful to all of you https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

As for alternative medicine, I have tried electro-acupuncture (they send pulses through the needles) for a severe back injury I had a year ago. I limped in to their office barely able to stand straight, and when I left after half an hour I was walking normally and had no pain recurrence for the next two days, it was amazing! I also find that yoga lessens my seizures – the doctor told me that stress can trigger them so yoga basically keeps me at lower risk. This will be really important if I ever decide to have children, because seizure medications more than double the risk of birth defects; I would have to go off them completely and rely on alternative methods of reducing/preventing my seizures. But that’s a long time away, and I’m not going to worry about it until I have to.

On the bright side, my finger is healing from the biopsy faster than expected. Today I can bend it a little and it hurts a lot less than yesterday. Every little good point helps, even if its a tiny bend of the finger haha. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_sunny.gif

[Natalie]

One product that would be great for after a workout session is their wiccy magic massage bar. It’s spicy and warming and is a less nasty smelling than tiger balm. I love using it after a hard workout.

YES! I use that and I love it! I know some of the soap makes you slippy, but not all of it. What I really love is their face wash – angels on bare skin makes my face feel sooo good!

[Natalie]

I use rubbing alcohol on my TG pole all the time with no problem, and it never smelled bad or anything. I don’t know about "factory polish", mine didn’t say anything about that on the box at all, just that I had to wipe the grease from inside the joints before assembling. Maybe someone with a chrome pole knows something I don’t though. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_scratch.gif

[Natalie]

For the people saying they love natural/organic stuff, have you checked out Lush? They have all natural hand made soaps, shampoos, bath beads, things that make scented steam in your shower, all kinds of yummy natural stuff. I just discovered it last month and I’m so hooked. I got my fiance’s mom a bar from there and now she’s addicted too haha. Its kind of expensive though so I only use it for like… "spa days" when I really treat myself. You know, two or three times a week. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[Natalie]

In addition to my x-pole I have one of these stage poles; mine is brass. It is too short for me, but I never had a problem with the weight and I had no sand bags under it (for reference, I’m a little over 5’10" and 150lbs). I was able to do spins (not really fast mind you, but with control) and the inverts that I know. The pole does wobble but you barely notice it when you’re the one spinning. Check out my videos to see what I managed to do on it, it might give you an idea of the sturdiness. I’ve also danced on the steel pole version at a local club and had no problem there either doing spins without it being weighted, but didn’t try inverts as I wasn’t dressed for them https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif

[Natalie]

I’ve tried these but in a cross knee release, not cross ankle, and they are tough! I can’t do more than about 5 before I have to come down for a break. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cry.gif But you feel it in your abs, your back, your legs, everything.

[Natalie]

Ahhh! I might have to tell my relatives in the UK I’m coming to camp out with them for awhile https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif Haha. Probably can’t afford all the flying though https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif

[Natalie]

I so made this into a Facebook group… hehe. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif

So joining! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[Natalie]

You may be a pole dancer if you walk into a club and instantly start wondering weather their poles are steel or chrome, spinny or static.

You may be a pole dancer if you stopped using lotion because it makes you too darn silky smooth – you have tricks to do!

You may be a pole dancer if you just can’t find mirrors big enough.

You may be a pole dancer if someone asks if your heels are stripper shoes and you say "No! Those are my workout shoes!"

You may be a pole dancer if you have ever replaced carpet with a hardwood floor so you could be more stable in your heels.

[Natalie]

You may be a pole dancer if you took the furniture out of the guest room to make a pole room and your company has to sleep on the couch! LOL….I actually did that! LMAO https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

I’m in the process of doing that! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif All the furniture is out, new hardwood floor replaced the carpet, now I’m just repainting it (needed to be done, this place hasn’t been touched since the 80’s) and then I’ll throw in the pole https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

Also… you may be a pole dancer if you assess the weather each day wondering how it will affect your grip more than to see what you should wear https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[Natalie]

I think you should call yourself a pole dancer, just do your reverse grab, (as awkward as you might think it is, it’s NOT btw), and if they say….oh that’s easy, have them try to do it, then they’ll know you are a pole dancer.
I already had this experience, a friend of mine who left a year ago for her home country, just recently came back one month ago, we were hanging out at my apartment, she asked if I tried to dance around that pole, LOL, I told her no, I don’t try, I do, ’cause I’m a pole dancer, so I inverted for her and she went…."I think I can do that", hey, it was funny to see her kick back and forth and barely getting her legs to her chest for 15 minutes….LOL, and now she knows, I AM a pole dancer. HA!.

Haha I have one like this… My fiance and also a friend of mine are both in the army, so they are strong enough to do pull ups on the pole and they think they’re so fabulous right? So do a simple little pole sit for them, and they’re like "Pfft, that’s easy, we have to use these rope harness for rappelling, and there is NO WAY that pole hurts more than tight rope in your groin!" So I told them to roll up their shorts and try it… neither of them lasted more than about a second https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif They got their legs around it and didn’t even put much weight before they squealed and jumped down. They were like "What is wrong with you?! Why would you willingly do that to yourself?" Hahahaha!

