Don't Get Too Cozy
Comfort Zones That’s right! I’m here to talk to you about branching out of your comfort zone. Inside your comfort zone it’s nice, warm, and fuzzy! You feel safe. Outside of your comfort zone, it’s dark and scary. Like there may be a monster lurking around every corner. Well, I am here to tell you that monster is only your fear getting in the way of your chance at growth. Your chance at a new experience! I know that it is always easier said than done to branch out of that comfort zone. Trust me! I’ve been there! At the start of my journey at Aerial Dance taking pole was way out of my comfort zone. It was scary and at times very hard. Numerous times I almost gave up. After some time, pole became my comfort zone. I then decided it was maybe time to branch out yet again, which was perfect as the studio had just expanded with new apparatuses. Again all of those terrifying feelings came flooding back, but this time it seemed a little easier to overcome. To my surprise stepping out of my comfort zone had helped me gain confidence I didn’t even know I had. Sure as I ventured out into new apparatuses I was afraid I would fail, but without failure there is no room for growth! What is something that you would like to grow in, but you are too afraid? Start Small Venturing out of your comfort zone doesn’t need to be in one big huge gesture like jumping out of an airplane. It could be something as simple as trying a new class at Aerial Dance, talking with someone you haven’t met, or something as small as evening stepping foot into the studio if you haven’t before. This is the beauty of everyone’s journey. it’s uniquely yours, no one else’s. You can choose how far to go and what you are comfortable with. Once you become accustomed to that new level of comfort, take another baby step out. Before you know it you could be leaps and bounds away from your original comfort zone. Aerial Dance has helped me grow so far outside my comfort zone that I decided to run a Tough Mudder. Which is in 9 days! EEK! We Believe in You! Everyone at Aerial Dance believes in you! The amount of support you receive from Aerial Dance may even be out of your comfort zone! As some people don’t have anyone to turn to for support or in times of need. I don’t know everyone’s story, but I do know of some women who’ve had their struggles not only at the studio, but in their personal lives. All of the women at Aerial Dance are their to believe in you and support you on your journey outside your comfort zone while at the studio or not. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! We have one common goal at Aerial Dance, we are there to find a better version of ourselves. Each of us wanting to become stronger, more graceful, and to feel beautiful in our own skin. Aerial Dance’s saying couldn’t be more true. Find Your Strength and Believe Your Beauty! So I ask you, what will be the one thing that you will do to take the first step outside of your comfort zone? Until Next TIme, Janell
Assisted Stretching and "Experts"
There was an article and video yesterday showing a 13-year old girl being forced into a stretch by her cheer coach. There was obvious pain and no understanding of the long term damage that was being done by the coach when forcibly assisting in their stretching. The girl will have long term damage from this. The coach said “that is how I was taught” as his justification for the “technique”. This brings up two important topics. The first is assisted stretching. I’m not a fan. Unless the person is a trained physical therapist and the assist is to rehab range of motion from a surgery I don’t really see how assisted stretching is helpful. If you need someone to push you into a position, you’re never going to achieve that position on your own. And what good is a split or backbend or any move if you need someone to get you there? Yes, assisted stretching can be a tool to help people realize a range of motion but to me it isn’t worth the risk. It is way more likely to result in an injury than in a functional increase in range of motion. The second thing this brings up for me is “experts”. The coach. He did what he was taught. He probably was very confident of this method for stretching until this incident. And that is one of the reasons you need to research your trainers and question their techniques. Right now with the rise of social media a lot of the people who are “experts” are not actually knowledgeable, they are good at marketing and getting views. (I can’t tell you how often I cringe at things I see being shared for pole, aerial, fitness, conditioning, and flexibility.) Being an expert means researching, constantly questioning and always learning. Then the best “experts” will figure out how to teach it in a way that makes sense to someone who does NOT have all their knowledge base. Honestly, that is the hardest part, taking everything you know and breaking it down to the most important points to teach it safely. And having the courage to say “There is new knowledge that now means I need to do X instead of Y” and changing your curriculum as you continually learn. Not all people who are famous or good at a sport can: 1. teach it; 2. have properly researched techniques. A lot of the time those that are really famous for flexibility are naturally gifted and their “techniques” are dangerous to those that don’t have the same innate gift. I took a workshop in 2010 with a famous pole dancer who had amazing splits and was known for teaching “anyone” how to do the splits. I, like most of you, dream of having the splits which I know is impossible for my body due to previous surgeries. But if “anyone” could learn it…..So I participated in the workshop, I took notes. I had concerns over one of the stretches she was teaching. All the other students in the workshop were so excited that they were going to get splits like her and loved the stretch. After the workshop I researched the stretch, my concerns weren’t alleviated. So I took the move (which was supposed to open the hips) to four medical and sports professionals to evaluate it independently. The conclusion all five of us reached was the stretch was not muscular but stretching the ligaments in a way that would eventually destabilize the hip joint. So from that workshop, I only added the stretches that were researched as “safe” to the Aerial Dance curriculum. So if you are taking workshops with “experts” don’t assume everything you are learning is actually safe or good for you. Do your own research on everything you learn and always listen to your body. On going research is critical to keeping people healthy in the pole and aerial world. Just think that 10 or so years ago static stretching was used for warm-up and now we know it destabilizes the joints in the short term and is not good to do before activity. Heck, 10 years ago this was barely even a sport or field of study! We are constantly learning more about the body and we need to continually improve our methods to be updated with the most current research. A good coach will have research that they can supply you with to verify their methods. A good coach will encourage you to question what they are telling you because that will make you more intune with your body and help them refine their techniques. ****Side note: the famous pole dancer from my workshop in 2010 no longer performs. She had to stop due to recurring hip problems…
Vertical Barre, Aerial Conditioning, Bendy Babe, Oh My!
Classes As an active member at Aerial Dance, I make it a priority to attend as many conditioning, aerial, and flexibility classes as possible. I am always trying to improve my skills, strength, and flexibility. Pole is still my true love of the Aerial Sports. That is what drives me to go to my classes. Through the past couple months, I have had many students approach me and mention to me about how strong I am. I’ve even heard a, “Oh, I wish I could be that strong.” The truth of the matter is that I rarely ever miss or cancel out of any of the classes I sign up for. Being a student of Aerial Dance, I know that our instructors spend large amounts of time planning ability based curriculum. They look at each class (not just classes using apparatus) to analyze which students that are in that class and their ability level. They then take that information and construct the intensity of the class around the students needs or abilities. The instructors plan their classes this way to help students reach their aerial goals! Frequently, students drop in and out of classes, which makes it difficult for the instructors to plan. I Can Feel the Instructors’ Pain I know that some of you are not fellow teachers, but I can empathize with our instructors struggles as an educator myself. Think about it this way. Remember back to when you were in school. I bet some of you can remember a classmate who was always absent. You probably remember that they had some difficulties in class. Whether it was in reading, writing, or math. You could see their struggle. It may have made you think, “Maybe if you were at school, it wouldn’t be so hard.” That sounds a little harsh, but for me as an educator it causes a whole new problem in my classroom. I have had several students who were absent 30 plus days in a single school year. Their absence made planning daily lessons very difficult. I was trying to move the rest of my class forward and constantly playing catch up with those who were absent. Now let’s apply this to classes at Aerial Dance. You come to the studio, because you love your sport, whether it be pole, hoop, hammock, or silks. I’ve seen many students become frustrated with their sport. Could this frustration come from canceling out of too many of your conditioning classes? Or even canceling out of your weekly aerial sport? I know that life gets extremely busy, and you can’t make every class, but know that your instructors are planning for you. Several times of week, maybe even a day, our instructors are creating and changing plans for classes to meet our needs. These women are extraordinary people, They all hold jobs outside of Aerial Dance. Somehow they still find time in their busy lives to help us become stronger and more confident women. So, the next time you think about canceling out of a class, because you just don’t feel like going. I hope this blog pops back into your mind. Our amazing instructors are thinking and planning for YOU! Our classes are not a one size fits all. Each class is individualized to meet YOUR needs! This individualization is what keeps me coming back time and time again to Aerial Dance. Until Next Time! Janelle
Redundancy for saftey!
