[Tamarinda]

I’m sorry you have so many issues with your back, it concerns me. I hope you don’t hurt yourself more and are ok to stretch your back. Somewhere out there Veena has a video on posture but I couldn’t find it. If you are ok’d to stretch I can not recommend Veena or Krsitina Nekyia more. They are both very thorough. They don’t just tell you to bend into a stretch they tell you which muscles should be utilized and where you should be feeling it. Sometimes it is something as simple as a pelvic tuck in certain stretches to take the stretch more into the upper back. Both of them have great cues and will let you know this, whereas some instructors or online videos tell you just to get from point a to b into a pose, with no cues in between lol.

I’m so sorry for your posture and back issues hopefully strengthening and stretching and the world of pole can help correct certain things for you.

Although I have never dealt with scoliosis, people have noted that I have better posture since beginning my journey. Also, I used to have pain and hip problems that were alleviated with stretching and strengthening.

I hope you find what works for you and a solution!

[Tamarinda]

You mentioned in your first post that you want to focus the stretch on your upper back. This video is simple and gives me a great upper back and shoulder stretch. I do it when I’m warm as a prep stretch or in a hot shower, it feels yummy.

http://youtu.be/PWb5fEtcDsY

You also mentioned cramps in your lower back, I tend to get those in my lower back too if I’m not warm enough or if I have cooled off. Sometimes I have to jump on an elliptical or get warm again. Although it could be because of scoliosis, I don’t know I’m not a trained professional but stay warm and stay safe. 🙂 It is easier for the body to focus the stretches on the lower back and it can be difficult to train upper back. I recommend Veena or Kristina Nekyia as references for great teaching. I wish you luck 😀

[Tamarinda]

Aha!!! Ping pong balls from the hoo ha!!! Makes so much more sense now!!! Thank you for your instruction and passion, so helpful!

[Tamarinda]

I forgot Nadia Sharif… How could I… This is by far one of my favorite dances and I love everything she does! https://youtu.be/FqlasLnbGQU

[Tamarinda]

I could link all day there’s so many inspiring freestyles.

As far as here, Veena of course. Her dances are always inspiring and she makes thinks look so easy lol. She always reminds me why I started when she posts because she is just so graceful and connected when she dances and that’s something I would like to find.

PoleLeo, PixieLouBell, and ScarlettHoney. All strong, flexy, and flowy dancers on here who know how to connect.

As far as sexy style: Michelle Shimmy, Alethea Austin, Eva Bembo, Cleo the hurricane, and Felix Cane.

Flowy: DirdyBirdy, Marion Crampe, and Bendy Kate.

Tricksters: Anastasia Sokolova, Olga Koda, and oona kivela.

[Tamarinda]

I have issues adjusting at times and have been trying to find good coping mechanisms so I can be a functioning adult. I struggle quite a bit with anger actually lol. I like Ashtanga yoga because I feel it wears me out plus it serves my flexibility and strength purposes.

A while back I had began trying kundalini yoga and strange things began happening lol waking up all tingly at night and feeling weird for sure. Lol. Id wake up at odd intervals through the night and I felt weird. I began to get nervous so I stopped. Also it exhausted me.

I tried again recently and I feel good after a session but I wake up feeling pure exhausten the next day. I would almost describe it as feeling hungover but I rarely drink… After Ashtanga yoga I feel quite calm and energized but kundalini drains the crap out of me the next day. My anger is actually on overdrive and gets worse as well. I feel on edge after it rather than calm like ashtanga.

I probably can’t blame all of this on yoga but… idk… I would really like to continue kundalini for the spiritual benefits but I guess I’m just kind of confused. I don’t know if this is fact but I read somewhere that kundalini sends the adrenal system into overdrive and the next day your body kind of “comes down”. Over time the body adjusts. Should I keep sticking it out and wait for the body to adjust because I am really interested in it, it just makes me feel so odd the next day.

[Tamarinda]

Polargirl your pictures are GORGEOUS!!!

