I remember my first time at the studio like it was yesterday. I wanted to try pole as it was an item on my bucket list. A coworker of mine had bring a friend to class so we signed up for Pole Flow. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I showed up wearing yoga pants. I noticed that some of the other ladies were wearing pole shorts and sport bras. I thought to myself that I would never wear those.
I thought that I would never wear just pole shorts and a sports bra as I didn’t want to be flaunting my flaws. I didn’t want to be flaunting the stretch marks on my stomach, the dimples on my rear, and that my stomach wasn’t flat. As women, society ingrains in us at a young age to hide what we perceive to be our flaws. Society tells us conflicting thoughts such as we are too fat, too thin, too young, too old, and so forth.
Overtime, the layers of clothes were gradually coming off. I thought that by going to Pole Flow, I would simply be crossing an item off of my bucket list. However, I fell in love with the sport. I signed up for Beginner Pole. It was time to invest in some pole shorts. The layers were further coming off in Intermediate Pole when I would take off my shirt to do Embrace.
In moving up to Advanced Pole, I learned how crucial skin grip is. I started Advanced Pole last July where I further learned that my worst season for grip was the summer. When my legs started to sweat, I was in trouble. I even fell out of Bat where my cheek hit against the floor. I was fine and continued on. Eventually, I learned the importance of stomach grip and the extra security it gave me when inverting.
I went from wearing yoga pants to my first Pole Flow class to my regular attire being pole shorts and a sports bra in pole class.Besides giving me the strength and teaching me tricks, the studio has also given me the ability to believe in my own beauty. Overtime, I learned to embrace what I perceive to be my flaws and to love myself. My body was learning to do amazing things from climbing to the top of the pole to hanging upside down by my legs. I figured it was time to be kind to my body and to love it for the flaws and all.
