Practice Makes PROGRESS

I’ve been seeing this phrase so much lately, “Practice makes progress”. I love it, but I am a bit of a hypocrite these days. I have felt stuck in my own skills journey, and haven’t been following my own advice that I give to students all the time! Practice. It sounds like such a dirty word to me lately. I lost a lot of strength during the shut down, and my personal skills took a huge step backwards. Since reopening, I started off strong! Working on my basics, building my strength and skills back up. Somewhere along the way, I fell off the wagon. I want my skills back, but I stopped doing the conditioning, and putting in the practice time. I have come to rest atop the plateau. My most recent kick in the pants to get back after it was a lesson (via zoom) with Heidi Coker. She had more confidence in me and my skills than I had in myself. That lesson and what I accomplished when I put my mind to it has given me the reboot that I needed. I was reminded how amazing what we do is, and how important it is to celebrate EVERY accomplishment. Every practice has something to celebrate, tiny progress is still progress. Keep going!
Journeying Back

Well it has been a week. I was planning to make it back for a pole class by now but the universe has had other plans for me. About 2 weeks ago I somehow managed to give myself a pretty severe case of whiplash, and I still don’t know how. All I did was turn my head to grab my cup, and I heard a loud snap and felt instant pain. I went to the chiropractor for an adjustment, and the massage therapist for a focused massage with no significant relief. Fast forward a week and I am still experiencing some pain with movement of my neck, but it has gotten a little bit better. Every time I turn around here lately something happens that brings me right back down from picking myself back up. I had every intention of being able to at the very least participate in an online class. However the universe apparently has different plans for me at this moment in time. A couple weeks ago now my back was bothering me so much I could hardly walk without pain or discomfort so I finally went in to see a doctor. At this point the x-rays show moderate degenerative changes and narrowing of the spine for sure. The doctor is also suspicious of a slipped disc that may be pinching a nerve so there isn’t much I can do, so my plans to return to Pole classes have yet again been put on hold. The weather amongst many other things in my life have prevented me from making it back in to the studio for a class. However, that does not mean that pole has not been an inspiration to me. I go on to the all inclusive members Facebook page regularly and I read up on the posts there, and watch videos whenever they are posted. This allows me to still feel connected to pole even when I can’t make it in to the studio for classes. I keep telling myself that at the very least I should go do some of the online studio workouts until I can make it back into the gym, but then I always come up with excuses. Today is the day I decided there can be no more excuses. I will do something at least once a week to be involved with the studio until I can physically be in class again. I am super excited to get all signed up for the next session of pole classes. I am not giving up. I check out the Facebook page for all inclusive member posts daily for the motivation to keep pushing forward in hopes to get back into a pole class sooner rather than later. It will happen as soon as I get the clear to get back into the gym.
All By Myself

Many of our members start taking their first class with a friend. That is awesome for those lucky women who have a friend willing to try something new with them. I was not so lucky. I couldn’t talk any of my friend into making the drive to Appleton (the Green Bay studio didn’t exist…) to try pole dancing with me. So I went alone. And I loved it anyway – all by myself. I made an amazing group of new friends in my classes in no time at all! After I became an instructor, I started to pay attention to who signed up after intro classes. It was rare for friends to sign up without each other. I heard this a lot “But my friend isn’t able to”. So what??? I know we all want that comfort of someone familiar to be with. But if they aren’t there, you’ll make new friends! Our community at Aerial Dance is an AMAZING place to do that. Our classes are filled with other interesting, adult women that you already have something unique in common with! Ladies – have a friend who wants to take class with you? Awesome! No takers in your current circle? Awesome! Come make some new friends doing something amazing.
1,158

Last week was the “anniversary” of the “safer at home order” and when Aerial Dance shifted for a few months to online classes. On Tuesday I made a FB Live message “one year and what have we learned” on the main Aerial Dance Wi page. To prepare, I had Manager Chrissy put together a list of how many online classes we taught since resuming our IN PERSON classes. I already knew we had taught 522 online classes during the “safer at home”. FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO online classes from March 17 – May 25, 2020. To me that number was mind blowing. We went from NEVER having taught an online class to teaching 522 during the 70 days that the “safer at home” was in place. We were offering on average SEVEN classes a day online during the safer at home. AMAZING. What I didn’t know and was SHOCKED to learn is that since the “safer at home” we have kept our online class program extremely strong. We have taught 636 additional online classes since resuming in person classes. THIS IS HUGE. We are primarily an in person studio. When we returned to what we do best we STILL offered on average at least two online classes daily for our members. We offer over 150+ in person classes every week and are also offering an additional 14+ online. The sheer number of options our members have is simply mind blowing. Aerial Dance went from never having taught an online class to teaching 1,158 in the first year we offered them. That is simply amazing.
Fresh Start