[Tamarinda]

I read most of the Celestine prophecy as it was recommended to me in another forum on Veena. I stopped at the part when it began talking about parents. I’m not ready for that yet and didn’t feel I would derive anything from it, yet. I still need to swallow the other chapters before I need to move on. Sometimes I read something and it doesn’t mean something to me but later it means a big deal. I’m not ready. The energy chapters were very useful and the way people give, take, and try to steal. I think I need to work on things before the rest of the book will be beneficial to me. Veena thank you for your book recommendation, I will check it out.

[Tamarinda]

If someone lives in a big city where good instruction is available I would see it as useful. I live in a smaller city not tiny but not huge. I don’t have a ton of disposable income to throw around so I will only only get something if it’s useful to me. The studio here isn’t good in my opinion. I called them almost a year back and said I was having issues with shoulder mounts and could not engage my core in that position and they said they could teach it to me cuz a shoulder mount is an easy move. That was a red flag to me so I looked up more info of them online and they were teaching to kick up into things. Also there was a vid of an instructor falling out of an extended butterfly, and I just did not like the instruction. I asked them the experience of their instructors and they said in the past their instructors didn’t have to have experience but now new hires must because it’s too hard to teach without experience. I don’t have enough money to pay for that and not enough for the medical bills when I get injured from that type of instruction so I just pay online and go at my own safe pace. I’m sure issues such as this are mainly in smaller cities. Not all studios are good but if there is one near you that’s good then I’m sure studio instruction is beneficial but just do your research first before you throw your money away.

[Tamarinda]

I cheat this move by doing it on my forearms most of the time because it makes it easier and the movement comes easier. I lay on my stomach with my forearms by my side. I tilt my pelvis and stick my bum up then push my bum all the way back using my forearms to push. I try and emphasize that arch and then when my bum can’t go back any farther I do the reverse and hollow my back and let the movement travel up my back while getting up onto my arms at the same time.

I struggled with this move a lot and found most of my problems went away when I began using forearms instead of hands.

[Tamarinda]

You ladies are so great and kind. I really appreciate the book recommendations and I will be looking into those. I’ve also been inspired to give kundalani a try. If anyone has any more book recommendations to throw out that would be great!!! (Book nerd)

[Tamarinda]

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. 🙂

[Tamarinda]

I loved reading through this so so much. I used to be a lazy couch potato and I believe pole has made me a healthier person inside and out. I believe it came to my life to be a building block for other things. Recently I have been wanting to get in touch with my spiritual side I have been reading books about the power of energy, meditation, chakras, and the importance of mind and body alignment. If you talk to the general public about those things they look at you funny and think I’m some kind of hippy weirdo so i dont mention it. I really wish I had someone to take me under their wing. I would like to start new practises like yoga and such but lately my schedule has been killing me and taking a toll on my body health and it’s been pushed to the back burner. I still try and workout to keep my strength up but it’s not the same thing as having time and not feeling like I have to rush through it. It really bothers me. This semester I’m taking 6 classes and then have been working 6 days a week (it will slow down soon and was due to being understaffed). I love my job and the environment thankfully. But I’ve been so stressed lately and feeling like people just don’t understand or acknowledge my efforts I suppose. Nt at work, I love my job. Other places though, like pretentious teachers who think i just walk in their class and thats the only place ive been other than partying (I do not have the time or money). and maybe students who are parent funded and dont have to work, they don’t understand me and they have nothing to complain about. I just feel very misunderstood and unhappy. Im quite unhappy lately but I know soon I will have the time to reconnect with myself. I just needed to get that off my chest lol. I’m glad you guys talk so openly about spirituality and stress.

[Tamarinda]

Please find the stud, that’s dangerous and your pole will fall. One time I had a crappy electronic stud finder which are finicky and will tell you different readings all the time etc. I knew I was around the stud but I couldn’t find the exact area but figured since I was near it I would be fine. My pole fell during a fireman spin.