Since I spent so much of the weekend doing saftey checks, I have saftey on my mind. And I thought some of you may be interested in the redundancy put in place to keep you safe. You see the crash mats and super visible things we use, but do you know that the attachment points also have extra measures to keep you safe? If you read my blog yesterday, you know that the aerial structure and plates are super cool. All our carabiners are top of the line and autolocking so there can’t be mistakes. But what about the piece between? An attachment is only as strong as it’s weakest link right? Between the steel plate and carabiner is a 1/2 inch steel shackle. These babies are rated to 15,000 lb. So yeah, it’s got you and a car. When I installed it, I also put in two additional redundancies in to make sure it couldn’t fail. A shackle is basicly a pin that screws into one end. The first thing I did was put lock tight on the screw end so that I basically glued it shut. This is so vibrations couldn’t work the pin loose in any way. Then for a second saftey feature I zip tied the end. This makes it impossible for the pin to turn so it can’t come undone. So with my additional redundancies, there is no way one of these guys can come unscrewed and fail. With our procedures, the weakest link in our aerial set-up is actually the fabric! Everything above you is rated for thousands of pounds while the aerial hammock is only rated for 2,200. Yes, that’s correct, you have exert 2,200 pounds of force before you have to worry about anything. There isn’t any way the human body can do that without actually hurting yourself, we aren’t made to withstand those types of forces without protection. After about 1,500 pounds of force you’ll start to break bones. In the aerial arts the most you realistically generate is 750 pounds. So I think it is safe to say we have you covered!
Christmas in August?
Christmas in August Who would have thought that we would be thinking about Christmas in August? Well here at Aerial Dance Christmas is never too far from anyone’s mind. Why you might ask? Let me tell you! Every year Aerial Dance LLC, organizes an OUTSTANDING Christmas Show for students and instructors alike to show off their newly acquired aerial skills! Not only is the Christmas Show amazing, it has a theme that changes every year! This year’s theme is 90’s! The instructors are working hard to chronograph dance routines for students of all abilities. I’m not sure about you, but I have been watching Aerial Dance’s Facebook page as they have been steadily releasing the songs that instructors chose for the show! If you missed the songs completely, I have included a screenshot from Aerial Dance’s page! YAHOO! I can’t wait! The hardest part is always trying to decided which song to dance to! This year there are so many solid choices to choose from! The country girl in me says that “Man I Feel Like A Women” is my go to, but I love two of the other songs as well! Decisions Decisions! How The Christmas Show Helped Me Grow! In the three years that I have been attending Aerial Dance, I only have one regret. My one regret is that I let my fear stop me from preforming in the Christmas Show sooner. Last Christmas was my first show and I can tell you that it will not be my last! (I even did a doubles routine in the Student Showcase thanks to the Christmas Show and my great partner!) As I signed up for the Christmas Show, I was terrified. I knew some of the ladies who were in my routine, but not all. I was afraid that my skills were not going to be sufficient enough to perform. At our first practice, I learned that it was some of the other ladies first time in the show as well. They were just as nervous! As we began practicing more, everyone seemed to relax a little more, we even began to enjoy ourselves! We spent many hours practicing our routine. The biggest thing I noticed was that our routine morphed to fit our abilities. It wasn’t set in stone. It was flexible, because our instructors know that everyone is different and they want us to be successful! They want us to show our talents and be confident in ourselves and our performance! Not only did the Christmas Show help me overcome most of my fear of performing for an audience, it helped me to establish some friendships that I might have missed out on. The ladies, i danced with during last years show have become some of my dearest friends. They have guided me and supported me in more ways than I can even begin to explain! All thanks to the amazing Christmas Show! Reasons Why You Should Consider Preforming in the Christmas Show! You don’t know what you are capable if you don’t try! All of the routines are separated