Back in August of last year I attended my first pole class, Introduction to Pole. I fell in love immediately, and decided to sign up for the all inclusive membership because I wanted to try all of the things. About a week later, my life was flipped completely upside down when my husband of 9 years served me with divorce papers. I had no idea what I was going to do. I didn’t know how I was going to pay my actually bills let alone the extra for pole classes. I attempted to cancel my membership only to remember I had signed a contract. My heart sank with overwhelming fear of how I was going to survive, and not go even further into debt. I then ended up getting covid a couple months later and was unable to work for almost 2 full weeks which only made things worse. I slipped into a depression where I wasn’t really talking to anyone, including those who were reaching out. The staff at Aerial Dance reached out on numerous occasions to check in and try to get me back into class, but I was worried about how I was going to come up with all my dues. Aerial Dance was more than willing to work with me to try to get me all caught up, and get me back into the studio for class. Never in a million years did I ever imagine my life turning out this way. Over the past several months I have learned a lot about myself. I have come a long ways from where I was, but I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be. Pole can be used as a escape from reality. It is a great workout that is also fun, and it helps bring people from all walks of life together. Those people may turn out to be some of the best people that will be there for you through the good times, and the bad. While things have been very difficult for me as of recent times, I am looking forward into the future, and what joy I get from pole fitness. I have yet to make it back into a class but I can say that I have a plan in place now thanks to Aerial Dance. I am so happy that Aerial Dance was there for me in my time of need, and that I am looking forward to getting back into things.
Unplug

I know it’s hard, especially in today’s half open, half still shut world. Now more than ever it is important to unplug yourself! We spend so much time on technology, always “on” that it is so important to remove yourself from it every now and then. I’m not saying uninstall Facebook, Insta, Twitter, etc… I’m saying leave your phone behind once in a while, put it in another room, or turn it off. In my role at Aerial Dance I do a lot of online work with our social media accounts. I also have my personal accounts that I use to keep in touch with friends and family. Between the two, I spend A LOT of time on social media platforms. Each week, I try to take one day that I don’t open my personal or work social medias. One day free from it all – it’s rare that I make it the whole day honestly, but I try. In doing this I have actively reduced the amount of my free time I spend on social media just mindlessly scrolling. I go on less as a “time filler” than I used to. Small changes like this have made a noticeable impact on my amount of free time to do other things. For many of us, being plugged in in ways other than social media (emails, texts, messaging platforms) is necessary for our jobs. This can be just as draining on us! Make sure you set boundaries and keep your YOU time. Starting with simple boundaries like “After 7:30pm I will not check my work email” or “Before I’ve had my coffee, I will not open my computer” are small, easy ways to start to set boundaries for yourself. I still struggle with this one. I have set boundaries like these, but often find myself saying “It’s just one email to respond to” and making exceptions. It is a work in progress. I have the boundaries in my head though, and most of the time I do try to abide by them. This has caused me some anxiety in getting used to it, but that email will be there in the morning! If it were a true emergency, I know that a phone call would be made to alert me to it. The moral here is that we all need to actively take time for ourselves WITHOUT being on call all the time. Just having our technology on us, knowing that it could go off triggers our brain to be slightly in response mode. Take some time to separate yourself from it all. Small doses even, can make a huge impact.
Consistency Feels Good

