Back in March (fuck me, has it really been that long since I last blogged?!) I had a pretty tough time in one of my pole classes. It had absolutely bugger all to do with my lovely instructor and class mates, who are all a supportive and top tier bunch of people, but for whatever reason all my pole abilities seemed to have packed their bags and fucked off. My strength had disappeared like a fart in the wind, what little flexibility I have was nowhere to be seen and my coordination was clearly sat at home binging on Netflix. I usually have snippets, all be it often quite small ones, of the class combo that I can achieve, but on that particular week I achieved sweet fanny adams.
After going home and having a solid cry to my husband and the dog, I made the wise decision spend my additional class credit attending the earlier Intermediate class the following week, as well as my usual Advanced class. I love pole dancing and despite having a pretty shite recent session, I wasn’t going to let one class prevent me from enjoying my hobby. Of course the old internal monologue was attempting to give me hard time about not achieving much in my current class, but after much soul searching I realised that dropping down a level was in no way a bad thing, far from it. Pole dance for me is all about fun, an escape from daily life and if dropping back down into Intermediate for a while would inject the fun back into in class for me, then that’s a road I decided to bloody well drive down.
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And shit the bed I am so glad I did!
Dropping back in Intermediate the following week was just the confidence boost I needed. I could complete the class combo in full without looking like I had just downed 6 pints of special brew, I had a cracking time having a laugh and training with one of my OG pole buddies and the strength and conditioning drills in Intermediate class did wonders for my training. I always say the only bad practice is the one you don’t do, and going back and training the easier moves gave my strength, confidence and overall love of pole a massive leg up. I even managed to get a cheeky video of the entire combo from start to finish with no moderations or omissions, which is a rarity these days!
As standard, I stayed on for my regular Advanced class afterwards and struggled far less than I had the previous week. I even had a lovely chat with my instructor Eloise who said she thought I was doing fine in Advanced, another much needed confidence boost, as I am very guilty of negative self-talk at times. Therefore, after much consideration, I decided to remain in Advanced for the foreseeable future and give it a good go.
I am happy to announce that two months down the line I am still pottering along in Advanced at my own pace, and I am back to loving pole again! Dropping down a level, even for just one class was exactly what I needed to do back in March to not only prove to myself that I was more than enough for my current class, but to give me a fucking hefty confidence boost and restore my love of pole too.
Furthermore, pole is progressing as an art form at such an alarming rate these days. Moves that were once seen as top of the tree, advanced moves such as a shoulder mount, are now not viewed as so difficult. I one hundred percent do not agree with this and think all pole moves require a metric ton’s worth of strength, however what I am getting at here is that the standards these days for what defines Intermediate and Advanced moves seems to be getting higher and higher. Therefore, it’s only natural and normal to be struggling in harder classes. Do not do a me and beat yourself up about it.
Overall, if you’re struggling a bit in class atm, or your pole mojo has fucked right off, I thoroughly recommend dropping down a level for a while to restore your strength, motivation and confidence.
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Chrome Chronicles 