I want to dance.  I want to dance when I’m driving in my car, I want to dance when I’m folding my laundry and I do dance in my kitchen!  (My household chores take twice as long when my ipod is on, but they are twice as fun.)

My favorite part of dance is the surrender.   I love to let go and feel the music.  The suspense of not knowing what comes next is exhilarating.  Although it has taken years for me to learn this aspect of the dance every step was worth it.

Today, I had some moments between loads of laundry that were truly Divine. My body just moved.  I listened and watched and followed in a lucid trance.  In these moments I feel creative potential bust wide open and I feel the endless stream that flows through me and for a few moment I have escaped the burden of my physical body.   I want every woman to know what it feels like to ‘let go’ if only for a moment at a time.  To feel the rush of this creative force pulse through their limbs.  To Surrender.

I believe that every woman is capable of learning this style of dance.  I have seen students grow from their first hesitant steps in 101 to poised and confident and truly captivating.   I love this job!.

What is it about pole dancing that we women love so much? Why has it spread like wildfire? Is it the adrenaline rush of achieving something you thought impossible? Is it the novelty of something totally new? Sure!  and it’s fun too, but what is the true secret of the pole’s allure? I know that a lot of people assume it ’s just to impress your man.  Te he he he. Not quite.  

 Why do we really love pole dancing ladies? I know, I know! And although it is top secret I am going to tell you. (You are one of the lucky and privileged few). Are you ready? ‘Cause it’s a shocker!!! Here ‘goes: We women like to feel beautiful. That’s why.

Pole dancing is a sensuous and gorgeous movement that feels beautiful and gets us in touch with our womanly side. It also challenges our female bodies in a feminine way, a circular way that conserves our beautiful curves. Why be a robot on a treadmill when you can dance? Why take yet another step aerobics class when you can spin, pivot and flip yourself into shape?

The allure of the pole goes even deeper. Something of our feminine spirit gets lost as we try to keep up with the pace of this world. White knuckled and jaws clenched we power through our days. Stress can make us tense and unyielding, burying the soft inviting warmth that is innate in a woman. Devouring the quiet stillness and the ‘at rest’ peace, that defines inspiring beauty.
Dancing in a hypnotic, sensuous flow helps to unwind all of that tension so we can be soft once more and alive inside our bodies.
Besides being good for a woman’s body and stress levels, the inherent playfulness of spinning twirling and dancing is healthy for a woman’s heart. The support and encouragement from other women fulfills a need for community that we women have built into the fiber of our beings.
So, to those who say pole dancing is a temporary trend, I say, think again!

Well, here we are on the subject that comes up a lot and sort of circulates around the topic of pole dancing:
Dancing/stripping for your boyfriend…….
Many women come to class to surprise their boyfriends and come to realize that pole dancing is not for him. It is for her! (read my secret of pole’s allure blog to find out why).
I have given it a lot of thought over the years and am convinced that it does more harm than good to give your man a dance. (Husbands not included. Married ladies dance your hearts out). Controversial, I know.
Here are my 5 reasons why:

1. It won’t get you what you want. Pole dancing for your boyfriend will not get you a wedding ring, secure your relationship, nor will it give you special powers over him. So, put down the Cosmo and start using your brains! Guys want more than just sex. (Oh goody)

2. It reduces your worth in his eyes. Most women think they will be his favorite super-star girlfriend if they pull off the perfect strip-tease or pole dance.
Guys are a lot smarter than we thought ladies. (Oh darn). Contrary to popular belief a man’s brains are not located in his pants. They may use their penis to make short term decisions, like whether or not to sleep with the girl who just lapdanced him, but you don’t want to be one of those short term decisions, do you? Long term decisions like getting married, commitment, or falling in love are made with his head and heart. You gotta respect that!
What your boyfriend, or that dude your sort of seeing, is really thinking when you dance for him is, “she is really working hard to impress me”, Translation: “she is really desperate”, or “How many guys has she done this for?”; Translation: I’ll sleep with her but then I will move on. You have just established yourself as a public playground in his mind. (ouch! that hurts) Public playgrounds can be fun for now, but where would you rather spend your life? A public playground or a private garden?

3. Your are not a public playground. You are a beautiful private garden and the key to unlock your garden gate is security, honesty, trust and love. The trust is earned. He will earn it and love every minute of it if you would only let him. By sleeping with and dancing for your man you are depriving him of his essential manly drive to earn it!  (That’s not nice).  Men value what they earn.

4. Most important!   You are disabling the best bad seed eliminator that you have. You don’t dance for him, you don’t sleep with him and he walks. High five!!! You just avoided a whole lotta heartache.

5. He will value you and the relationship more if you don’t. You will increase the worth of yourself and all women by doing your part. Men today are so used to getting it on the 3rd date that they have become like spoiled children who don’t value what they have. Total entitlement.  Ugh.

Do we really need to give it up like that ladies?
To some it may sound a bit old fashioned, but we are so far from old fashioned today that It would take a major miracle to return us to that level of chastity. I mean let’s get real! I only say these things because I wish someone would have told me. Not to embarrass us for our past actions but to give us hope for the future.

