Well today is the official day, my very first formal pole class. I've purchased a course of six lessons that run weekly on the same day. As part of the package I am able to attend unlimited casual classes as well, and then if I'd like there are open sessions for practice and some instructor guidance if needed.
Before todays class there was a Pole Stretch and Sculpt 45 minute casual session so I thought why not. I did check with the ladies online (we have our own closed Facebook group - God I love Facebook) if back to back was too much, but the general consensus was to go for it but listen to my body.
I turned up at the pole studio all jittery. It's been building most of the morning, finally doing something different that I'd always wanted to do, becoming part of a community I admire, and pushing my boundaries. So my expectations of myself were pretty high. My bladder on the other hand seemed to fill with lightning speed from my nervousness and anticipation so much so that I could probably have stopped to pee every five minutes or thereabouts on the 40 minute drive it took this morning. Thankfully I ignored it and arrived ready to burst, not just with enthusiasm but also wee. I quickly went to the loo and then got ready for Pole Stretch and Sculpt.
Well, didn't I have a ball. I loved it. Loved that I could do the exercises, the stretching, and the conditioning. All I can say is Thank You dancing, Thank You ballet, Thank You my fellow dancers and Thank You so, so, so much my dance instructors. I know it is solely because of the dancing I've been doing this year that I was able to complete the tasks set for the class, and complete them without pain or groaning. So I was on a high. No muscle fatigue, no cramping, not much aching either. Not bad for an old duck hey.
Then the Level 1 Class started with a warm up, some exercises and moves that we would be incorporating into our dance. Yes, there will be a performance at the end of the six week block! Thankfully it is only to our peers and not open to family and friends. I might be developing confidence but I'm not ready yet to "Strut". Trust me when I am you'll read about it. Then we moved on to the choreography and breakdown of the routine we'll be learning. I think today we covered roughly 40 seconds of the song we're performing to, which is pretty good considering we're mostly newbies to this.
Me laying back all sexy like
So my Poling cherry has been popped - my blog, my analogy.
I do need to be cautious though. I have a tendency to throw myself completely into an activity that I'm enjoying. You know, when you become so caught up that without realising you overdo it, over-fatigue your muscles or sustain an injury, not for any other reason than the pure pleasure of doing it. Well, I tend to do that a lot. I'll throw myself whole heartedly into my new fun activity and then something goes pear shaped. I'm trying my best to be grown up about this with poling. I need to recognise and accept I have to take it slowly. I'm not as young as I used to be and I'm still getting back into the swing of things. I will make progress but I don't want to carry an injury or worse still have it cause me to stop all together. Basically what I'm saying is "Patience, Grasshopper" - the older readers will get that one, the younger ones can Google it.
So, that is my first ever Pole class over and done with. I am really, really, really looking forward to where this experience is going to take me, what may happen along the way, who I will meet, and what I will achieve. Bring it, I say.
