My Own Photo Shoot

So I did my own pole photo shoot today in my living room. After a little help from www.picmonkey.com, my self-portraits don't look so bad!

I took them because I needed an updated photo of myself for my website www.learn-pole-dancing.com, I like my readers to have a face to put with the author :)

Of course I have to take like 50 of them just to get a couple of good shots. And it would help if I did the shoot with the help of my daughter or husband, they could help me to pose so I am not running back and forth to the camera to check on how I looked in the last photo and if I should use that pose again.

I have always liked photography but never really delved into it to learn anything like shutter speeds or how to use my old digital camera, the Canon Rebel X. I use it with a simple camera tripod I found on Amazon and set the self-timer button so I presss the button before get into position and wah-lah! A self-portrait.

Pic Monkey is a free online photo editing tool (although some of the tools require a paid subscription to use them) I was able to touch these up.

Until next time, stay fit, stay sexy and stay on the pole!

Revamping My Website!

I have a little jewel of my own in this ever-growing world of pole...my website that I started building back in 2009 www.learn-pole-dancing.com !

I like my website. In fact, I have this little relationship with it that it's almost an extension of myself and my thinking about pole dance.

Here, I get to share all of the resources that I have used in my growth, experimentation and learning. I really took to pole dance when I found Sheila Kelley's book in a Borders store almost 11 years ago. I immediately started learning the floor moves, the yoga-style and sensual moves that made me feel so graceful and sexy.

Then I went on to take a Stripper 101 class in Las Vegas, and yes, I know I mention it a lot, but if more women just would take that little step and TRY it, what could they find out about themselves? What new dimensions of their personality would be uncovered? What new feelings would they experience as hips unlocked and spines moved in new sensuous ways?

I encourage all women to try pole dance...at least once! Put it on your bucket list. Even if you think you are too heavy or too stiff or too un-sexy. None of those things are true about you when you try pole. You can be whoever you want to be :)

But back to my website, I have been re-vamping the whole thing - all 180 pages! Cleaning it up, fixing the broken links and lining all the details and design up better, including more content, taking away old outdated stuff. Deep housecleaning so that it is a more pleasant learning experience when you visit.

Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think, I am always open to constructive criticism.

Moving...and my removable poles!

Thank God I have removable poles. Well, if I were running a studio I would definitely have them secured to the ceiling and floor to reduce that last little risk of a pole becoming too loose during class or some other mishap. I have actually been in classes with both removables and poles that were secured with bolts. Never an accident but still...

I have two Lil' Mynx poles, both stainless steel, one spinning (with a stationary function as well) and a regular stationary pole (my favorite). I have learned most of what I know on this pole. I have yet to really learn how to use the spinning pole.

I have worked out a couple of times on a titanium gold pole which I really, really loved for learning those more advanced tricks. I learned my Gemini and Scorpio on this pole and will eventually be getting this type of metal pole.

So we just moved into a larger home (quite a bit larger than the tiny 2-bedroom apartment I was living in!) with smooth tile floors in the living area where I have had my husband help put up the mounts on the ceiling. I'm glad I bought an extra rubber pad for the floor since these are needed if you don't have carpet for the rubber feet to grip. The poles are pretty secure figuring my 8-year-old daughter thinks they are part of an indoor playground and my 14-year-old daughter is constantly practicing the elbow stand now :)

So now that I have some good area to play, off to my playground I go!

My new blog...

I'm starting this blog sort of as a journal of my journey, my trip into pole dancing that started in 2006.

I became a pole addict when I turned 30. It started when I was in a Borders bookstore and saw a copy of Sheila Kelley's book about her new idea 'The S Factor' Strip Workouts for Every Woman. I was fascinated as I looked at all of the black-and-white photos of Sheila in these incredibly sexy and sensual poses on the floor and then on a chair and then on...a pole! Incredible!

My mom and sister and I were planning a weekend trip to Vegas for my 30th birthday and as I was browsing through all of the entertainment items and things to do while we were there, I stumbled on "Stripper 101" and in no time registered and paid for my 1 1/2 hour class on how to learn to spin on the pole and give a lap dance...FUN!!! I think it was about 40 bucks or so but it could have been $100 and I would have paid it so great was the fascination.

Now mind you, I had no interest in learning how to be a stripper or go to topless clubs and dance or anything like that...but what appealed was that it spoke to my femininity, my inner woman, my sexy, sensual and fun side. Something about it all called to me, and I don't know if I will ever be able to fully describe that.

I have been on this journey, sometimes stopping, sometimes dreaming about starting again, sometimes diving back in and feeling it in every muscle of my body the next day. It is demanding; it demands your energy and attention and creativity, your strength, your sweat, your passions. It embodies you as you learn to melt your skin with that sweaty stainless steel and use muscles you didn't realize you needed for that position or hold. It bruises you, breaks you down in frustration at times, challenges every fear you have and gives you the most exhilarating high when you finally get it. It brings out tears and creates butterflies inside and scares the crap out of you when you feel yourself slipping; it stands there silent and calls you when you are lonely and sad and embraces you, cold and unforgiving at first, then warm and challenging as you start to dance with it.

That's my pole.