Most of my students come to class with the hopes of a fun, exciting new way to work out and of course pole dancing is all that and more. Since starting pole dancing in 2005 I’ve discovered it is also challenging, rewarding, exciting, exhilarating, creative, beautiful, and more inspiring than any other movement I have tried.
Besides all of that, though, it has been a learning experience about myself as a woman.
I’ve learned that I really do like high heels, lace and the color pink a whole lot! Finally, I have come to admit I do want to feel pretty. It’s like my ‘being a girl’ got lost for awhile, or maybe I just had no idea what to do with it, but I have absolutely decided to deny it no longer! I am hardwired to feel beautiful. Let the pretty begin!
I am talking about a kind of pretty that is a feeling, a sensation that comes from gratitude. It’s the kind of beauty that doesn’t require a mirror or photograph. It comes from inside when the sun shines on your cheek and the wind gently tousles your hair. The kind of beauty that makes you giggle or throw your head back with laughter. The kind that makes you want to get together with the girls and twirl and dance. The kind of beauty that is reflected in the heart of every woman.
It is the kind of beauty that liberates. And finally, it is the kind of beauty I feel when I am dancing.

Women are works of art! Just ake a look around you any time and you will see women adorning the world. From paintings, sculptures even mudflaps. Images of women are often used as decoration or to sell products. Even products totally unrelated to women. It’s no wonder. Women are beautiful. What is it about woman that is so appealing? There’s something special in each woman. Sometimes mothering and warm, sometimes sassy or playful, and sometimes dark and mysterious like thunder clouds and lightning. Usually it is intricate and complex. Whatever it is it can’t be bottled, captured, owned or sold, try as we may.

I think there is something uniquely beautiful being revealed in each and every one of my students as they dance. Watching her move is stunning. She is a breath of life. it is clear to me now why a woman’s beauty is inspiration to so many. Sometimes when I am watching my students I am transported to another place and time. Susan, so elegant and smoldering sent me a vision of a women slowly rolling up her black seemed stocking, a long high heeled leg propped on a velvet foot stool. Red lipstick and a long cigarette in one hand.
Sonja for a moment seemed to have stepped out of a victorian boudoir, decorated in pretty white lace and pink roses, where she had just slowly and lovingly combed her hair with a silver brush and matching hand mirror.
What can I say? I love this job!!!!!

Pole dancing is Good clean fun

Whenever I am asked what I do I always answer, “I teach dance”. At first this was my attempt to avoid the occasional negative response. But, inevitably the second question always follows, “Oh! What kind of dance?” And I am forced to tell all, so I say,
“I teach pole dancing.” Then comes one of the 3 responses.

Response number one:
Confusion and slight discomfort. A change in facial expression from earnest interest to uncertainty. Did they hear me correctly and is what they
think I am saying what I am actually saying? followed by some stuttering, uh, er,… and then, “what is pole dancing?” You mean? are you serious?”

Response number two:
Total unbridled excitement. “I have to try that! Tell me more”. This is the response I had when I first heard of pole dancing as a form of dance fitness and of course my favorite response to receive!

Response number 3:
Total disgust. “ewe! Gross! Like a stripper pole?” Suddenly the person goes from neutral to defensive and ready for a verbal brawl. This is the emotional response that bums me out, but that I have learned so much from. And, fortunately, it is the least common of all 3 reactions.

What I’ve learned is that some people associate pole dancing with prostitution! What? How can that be you say?
Pole dancing = stripper = prostitute. Darn! Well, we can see why, of course.

At first glance it seems a complicated association. But upon further thought it is really quite simple. In a pole dance class there are a. no men, b. nobody’s paying the dancers and c. there is no nudity. A+B+C= no prostitution. Pole dancing classes are just good clean fun!

Finally it’s up. My Titanium X Pole is now standing between my living and dining room. My heart beats a little faster each time I walk by.
Sunday was my first day breaking in my new pole. Actually, It was more like the pole was breaking me in.

The Titanium pole has a lot more grip than the one in the studio that I am used to.
I love it!! Inverts and some of the more advanced inverted moves are a lot easier when you stick. But lookout, pole burn takes some getting used to.

I remember the first time I sat on the pole and experienced the burn. I was thinking “why is this worth it?”. Well, now I know the answer to that question. It is so exhilarating to master a new move and once you’ve learned it the rush far outweighs the pain.

But, it does get better. If you do the move frequently the pole burn will completely disappear. Thank goodness. Also, I got some great advice from Tammi Morris up at Tantra Fitness in Canada. She told me to push into the burn rather than pull away from it. Excellent advice. It really helps.

So, stick with it through the burn girls. You’ll be glad you did.

Who of us doesn’t own a pair of warm,cozy, frumpy pajamas?
Especially, here in Seattle. This time of year is so cold and drizzly outside. All I want to do is lounge by the fire in my oversize fleece. Not very sexy.
But wait,……..I just had a brilliant idea. My husband won’t have to suffer the frumpy pajamas anymore and I won’t have to let them go!
The beautiful art of the pole dance and striptease should take care of things.
Here is a little trick for changing those frumpy pj’s into his dream come true. (The pajamas themselves will never change).
It’s all about layers. What are you wearing underneath the pj’s?
Start out with a tiny g-string and layer a thong over the top of that. Then, put on your favorite sexy bra, a lacy camisole over the top and voila! You are ready to transform those not-so-sexy pj’s into your Hubbies dream come true.
Now, put on your favorite song to move to and use the skills you’ve learned in class.
I assure you that now every time he sees you in those pj’s he won’t be thinking, “frumpy”.
Who said pole dancing wasn’t practical?

Thank you for stopping by!

I am so excited to have a spot to chat it up with all you girls. Pole dancing has stolen our hearts here in Seattle and I am honored to be your instructor. I will be posting helpful instructional blogs for my students, as well as some fun girly stuff.