Anywho, to save you some trouble, I would invest in a magnetic stud finder which are cheap $5-$20. Magnetic stud finders are old school and at times difficult to find in stores, but they can’t lie like an electronic one. Unless you shell out a couple hundred for a commercial grade stud finder, they suck. And we aren’t carpenters so we don’t need that.

$5-$20 is nothing compared to being safe and having your peace of mind. They can be found on amazon btw.

[Tamarinda]

I like Ashtanga yoga cuz it keeps my muscles warm and makes me feel safe to stretch. I like the strength aspect of it combined with flexibility so it makes me feel like I’m killing two birds with one stone. This is one of my personal faves. http://youtu.be/GWQi2GlH0cM

I’m interested in other forms of yoga too. I would like to try other things but I have issues keeping my mind quiet and doing things slow and focused but I would like to try meditative type yoga soon, I would like to open myself to other things (and make my mind shut up).

I would like to have different experiences to see what other forms of yoga are about. Another thing that has caught my attention lately is Tai Chi. I hear that has a meditative aspect to it. Plus they flow like water and I would like that to translate to pole 😉

[Tamarinda]

That’s only two hours from me. I would love to go but won’t get my hopes up due to finances and school. Never know what will be going on at that time. My finance situation is looking up so its a possibility.

Do they do workshops there and how much do they generally run. How much is it really. What are people’s past experiences with it? Is it worth it lol.

[Tamarinda]

So the flexyiness around my period is normal. I thought my birth control was throwing me out of wack and making me less flexy cuz I’m flexiest when I’m taking my placebos aka on my period. You guys have really pacified my fears cuz my BC was making me worry and I was about to blame it. Thank you everyone, I will take it easy on my knees Veena.

Phoneix Hunter I feel the same way about stretching. I need my muscles to generate their own warmth and I need to be fatigued as well. I need to be very relaxed in order to stretch. A 10 minute warm up will not do it for me. I don’t know how some people do that, my muscles can’t relax and I feel uncomfortable.

I do a myriad of things to warm me up. I make jokes to my roomie that my stamina has increased due to flexability training and I have lost weight due to flexibility training. But my flexibility has not increased due to flexibility training… 🙁 My lower body flexibility is the slowest thing to increase for me. Luckily, everything else (back flexy, stamina, strength) gives me enough improvement each practice -even if it’s slight- to keep my moral up and keep me going. While I’m no pole prodigy, those small improvements are enough to keep me content. If everything progressed at the stagnant and slow rate that my leg flexiness did, I would probably have given pole up and resigned to a life of a couch-pototo.

[Tamarinda]

So I decided I’m on a roller coaster battle with these splits of constant regressions and progressions.

I’ve kept a workout journal of my workouts and when I’m most flexible and strongest and somehow it turns out I am most flexy around my period… wtf… I thought it was the opposite.

I’ve decided it could either be my birth control which effects my hormones. Or the fact that I’m tired during that time and don’t strength train my legs out of tiredness therefore my legs are less tight. Although I’ve kept it easy on my legs at a different times of the month to recreate those circumstances but my body still feels tight and less receptive.

The only thing I have energy during my monthly is generally just the elliptical and stretching. For some odd reason my body is very receptive to flexability training at that time… It hurts less and my muscles are like ‘yea give me this, I’m not gonna be tight on you today!’

Once again I thought it would be the opposite and I would be less flexy at that time and more receptive to pain. If you ask me to get on a pole during that time I’ll be like, ‘no pole burn hurts my thighs, my thighs are too sensitive, it’s not happening, oh just climbing it feels like a struggle, waaaah.’

So yea, I can drop a split during my period (after two warm ups on the elliptical and a thousand prep stretches in between and after that wah) but ask me any other day and I’m like ‘no, it hurts go away.’

Such a sad story. I can’t take pretty split pictures at a nice bar or something.

The only time I can take a split pic is during a certain time of the month where I’m bloated, after elliptical training, no make-up, a hundred prep stretches, and disheveled hair from all that work… Life ain’t fair…

Come on, I figured by now after all this flexability training my ego would be fed, but it’s not.