I am really jamming on how great it feels to be back at the studio… consistently! So I found some reasons why I have been enjoying it so much 🙂 Consistency allows for measurement. This is why we have cards for each apparatus and one of the columns is the day the move was introduced. How awesome is it when you have been working on something for awhile and it finally clicks?! Especially when it comes to moves related to fundamental strength or technique, you will only see improvement after consistently applying yourself. Until you have tried something new for a period of time and in a consistent manner, you can’t determine if it works or not. How do you measure effectiveness if what you are measuring isn’t performed consistently? Personally, my handsprings are weak right now and that is because I have not been consistently training my full bracket strength. Or is it because I am afraid or need to work on my pelvic tuck? I don’t know because I haven’t been consistent and therefore cannot adjust where necessary. Consistency creates accountability. The more consistent I am at showing up, doing conditioning or working on x, y, z, the more accountable I become to myself. If you tend to push self-care to the side, find yourself an accountability partner! I always appreciate when Arnie kicks me out of the house when I do not have the internal inertia. I also have accountable partners that I promise to meet at the studio. This helps me get out of bed even though my bed is way more warm and comfy than a metal pole. Consistency feels good. It feels good to work out (thank-you endorphins!). It feels really good to be getting more confident on all of the apparatuses, stronger and more flexible. It also feels really good to see all of the amazing women at the studio again. All of you have been a consistent part of my life for so long, that it is so great to have that sense of normalcy back. Cheers to being consistent!Â
Ration Your Time

In the real world I am a teacher. So, by nature I am a give it my 100% best all the time type of person. Balls to the wall, hit things on full force with all my energy. Sounds exhausting doesn’t it? Well, no surprise there, IT IS! Recently, I had to participate in a professional development day. Within the first hour, there was something that hit me like a bus! The keynote speaker shared with us his biggest downfall since our world was turned upside down in March of 2020. His downfall was that he was continuing to give it his 100% best all of the time and it was burning him out. His wife gave him a wake up call, she said, “You are replaceable at work……. You ARE NOT replaceable in our family.” He was so focused on his work and engaging his students, that he was disconnecting from his family and other loved ones. It didn’t take a pandemic to know that this type of situation has been a problem all along, as many continue to struggle with balancing all the aspects of their life. So I ask you this….. How often do you find yourself taking a step back and saying this time, I am going to take it down a notch and not exhaust myself, but then you feel guilty and exhaust yourself anyway? How often are you still continuing to give more and more of yourself each day? Each week? And not being able to fully recharge to a healthy physical/emotional place. COVID-19 shifted our way of life and many of us are still just powering through at 100% thinking that “someday” we will be back to “normal”. I know that we are just shy of a year since our state was shut down and some things are reopening, but nothing has been “normal” since. When the keynote speaker reflected on his situation and the stress this last year put on him and his family, he and his wife sat down and created a plan. They decided together that they were going to “ration” their energy for the week and check in with each other at the end of each day. Think about it this way. You are lost in the woods and have some food. If you eat half your food on Monday and the other half on Tuesday….. Where does that leave you for the rest of the week? Hungry…….. That’s where. Now apply this concept to your physical and mental energy, if you use all your energy in the first two/three days of the week it is going to leave you burnt out and exhausted. We are so accustomed to giving it 110%, that on most days we are functioning on less than 5% of our physical and emotional energy. THAT IS NOT OKAY! What is OKAY, is to reflect on your day and say, “Wow I really gave it my all today!”, whether “your all” was a huge success or not, that doesn’t matter. What is important is knowing that tomorrow you can scale it back and only give 70% or 80%, because it will help establish healthier physical and mental energy exertion! Over the next couple of weeks try to visualize your energy in some type of PHYSICAL form, something you would actually be able to see (food/water for the week). Then each day, picture taking away your percentage of energy you use. Be honest with yourself, if you are taking more energy for one day/week than you intended to allow yourself to try again the following day/week! I plan to track my energy via chart form to compile my own data at the end of the week to create a baseline to help me ration my energy for the next week and eventually to a lead a healthier life.
Competition Season!

