If there is one thing that university education didn’t prepare me for, it’s how busy and hectic adult life actually is. I remember waltzing through my third year of uni, thinking that once I had a full time job life would be peachy as I would have way more money than my piddley student loan currently provided and I would no longer be working weekends in retail, therefore I would be little miss moneybags with all the free time in the world. HA! Foxen you stupid tit.
Basically, we all encounter a stage in our pole journeys at some point where life decides to be a complete prick and throw all the obstacles it can in the way of yourself and pole class. From short term hindrances such as Parents evenings, Auntie Pat’s seventh cat’s droppings birthday, some longass three hour meeting in work you absolutely HAVE to attend, or longer issues such as pregnancy or re-locating, something on this planet will end up halting your pole journey at some point. As frustrating as it is, fear not, help is at hand! Below are my personal top tips on how to cope with life when the world is preventing you from poling:
- Train at home
Okay, so this is the hardest one which takes the most motivation. Yes doing strength and conditioning exercises at home are nowhere near as fun as busting out some badass moves in class, but if you work on developing your strength as best as you can at home, you might just be able to surprise yourself with what you could be able to do when you hit the studio again. Progress is progress at the end of the day and having a banging core from doing a few planks at home for example will help your poling no end.
- Listen to some sick pole tunes
Nothing inspires me to get my sorry ass to practice more than listening to some banging tunes that you could dance away too. I’ve got a little list on my phone of songs that I’d love to make a pole routine to so when I can’t train or have lost my mojo a little bit, I listen to some of my pole tunes and before I know it the old creative juices are flowing away nicely.
- Keep in touch with your pole family
Even though you can’t make it to class, your pole family won’t forget you. They’re guaranteed to miss you, motivate you and want to drag you back to class at the earliest opportunity. The pole community is one of the strongest and most welcoming communities to be a part of, so although it will be tempting to sit in a lonely duvet nest devouring Cookie Dough and Doritos like there’s no tomorrow DON’T! Just because you can’t pole for whatever reason doesn’t mean the pole world will ever abandon you. And if someone does decide they don’t want you in their life because you haven’t poled in a while, well then they’re a cunt and it’s their loss.
Finally, not being able to pole for several weeks, months or even years can be a right shitty, demoralising experience. If you’re currently in this boat right now, here’s a sound nugget of wisdom to close off this post from my wise Jedi Master Robyn Rooke on how to cope when you’ve been absent from the chrome for too long.
“It’s important that you don’t feel like you’ve been left behind. Some people miss a few classes when life gets in the way, and they often think it’s already too late to come back. The longer you leave it, the worse it’s going to get, but it’s never too late. I think if you do find yourself able to come, then you should take that opportunity. Don’t beat yourself up about not learning something new, or having to go back a couple of paces, but coming and enjoying that experience when you can. And remembering why it is you love(d?) pole in the first place.”
Chrome Chronicles 