into different levels (meaning you won’t be performing in an advanced routine if you are a beginner) If you are unsure of how to decide your ability level ask you pole instructor! They will know the best routine for you! There is the possibility of making new friends and meet new people! You will get to show your friends and family all of the amazing things you learned at Aerial Dance! You get to spend the day of the show with your pole family! There is always amazing food after the show! You get to decide with your group what you costume/outfit looks like! (Which should be super fun with the 90’s theme!) Getting to know the instructors a little better! You get to spend more time doing the sport you love! Learning cool doubles tricks! ( Like the one pictured above!) MOST IMPORTANTLY YOU WILL HAVE FUN! I could give you a 110 reason as to why you’ll love being part of the Christmas show, but only you can make the decision to try! Think about this, you gave pole a shot, fell in love, what makes you think the Christmas Show would be any different? If you are still sitting there thinking, there is no way that I would be able to do it. Buy a ticket to at least come watch your fellow polers! Watching the show just might be the ticket to give you the boost of confidence for next year’s show! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me the next time you see me at the studio! I’d love to help you out in anyway possible! Until Next Time! Janelle
Registration is open for September Pole!
Are you ready to join us? Registration is now open for September Pole courses. The next 8-week course begins the week of September 10th and runs until November 4th. We are offering a TON of Beginner Pole classes and at some “new” times. Register online!
An engineering marval!
A large portion of my Sunday morning was spent at the studio changing the attachment points for the hammocks from double point to single point so we could launch our new hammock program. And I have to say, wow is our aerial structure awesome. I knew when I worked with mechanical and structural engineers to design it to my specifications it was going to be super cool, but it’s the absolute saftey built in that really make it special. When I was moving the plates for apparatus I was reminded how absolutely awesome the engineering is. Next time you’re in the aerial studio, look up. It’s so shiny and pretty! But more importantly that plate that your apparatus is attached to is OSHA approved to hang humans and have a dynamic load (like drops in an aerial hammock and swinging). Each plate costs $176.16 (just the plate, not all the hardware). And each plate weighs 27 pounds. They are HEAVY. Each plate is attached with 4 sets of a grade three bolt, two washers, a lock washer, a beam spacer and a beam clamp. This is what is so cool! To move the plates, I loosen the bolts. All four bolts! And the plate doesn’t fall. At no point did I drop the heavy plate on mine or my father’s head (he was holding my ladder). The way the plates were engineered, you have to actually loosen all four bolts and then take two on the same side out to remove the plate. If you don’t remove two beam clamps completely, the plate won’t come down. Look at this picture, I’m sticking my entire finger between the plate and the beam and the plate is still holding strong. The way these were engineered you have to work super hard to remove them. This gives me such peace of mind that my students will be safe. If one bolt broke, no big deal, we’d know and replace it, and the plate isn’t going anywhere. So our attachment points are pretty much indestructible. Because I am neurotic about saftey, I after changing over the studio I did a second pass and tightened every bolt with a torch impact driver, just to be extra sure. Everything is tight and secure. It may seem silly to be writing a post about steel plates. But to me, this is what makes Aerial Dance the safest studio in the country. We spared no expense when creating the structure. There were multiple cheaper options. MUCH cheaper. And boy when I write the check for the aerial structure loan every month do I wonder if I should have gone that route. But I didn’t. I chose the OSHA version because it was the safest. I keep a saftey maintenance log any time I check the gear. I love my studio because is is beautiful, functional, and as safe as the aerial arts can possibly be. And in case you were wondering….moving around 27 pound steel plates while standing on the highest step of a ladder isn’t fun. Makes me wish I was taller! Yes, they are brilliantly engineered but super difficult to work with and move. If you see me today, don’t punch my right shoulder….