I know this is about our journey etc, but come on, we all wanna take cool pictures and drop a split at the drop of a hat.

I’m sure it will get better and as I keep stretching it will be easier and more consistent etc. I just wanted to vent was all.

I feel much better.

[Tamarinda]

Congrats scuba girl. I’m sorry you’re feeling low but just keep showing up and commiting to your workouts and thing will get better. Wish you well and happiness 🙂

[Tamarinda]

Allyson I wondered that myself lol. I went to a yoga studio yesterday to talk about my lack of progress with front splits. She did two quick prep stretches, one for hammies, then one for hip flexors, then just quickly dropped into gorgeous squared front splits. I know it’s her job, took years, and she’s dedicated and passionate, but jeez, lol she wasn’t even warm I just randomly walked in and started talking to her and she did it. When I see people doing splits in photos at cool places I’m just like, ‘how long did it take em to warm up and did they look crazy doing their warm up.’ Lol I also wonder about some of the less intense forms of yoga and how people stay warm throughout all of it. I know ashtanga bikram and power keep someone warm. But something like, I beleive maybe yin yoga, correct me if I’m wrong. But they stay in poses for ages and I wonder how their body stretches ‘cold’ throughout the entire sequence. I can only stretch if I’m excessively hot cuz my central nervous system is relaxed into submission and I’m calmer and readier but I wonder if that affects my cold flexability.

[Tamarinda]

Battlestarlet that is beautiful advice. So hard to incorporate though. Training our mind to love ourselves just as it is, is as difficult as training our body :). Just wanted to chime in and say those are beautiful words and it is definitely a mentality to strive for and I loved everything you said 😀

[Tamarinda]

Question. I decided I hate iPhones cuz they only have limited space. I’ve been trying to set up iCloud to correct this issue and its giving me issues at the moment. I will try again later. But let’s I wanted to use a camera, I couldn’t upload it to Instagram because it has to be uploaded from a phone right? I read that I can’t upload from desktop. Growl at this process. (Instagram newbie)

[Tamarinda]

Polekat I decided to get the black one because it is a bit pricey and I didn’t want to buy it twice so I decided to go ahead and break myself into the black one. It’s great on my hamstrings cuz I can’t feel anything with a regular one anymore but the black oh yes I can. That thing isn’t going anywhere near my IT bands though full pressure. I rest on the opposite leg with my foot on the ground for that one cuz it is major ouch. It’s great though for everything else. Hopefully one day I can make these IT bands stop hurting so much.

[Tamarinda]

If my muscles are really warm it’s less painful. I also like rumble rollers. If a particular area is giving me problems I rest on that spot for a good bit and I don’t have to always hold my weight because rumble rollers have ridges on them that push more into the muscle. For example, doing hamstrings I can relax on my back or forearms and rest in that position for a good bit and I can slowly rotate my leg around on a sore spot and let the ridges massage it. It can be a lot of stamina to foam roll especially if working for a bit on a good knot. Foam rolling is hard cuz you have the pain you’re trying to roll out and then you have to keep your body strong to hold the positions while keeping the area you’re rolling out relaxed… It’s definaltey a challenge so give yourself time to adjust and don’t give up 🙂

[Tamarinda]

Tracee Kafer is awesome. I remember when she posted some videos on here not too long ago. I went back and looked at her profile on here and she had some vids up from 2009. It was so inspiring to see her roots and where all her hard work got her today. It makes me feel good and like it is achievable. I know she is a pole beast and her flexibility, strength, body awareness, and technique are pro status, but it helps to see someone in their beginnings struggle. I know it will take years to be half as good as her but she shows with practice and work that progress does come. Another person that has old vids up is dirdybirdy on youtube. It truly feels good to see pros and people with great flow in their beginnings. I’m sorry for my long rant but I’m just so excited to sink my teeth into these challenges after finals and so glad Sparrow linked them.

If anybody is unhappy with their progress or lack of being able to freestyle I strongly suggest to go back and look at these two polers beginning vids cuz it will breathe new air into you.