I love performing and being in front of an audience. I am so excited to be able to help our women prepare for competition. I have competed and judged several competitions, and I love being able to share that aspect of our sport with others. This year’s competitions are of course going to be a bit different. Many of our women are preparing for virtual competitions. What this means is that they are still putting in the hours of preparation and hard work, but won’t get to perform on stage in front of a live audience. Instead, most will be recording their routine and submitting the video to be judged. There are pro’s and con’s to competing this way of course. First – it means that competitors can record as many takes as they want to get it right! However, we are our own worst critics, and having a flawless run of a routine NEVER happens. It requires competitors to make the call when they’ve done the best they can, and submit what they have. For me, performing is fun and exciting because I play off of the energy from the audience. Without an audience I have a really hard time getting into character and feeling my routine. For some of the women I’m working with for this year, the only reason they are willing to compete is because it is a video submission, and they DON’T have to be in front of an audience. They are using this year to write and submit a routine to build courage in their skills so maybe in the future they’ll be willing to get up on that stage by themselves. The way the pole and aerial world has adapted to still be able to compete has been amazing to me. Some are hoping to be in-person by fall, but most are still offering virtual options. Competitions may not look the same right now, but I am so grateful that they are still happening.
What I look for when hiring

As we look to the future and a time when class sizes aren’t limited and we’re able to share aerial apparatus again, allowing TWO classes in an aerial studio at a time, I know I need more instructors. It is super important for the company to always have more trained and qualified instructors than we “need” so our staff can take off when they want and don’t have to work at the studio (their second job!) more than they feel they can and still have life balance. So time to hire. I hate hiring. Our students are so incredible. So many of them offer wonderful skills that could be part of the team and narrowing it down is HARD. We used to do open interviews where anyone who was interested could apply. That was a MESS. The last time we did that we had 40+ apply and a lot of hurt feelings when they weren’t selected. For the sisterhood that is the studio, that isn’t a good thing. It creates animosity and division. So after that learning experience we now hire based on invitation. So what gets you an invitation? Being kind, always. That is the hallmark of an Aerial Dance instructor. We need instructors who are kind, even when a situation is challenging. We need that kindness and positivity to radiate when they are in a room. And a big part of that kindness is other focused. We don’t do ego here. Plain and simple, we can’t have an instructor that is self focused since what we do as instructors is guide and lead others. So how a student behaves in a class with kindness and ego is part of the selection. We see our students on good and bad days during their time so we factor in how they behave differently on those days to have a good idea if they will be able to consistently be kind and egoless if they join the instruction staff. Attending. Consistent attendance. Not being late to classes. Showing respect for the room by coming prepared and ready for class on time. Coming often enough that it is obvious the time it takes to be on staff is feasible in your life and schedule as you’re already spending the time at Aerial Dance! Taking classes at the times when we actually need instructors; right now we are looking for evening instructors so if you never attend in the evening currently than you wouldn’t be considered in this round of hiring. It is easier to keep doing what you’re doing than change your life; if you have to change your life to add then the likelihood of not completing the change goes up. That is why when a student attends is factored into hiring needs and if they are a good fit at this time. Loyalty. I run a business that is based on Sisterhood and community. Being loyal to the studio, company and community is extremely important. It is for this reason we don’t hire anyone who isn’t already a member. If you haven’t committed to our upper level of membership, then you don’t have the level of commitment we look for in our staff. We want you to already KNOW the feel of each type of class because you’ve taken them and the general support of the community before we bring you on staff. I won’t hire someone from the outside of our membership because they need to want to be part of the sisterhood before they try to lead it. Loyalty is big with me; I want staff who are loyal because that means they stick around and the longer an instructor is with Aerial Dance, the better of an instructor they are. Institutional knowledge is a HUGE asset in this sport; for example, Instructor Leah has been with me over 9 years, she has forgotten more about pole than an instructor in her first year even knows. Leah has seen our students grow and found a million and six new ways to explain something. Our students know they can count on her being around and that makes them feel safe and secure. That makes her a huge asset to our students and the company. For this reason, if a student talks about wanting to start her own studio or wants to work at another studio in the future, she isn’t in consideration to be an Instructor here. I train staff for the long term; every person I hire I am hoping will be with me as long as Leah. But life changes, so then be like a Niki, who once she’s off maternity leave will drive three hours one way to teach once a month because she believes so much in the community and sisterhood. This loyalty and dedication is highly prized and a big factor in hiring. Skills are actually that last thing considered. We can teach you skills. We do take into account how quickly a new trick is learned and general body awareness, but the baseline is really just about having some experience in most of our classes. The training process if 200+ hours and 6 months so everything else can be taught. Every time we announce new hires, there are hurt feelings. I hate it. But trust that there are specific reasons those that enter the instructor training program have at this time. And also know that if you exemplify the qualities above, in time, there may be a time where it is right for you to take that journey.