[Natalie]

Further evidence that I am totally justified in choosing her as one of my top inspirations https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_eek.gif She is amazing!

[Natalie]

I’ve seen a couple of her other videos and have to say, she amazing. This is why I am weight lifting and stretching daily – I aspire to be that strong and flexible someday! My only comfort is that to be this good she’s been doing this for about 20 years, so I have time to catch up https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif Haha.

[Natalie]

I’ve been stretching after all my exercise sessions (pole and otherwise) and it will seem like I’m making no progress for a week or two, then all of a sudden I’ll go to stretch and find myself going several inches further into them then before! Its kind of weird. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Natalie]

Well here’s my story about back ordered poles: When I ordered mine from here I got an e-mail saying they would be out of stock for three weeks =( It made me sad. But then two days later… I got an e-mail saying it was on its way, and I had it within a week! Still not sure how this happened but it was a fun surprise. But make sure to tell your friend that if one site is back ordered, others might be too. The e-mail I got said that all poles ship from one factory in America, so all orders end up there and they either have poles or not. I guess Veena can tell us if that’s the way it works?

[Natalie]

I’ve also been pretty open about my self inflicted wounds. I carry scars that make me very self-conscious. They have procedures to fix them. Some people may look down on this as well by saying "well you shouldn’t have done that to yourself in the first place". There have been many events in my life that brought me to that extreme. I was only 9 the first time I did it. I feel that chapter of my life is over and I have a constant reminder of each of the moments in my life that I was completely out of control. It can be a reminder of how far I’ve come, but each one has it’s own terrible story of pain behind it. Imagine carrying around with you an open book of your pain for everyone to see. I want to put all those memories behind me and move forward, yet every time I look down there it is. I plan to get them fixed one day as well.

I actually just had the second of my treatments for scar removal for the same thing. I have self inflicted wounds from when I was younger all over my left arm, wrist to elbow, and I had the same thoughts of "its over, I don’t want to be reminded", as well as the fact I hate everyone asking about it, or judging me – especially since its so far in the past. Luckily my dad has a good friend who is a dermatologist, so he is doing all my treatments. It basically involves a laser being run several times over the area, burning tiny holes just about a millimeter deep into the skin. As the tiny holes heal, the skin is stretched out, so over time the scars are pulled out, broken up, and start to fade. After two treatments I can already see a difference, but it will take several more before they are near gone – and I won’t lie, its a pretty painful procedure. Even with topical anesthetic you can feel some burn of the laser, and it feels like a sunburn for a day or two after. IMO its worth it though, I just really want the scars gone.

[Natalie]

When I took classes I used to get that – it was mostly being able to watch the other people around me do it so I could get a better visual of what I was doing. At home I’m on my own unless I pull up a video on the computer =P Also having the ceiling so much closer was kind of daunting for me, especially inverting. It may be 8 feet but I still feel like I’m going to hit it, just because I got so used to the great high ceilings at the studio!

[Natalie]

Thanks for the advice – I do notice they feel less tight if I walk around for awhile (when I first stand up I can barely walk!). My day-of-rest schedule so far has been that I do a gym/pole workout no more than every other day, then some of the alternate days do yoga. I do have a couple days a week of complete rest though. I’ll grab some Epsom salts though, a bath sounds nice to me! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Natalie]

I get those sometimes, I always call them "flutters" https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif I’ve been told that upping your potassium intake can help reduce muscle flutters after a workout – so when I feel it I usually just grab a banana!

[Natalie]

I don’t get scared of any particular moves per se – the fear I can’t get over is trying to invert in heels! No matter how low they are, even just trying a basic invert I just can’t bring myself to throw those sharp things around https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif I start and then halfway up just get hit with a mental wall. I always feel like a high heel could take out my eye or something if I fling it around too much. I can spin in them just fine though, and climb, and sit. Just no heels above the waist I guess https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Natalie]

I have to agree with So Hott by Kid Rock for sure! Other than that, my 10 are (in no particular order):

Liar (medical mix by Angel Spit) – Emilie Autumn
Stripper – The Soho Dolls
Everybody Wants You – Billy Squier
Crazy B*tch – Buckcherry
Until Eternity – Yendri
Le Disko – Shiny Toy Guns
O… Saya – A.R. Rahman and M.I.A
Get Stoned – Hinder
Temptation – Arash
Angel on my Shoulder – Kaskade

Kind of an interesting blend here, I listen to a great variety of styles of music https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif I particularly enjoy music with different global sounds to it.

[Natalie]

I’m lucky enough to have a shoe smith in the next town over from me that does fabulous work on anything you can bring in https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif As for boot sizes, anything from Pleaser (or any dancing heels or boots in generally actually!) I usually buy a full size down from my street shoe size or else I find its so loose my foot just slides forward. Its always best to try them on though of course. Maybe a store near you carries Pleasers so you can find your size in what they have, then order what you want online?

[Natalie]

One of the best shows ever for sure! I’ve watched it since season 1. It always inspires me to push myself when I see such great dancers performing https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif