Gains Through Bendy Babe
Bendy Babe is a great class to continuously take and learn from and if you have the motivation, to bring some of the information home. Especially if you want to see results faster, working on these things at home four or more times a week will help you grow quickly in your flexibility journey. Ideally you should be working on your flexibility minimum of three times per week. If you’re not seeing results in your flexibility it may just be because you don’t have a schedule that is working for you, or maybe you haven’t touched your splits in weeks and lost them. Flexibility can really be one of those use it or lose type deals unfortunately. So, I recommend taking bendy often and trying some of the stuff you’ve learned at home as much as you can to reach your goals. Depending on what instructor is teaching for the night, Bendy Babe can really focus on different parts of flexibility or even be more of a chill stretch, roll out sore muscles and socialize all hour class. Sometimes what our bodies need most is just to roll out all those tight, sore muscles with a foam roller or a spikey ball. If you have a specific goal in mind, absolutely share that with the instructor for the night so they can tailor and help you out. Every instructor has their strengths, so share your goals with the instructor at the beginning of every class because one may have a method that works a little better for you. On average it takes 2 months before something becomes an automatic habit. Meaning those first two months are going to be the hardest to develop that at home stretching routine, but trust me when I say you will feel so much better once it’s set in stone. Not only because mentally you’ll know you’re getting closer to your goals, but also because your body will feel amazing. After developing a stretching routine I can really tell how stiff and icky my body feels without it. Besides, it feels really amazing when I do finally get to my stretching time. But it’s not all about leaving feeling accomplished in doing all of the badass things because sometimes what we really need is some girl time to talk about life during Bendy Babe. Whether the topic is directly related to being a woman or just life in general, meeting new friends through having shared hobbies leads to finding friends with similar struggles and easily relatable stories and ultimately leads to finding your people. Finally feeling understood. Aside from getting to chat for an hour with awesome ladies, Bendy Babe always makes me feel so much better after rolling out my muscles and stretching with the purpose of gaining flexibility. I always feel relaxed and comfy leaving a bendy babe. It’s a great end to the night.
Practice Makes Progress!
How many of us don’t take advantage of our practices each week? I know for a fact that I’m guilty of it. Sometimes I will get into a rhythm of using my practices and then I get distracted by all the other classes that are available. It is so easy to do. Who wouldn’t rather take a fun class where you may learn a new trick or sequence? Ladies, use those practices! They are there for your sake and they do help I promise you. A lot of you are probably like me and when you get to practice you have no idea what to do and maybe you just stand there and watch other girls, and maybe do a move or two yourself. Maybe you grab your card and stare at it for a while but eventually you give up on that. So what did you accomplish? Do you feel like it was worth it to go? Maybe you think that you should have just joined that hoop or dance cardio class instead. I’m not saying taking those classes are bad, I’m saying find ways to make your practice successful! Try bringing a notebook or journal with you to your weekly class. Make notes about moves you want to work on. Perhaps there was a move in class you struggled to understand. Use these notes to make a plan for your practice. I have noticed that when I go into my practice prepared or with a game plan I feel so much more successful. Also, don’t forget that there’s an instructor available at practice (aside from semi-private). ASK THEM QUESTIONS!!! That is why they are there! Different instructors have different ways of teaching things. I’ve had moves that I couldn’t figure out and then I’d have a different instructor come and break it down in a different way and it just clicked. So ladies, use your practices! Go into them with a plan and take advantage of the instructor there. You will feel much more accomplished!
Appreciating MY Body
I had struggled with being overweight for most of my life. Growing up in school I had always been the outcast and had been bullied for being heavier than most. I had tried everything to lose the weight and nothing ever really seemed to help. I had picked up running and had ended up losing some weight, however I absolutely hated it. I could not stand to wake up and have to think about going outside to run for an hour, especially on the hot summer days. I hated the way people would look at me when I was trying to get healthy, and I hated more the way I felt like I was in an endless cycle that I could never really get ahead of. I was never able to really wake up excited to work out or be excited to get healthy because I was always bored of it. I was always not looking forward to running because it was not something I truly had ever found a passion in or really enjoyed honestly. When I tried Aerial Dance I was so shocked to find that it was something I truly enjoyed. I was able to actually want to go to classes and want to learn new moves. I was super excited to finally be able to see my body changing in a positive way, and I also got to experience it with a super supportive group of other women there who had very similar experiences in life. There are so many people I feel like I can actually relate to, and I enjoy being able to be apart of such a great group. I am super excited to continue learning and growing as a person as well. I feel so much more confident than I was prior and I am learning to love my body because it is able to do what I want it to do! I love the atmosphere and mostly I love the people. Thank you for showing me a new side of life I did not think I would ever see previously. I feel like I have a whole new outlook on life and I am thrilled to see how much more I can achieve. It’s not about weight loss anymore. It’s about feeling good, strong, and capable in my body as it is. It’s about appreciating the things this body can do. I cannot thank everyone enough for the opportunities I have been given recently!
The Right Environment
Throughout my journey at Aerial Dance not only have I found myself finding a new perspective on fitness, but also on mental health as well. I find myself looking forward to going to class as it is my time to actually focus on myself and relax. There are so many wonderful people there, and everyone is so fun to be around and super helpful in teaching you the way you want to be taught. They will work with you whatever level you are at and make sure to find a way to help you progress in your journey. The music choice is always fantastic and super motivating. I find myself able to actually be myself during this time and not have to fear judgement as everyone is there for the same reasons. Nobody makes you feel bad if you need extra help with anything, and are instead more than willing to do whatever it takes to get you where you need to be and where you want to be. I love being able to take time out of my day to actually strengthen myself not only physically, but mentally as well, as it is something that definitely takes a lot of stress off your back to be able to relax and better yourself. There is never a boring day at class and everything is always new, upbeat, and exciting. You won’t find yourself bored and repeating the same things over and over again, it is always incorporated in a new and exciting way! We are always learning new moves and I keep finding myself able to do far more things than I thought I would ever be able to! It is not only fun to learn but challenging and rewarding as well. You feel so accomplished when you are finally able to get something mastered that you didn’t think you would even be capable of! I am super excited to be able to continue my journey and keep pushing myself past the limits of what I thought I could do. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have a better and more motivating team to stand beside me and help me through my journey. I feel so at home and welcome here. It is definitely a place I look forward to coming to. Thank you for helping me better myself in the dance world and also give me a new outlook and perspective on health and fitness in general!
Creating Structure for Success
I don’t know how I ever worked out before I had structure. Accountability. It always felt like a mental fight with myself to get up and do even a light workout. I’ve been struggling with getting myself to be active after college and it gets harder the older I get (I’m only 30, but I can tell each year is harder). Pole has helped me build structure. Every bruise and soreness feels like an accomplishment somehow. It’s a little reminder that I showed up. I like the challenge of getting better than the week before. I can literally feel the progress, the strength I’ve built, and I see how I’ve gotten a little bit better with each class. That little bit of progress each time keeps me hooked. Sometimes just showing up feels like an accomplishment. Structure. I’ve always struggled with consistency and self accountability relating to my physical health. Sometimes you get sick and you have to give your body time. Sometimes it’s not your choice to take a break and you don’t really want to, but you have to. I had covid and didn’t workout for two weeks. Normally when I fall off of working out I fall off for months (if I was even working out consistently to begin with). Honesty, after sitting on my butt for two weeks I didn’t really feel like working out. I didn’t really realize how consistently working out actually gave me energy. Having the structure of weekly classes helped me to get back in the flow of things right away. I needed that bit of accountability to get me back to working out. Positivity is also a part of class I didn’t see as an important part of my wellness structure. The positivity from the women in my classes is sometimes the little extra push that gets me to go to class after a long day at work. When I joined, I didn’t know how much having others cheering me on and cheering on others would impact me. It brought positivity into my workouts that made them that much better. When someone else succeeds in a pose or a move, it inspires me to try a little harder. I found the thing that finally gave me enough of a push to stick with working out every week for over a year. It feels so natural now to have set days built into my weekly schedule to look after my wellness.
Fitting In
So throughout my whole childhood I always found myself as kind of the outcast when it came to sports and fitness. I was always a little overweight and struggled to do some of the things that most of the kids were able to do easily. I truly wanted to get healthier and wanted to be able to do all the cool things and sports everyone else was doing in school, but I never knew how to. I was always the uncoordinated one with everything I seemed to pick up in the sports world. Always the one to be picked last in gym class and never wanting to go back the next day because I always was afraid of letting down the team if I did something wrong. I was always looking forward to when gym was over, never when it was starting and overall just feeling bad for not being as good as everyone else was. When I decided to try Aerial Dance I learned that it is okay to be on different levels and that everyone learns and succeeds at their own pace in their own ways. I am learning to be okay with my own progress and to not be so hard on myself. I love being able to finally be myself, judgement free and progress in my journey as well. I feel so much stronger and so much healthier in general than I had previously my entire life. Everyone is so generally supportive I feel so welcome and at home with everyone here. I love waking up to come here and have a totally new outlook on life, physical health and fitness as well. I am so thankful I have been able to find this place and become the person that I want to be. Thank you for bringing a positive outlook on life for me again. I cannot wait for what is to come next in my journey! You guys have truly changed my life for the better in more ways than I can count. I am not only physically stronger but have so much higher confidence as well! I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn to love myself again. I cannot wait to be able to continue expressing myself through dance and pushing myself past the limits of what I thought I could handle. Aerial Dance has truly changed me for the better over and over again.
A Nemesis Can Change
If you are anything like me there’s one apparatus that you usually avoid. We all have our favorites and find certain ones extremely difficult. For me, hoop is my nemesis. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love watching people preform using the hoop. I find it so mesmerizing and beautiful. When I get up in the hoop I feel awkward and out of place. I always told myself if I’d just take it more often I’d improve. But, alas if I saw another class option at the same time I’d always take that one instead. I’d always do everything I could to talk myself out of signing up for a class. Maybe there was “something going on at home.” I always found an excuse. Eventually I talked myself into taking one hoop class a month, just to keep myself doing it. That worked for a time, and then old habits kicked in and I went back to avoiding it. Maybe next month I’ll squeeze a class in… but it never happened. I had basically given up on ever getting better at it, so why try? Last year rolled around and I hadn’t taken a hoop class in a very long time. It was pobably at least a year since I’d touched a hoop when I noticed an ad in the marketplace from a fellow student. They were selling their aerial rig because they were no longer using it. I’m not sure what went through my mind. I always avoided hoop but for some reason I jumped on the opportunity to own my own rig! I got it home and set it all up and sat in the hoop for a bit and that was it. Why did I get this? I’m never going to use it. Boy was I wrong! Slowly I noticed myself going outside more.. even if it wasn’t for long. I started taking my phone outside with me and putting together a few combos of moves I could remember. After that I started taking hoop classes again! At one point I even went two weeks in a row! Now I can get myself into the hoop so much easier. I’m having an easier time understanding moves. I’ve done a couple moves now that I’d previously never imagined. I’m not saying get yourself a rig for home, I’m saying if you stick with something it will get easier! I also think it actually helped me taking a break. I continued to build my strength and confidence on other apparatuses and it has made it so much easier to accomplish things using my “nemises” apparatus! Never give up, it will get easier!
