What makes this sport so special and how do I imagine a fulfilling work-life focused on its practice?
When I took my first pole dance steps in Autumn 2016, I could not have imagined the place this sport was going to take in my life. Like many others, I was intrigued to try pole dance as a fun way of building fitness and strength. What I discovered was much more: a friendly, supportive and inclusive community, a means of stress-management, and a sport that not only challenges the physical but also brings me out of myself and encourages me to develop my creative side.
Whatever your level of pole, there will always be an aspect of your training that you want to achieve: a new trick that you've almost got, experimentations with a different style, preparing for a show or competition, or maybe better flexibility. As long as these incentives are realistic, they are a huge source of motivation as you achieve them, one by one, all the time setting new targets. This sense of progress is immensely rewarding! With the sport expanding and gathering new interest all the time, so the inspiration is growing, offering new styles, technique, organisations and apparatus.
It is also easy to become overwhelmed when faced with all the possibilities that this sport offers. Trying different styles can help develop your own ideas, but it is important to maintain perspective; it is not going to be possible to master all these aspects at the same time and unrealistic expectations are going to lead to frustration. My experience with IPSF last year helped me to focus my training and develop my interest in pure pole sports. The guidelines provided by the code of points and list of compulsory figures with their criteria provided me a structure within which to experiment and a goal to reach, not to mention a deadline!
I started teaching pole classes in September 2019, alongside my job as a school teacher. I have to admit I was quite stressed giving my first classes! But I quickly discovered that I loved teaching pole; even preparing classes was providing me a purpose to review the basics and experiement with transitions, combos and choreography. At the same time, the combination of my demanding day job, competition training and pole classes, not forgetting my family life, was putting me under increasing stress. I felt that my own training was suffering and that I was squeezing time to prepare for classes, since just my day job and family as priorities already kept me more than busy! I was exhausted and suffering from physical and mental symptoms of stress.
A crazy idea came to me: what if I quit my job and focused on pole? Could I make ends meet? Would I still enjoy it? Was I "good enough"? I am so lucky to have a supportive husband who encouraged me to take the risk and reassured me when I had doubts. Often, people tell me that I am "brave" to make this choice; I sometimes read into this "out of my mind" :-D, but I feel that it was the right decision for me. Of course, nothing is that easy! Just as I prepared to embark on my new life as a self-employed pole trainer, out of nowhere came quarantine, confimement and a nasty bout of coronavirus. Once recovered, I could not return to work, as all classes had been cancelled. Fortunately, solutions came through in time, thanks to the possibility of making tutorial videos and teaching classes via videolink. I have to thank the owners of the studios where I teach for their support and the role they played in finding and providing solutions!
Since leaving my job, I have had more time to develop my training and prepare classes. I am more relaxed and feel less guilty about all the things I didn't have time to do properly before. Having time to train almost every day has boosted my level more than I could have imagined. I have taken time to explore choreography ideas, prepared new class combos, taken part in online challenges (which got quite creative!) and have even seen a significant improvement in my flexibility! We are still in confinement, so the real test will be how this translates to a "normal" week, but so far I am feeling much happier and my stress levels have dropped. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching the online classes, for which I have received lovely, encouraging feedback that motivates me to continue.
But those who know me well will not be surprised that I have more plans alongside continuing to teach pole. I have already begun to take professional training courses with Spin City and IPSF and am already an accredited IPSF coach. I am interested in specialising in this domain, developing my own programmes, competing, coaching and possibly one day judging at competitions. Having this sort of future plan does provide an incentive, but what provides me fulfillment is the teaching aspect. I know, from my experience as a student, how an evening pole class can alleviate the stress of the day and boost your mood, not just in the moment, but also long-term. I have the ability to help people feel happier, more confident, gain strength and fitness, and to help build this wonderful community, with its positive values. If I can make a living doing that, I will be proud to say that I have reached my goal.
When I took my first pole dance steps in Autumn 2016, I could not have imagined the place this sport was going to take in my life. Like many others, I was intrigued to try pole dance as a fun way of building fitness and strength. What I discovered was much more: a friendly, supportive and inclusive community, a means of stress-management, and a sport that not only challenges the physical but also brings me out of myself and encourages me to develop my creative side.
Whatever your level of pole, there will always be an aspect of your training that you want to achieve: a new trick that you've almost got, experimentations with a different style, preparing for a show or competition, or maybe better flexibility. As long as these incentives are realistic, they are a huge source of motivation as you achieve them, one by one, all the time setting new targets. This sense of progress is immensely rewarding! With the sport expanding and gathering new interest all the time, so the inspiration is growing, offering new styles, technique, organisations and apparatus.
It is also easy to become overwhelmed when faced with all the possibilities that this sport offers. Trying different styles can help develop your own ideas, but it is important to maintain perspective; it is not going to be possible to master all these aspects at the same time and unrealistic expectations are going to lead to frustration. My experience with IPSF last year helped me to focus my training and develop my interest in pure pole sports. The guidelines provided by the code of points and list of compulsory figures with their criteria provided me a structure within which to experiment and a goal to reach, not to mention a deadline!
I started teaching pole classes in September 2019, alongside my job as a school teacher. I have to admit I was quite stressed giving my first classes! But I quickly discovered that I loved teaching pole; even preparing classes was providing me a purpose to review the basics and experiement with transitions, combos and choreography. At the same time, the combination of my demanding day job, competition training and pole classes, not forgetting my family life, was putting me under increasing stress. I felt that my own training was suffering and that I was squeezing time to prepare for classes, since just my day job and family as priorities already kept me more than busy! I was exhausted and suffering from physical and mental symptoms of stress.
A crazy idea came to me: what if I quit my job and focused on pole? Could I make ends meet? Would I still enjoy it? Was I "good enough"? I am so lucky to have a supportive husband who encouraged me to take the risk and reassured me when I had doubts. Often, people tell me that I am "brave" to make this choice; I sometimes read into this "out of my mind" :-D, but I feel that it was the right decision for me. Of course, nothing is that easy! Just as I prepared to embark on my new life as a self-employed pole trainer, out of nowhere came quarantine, confimement and a nasty bout of coronavirus. Once recovered, I could not return to work, as all classes had been cancelled. Fortunately, solutions came through in time, thanks to the possibility of making tutorial videos and teaching classes via videolink. I have to thank the owners of the studios where I teach for their support and the role they played in finding and providing solutions!
Since leaving my job, I have had more time to develop my training and prepare classes. I am more relaxed and feel less guilty about all the things I didn't have time to do properly before. Having time to train almost every day has boosted my level more than I could have imagined. I have taken time to explore choreography ideas, prepared new class combos, taken part in online challenges (which got quite creative!) and have even seen a significant improvement in my flexibility! We are still in confinement, so the real test will be how this translates to a "normal" week, but so far I am feeling much happier and my stress levels have dropped. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching the online classes, for which I have received lovely, encouraging feedback that motivates me to continue.
But those who know me well will not be surprised that I have more plans alongside continuing to teach pole. I have already begun to take professional training courses with Spin City and IPSF and am already an accredited IPSF coach. I am interested in specialising in this domain, developing my own programmes, competing, coaching and possibly one day judging at competitions. Having this sort of future plan does provide an incentive, but what provides me fulfillment is the teaching aspect. I know, from my experience as a student, how an evening pole class can alleviate the stress of the day and boost your mood, not just in the moment, but also long-term. I have the ability to help people feel happier, more confident, gain strength and fitness, and to help build this wonderful community, with its positive values. If I can make a living doing that, I will be proud to say that I have reached my goal.
My home pole studio for virtual online classes!
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