360 Pole Dancing

Confidence doesn’t come first, action does.
Our students in Bristol are getting more confident every day and we have the secret:
We have to practice the hard thing. Multiple times. To prove to our nervous system that it’s not scary.
In turn this fuels belief in yourself, and you can empower yourself to take on bigger challenges.
This might start with just getting your s**t together and booking, and then making it through the door of, your first pole class. But later, trying the hard trick, and proving to yourself that it wasn’t as scary as your nervous system first thought. And with repetition, you gain the confidence to try harder things again - because it doesn’t matter if you fail, every time you try, you are proving that you are capable.
And this feeling will spill out into other aspects of your life too. Being able to walk into a bar. Or have a difficult conversation. Or dance at a wedding. Or go for that promotion. It’s contagious. Join in.

Let’s talk about GRIP. I mean the ability to stick to the pole.
When we first start pole, there’s often a bit of a surprise with how painful some positions can feel. And I’m often asked “does it ever stop hurting?!?!?”. Initially, it’s because our body is guessing about how much danger we are in while starting something new.
The answer is that we never stop FEELING the pole. But our skin becomes “habituated” to it. We don’t become numb or kill off nerve endings (!) that would be ridiculous and probably dangerous. Instead, our body starts to realise that the thing we are doing isn’t the same as putting your hand in a fire. We get rewarded by achieving something new, by the cheers of our class team, and also by the fact that we didn’t fall and die. 💀
The message of pain that is sent fades, instead the message is rewritten as a sensation of friction, of grip, of safety. We actively seek it before taking a hand away. Taadaah! Grip is good. Emergency pain signal is gone. We definitely still feel it. You’ll still be sore afterwards if it’s a delicate bit of skin or you did it too many times. BUT it takes conditioning, and this needs upkeep too. Don’t be surprised if the pain is back if you take a break.

Anyway. To get to my final point. In hot weather we can take advantage of the extra sticky poles to achieve even more ridiculous feats of pole levitation! Yes the Pole might feel more bitey than usual, but we probably can’t even try some of this s**t in January. Embrace the friction when you find it. Lean into it. Sometimes we come and just want to slide around on the floor. Today ain’t that day.
Just bring your aloe gel for afterwards. I might even put it in the fridge.

Sucking at something is the first step to being sort of good at something.
Give yourself permission to be a beginner, to make the mistakes, to learn from them. No-one will judge you for TRYING.
You’re not behind. Everyone is on their own journey. Life happens. You are exactly where you need to be right now. Don’t compare your first few months to someone else’s years of work. If you enjoy the movement just do it, and try not to compare.
Sometimes there will be classes where everything is hard and you feel like you failed. You didn’t. You showed up and put in the work, and you now have a plan of what skills to train. And then sometimes you have a class where everything just flows and feels easy. These are great but didn’t you join because of the challenge?!
You’re not bad at pole. You’re just new (or it’s a new skill). Keep showing up.

Spot the difference!

If you have known me a while you’ll know WHY I don’t like Elbow Aysha, but then I do it and it’s FINE. OK maybe it’s not soooo bad? 😭 (meanwhile my brain: don’t die don’t die don’t die.)

You get both these clips because the first one had such a smooth spin and transition to Eros, and the lighting was doing what only The Glittercave lighting can! But the Elbow Aysha felt so strong (that I actually forgot what I was supposed to be doing next)

What’s the other difference?

Advanced Pole Lesson at 360 Pole Dancing Bristol BS3

Pole dancing is the best. RIP my bank account when I end up buying 10 more outfits though.

Flexibility isn’t just for show. Yes we might have a long term goal of getting a flat split, but consistent and regular stretching has so many other benefits. And as pole dancers the most important one is in increased strength and mobility, and feeling more comfortable towards the end range of motion… which can make attempting new tricks more accessible but also safer!
Active stretching increases flexibility, improves joint range of motion, and enhances physical performance, while reducing injury risk, muscle tension, and aches. It also promotes better blood circulation, improved posture, and stress relief. What have you got to lose!
Wednesday and Thursday 9-10pm at 360 Pole Dancing Bristol BS3. All welcome.
Bring your best innuendos, as you’ll definitely feel this class deep in your butt 😂

I was feeling flexy and the pole was so grippy! It seemed like a perfect combo to find the friction to stay in this trick.
But not today.
Reminder that your instructors are not superheroes! We show you the stuff that we (mostly) have polished and look effortless. But we still learn and fail and look awkward. I filmed this in a “just in case I got it” kind of way, and probably felt a bit down immediately after that a trick I thought was in my range was in fact, not. But rewatching the video I can see that while this isn’t a trick I’ll have in my everyday repertoire, I’m still pretty close?!
Maybe on a warmer day in the summer!!!

So, you signed up to pole classes?! But what should you wear?!
We’ve put together this fun guide!

For warmups:
• Layers are great. If the air is cooler, keep your top layers on until you need to grip!

For Pole Class:
• Shorts are essential. We need leg/skin contact to grip the pole. Especially while we are still building our upper body strength. Longer shorts that can be rolled up for thigh access are great while your confidence grows.
• On top, a vest or t-shirt is ideal. With the option to lift the sides for access to your waist. A supportive sports bra if you need one!
• Socks are optional, some moves need us to grip the floor to push off, some require us to pivot and slide. Be prepared to swap around depending on what we’re doing.
• Outfits should be form fitting so you’re not worried about flashing anyone or getting lost in an oversized top when bending over.
• Overall as beginners we just want you to feel comfortable moving about. At the start you can wear whatever you have in the drawer. We’ve seen cycling shorts, holiday shorts, and even PJ bottoms!
• As you progress on your pole journey, you’ll need access to more skin grip points. But you’ll also grow in confidence and start to look at fancy matching pole outfits.

For Floor&Flow/Heels Class:
• You can be a bit more daring!
• Heels with a sturdy platform and good height heel to lift you.
• “Pleasers” and “Hella Heels” are popular brands. But look on Vinted or in FB selling groups if you’re looking to save on your first pair.
• Socks are also cool if heels aren’t for you. We need to sliiiiiide on all sorts of edges of our feet.
• Pole/Dance kneepads are recommended for when we’re learning floor tricks and transitions. They don’t need to be fancy.
• Wear something that makes you feel your best. It will show in your dancing. Add strappies or other accessories to feel special!

Thanks to my student dancers for being part of this! And please appreciate that we all managed to find these deliberately mismatched beginner outfits for you!
360 Pole Dancing, Bedminster Bristol BS3

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