100 Days Out the Box Challenge

Just about everyone out there has a 100 days challenge. They’re all designed to get you to push yourself to be healthier, be better, be stronger.

So I want to throw my own 100 days challenge at you. Except I don’t want to and I don’t want you to just try be healthier or happier. I want all of us, to stop being so complacent!

It’s so easy for us to complain about how terrible our lives are, how unhappy we are and so on. But at the end of the day, circumstance only plays a small part in the life you have. YOU play the biggest role in your own life. If you sit back and complain without doing anything about, it then nothing’s going to change.

If you want your life to change you have to change it and get out of your comfort zone. This is the point of the 100 Days Out the Box Challenge, to get you to live outside of your box. If you can make a conscious effort to get out of your box at least once every day for 100 days you can actually start to feel the confidence to make the changes that ACTUALLY matter!

So I dare you to join the 100 Days Out the Box and every day post a picture everyday of how you are living outside of your box. It can be something as simple as taking a new route to work or trying a new fruit juice or something bigger like starting a new hobby or maybe a new job. Post your picture on Facebook or Twitter with #100daysoutthebox. I am literally talking about something as simple as wearing your hair a different way or wearing that bright lipstick you’ve never worn. The challenge starts on the 1^st of August, so prepare yourself to get out of your box.

Take your life into your own hands and do everything you can to challenge yourself. Be the person you want to be, live the life you want to live and stop being complacent about the situation you’re in. 

100 Day Out the Box Challenge, it’s time to live the life you want!

A day in the life of a pole addict – South African Pole Sport Federation League July 2014

Today I competed in my first pole competition. The South AfricanPole Sport Federation (SAPSF) was founded by Karin Nicklin, Tracy Simmonds, Lindi Gyökösi, and, finally, a woman who is very close to my heart, Julie Swart. The federation, previously known as the Pole Fitness Association of South Africa, is designed to develop and uphold the standards of the pole sport industry in South Africa.

The federation holds the league four times a year in different provinces. It’s intended to be as easy entry into competitive pole sport for new comers such as myself. There is no “winner” as each dancer is competing against themselves. They can enter into the Bronze (beginner), Silver (intermediate) or Gold (advanced) division. Each division has its own required moves and obviously they get harder as the level goes up.

I’ve only performed once before at my studios annual showcase last November so this was only the second time I’ve ever danced in front of an audience. When I compare my first performance to today’s performance the difference is astounding. But as for it being a perfect performance, it was far from it. I ran into problems such as too much spin on a spinning pole and a double knee hook that just wouldn’t go in.

So if you’re going to be competing in your first pole comp anytime soon, here’s what I advise:

1.       Test your spinning pole before you start. I under estimated just how spiny the one at this comp was today and it showed in my performance.

2.       If you have to hold a move for three counts practice holding it for six. Nervous will almost always make you go faster than you should so what you count as six in your head is three in reality.

3.       Use really go grip. With good grip aid you can hang onto almost any kind of pole.

4.       Smile during your performance, there’s nothing worse than a dancer who doesn’t look like they’re enjoying dancing.

Thanks to support, encouragement, inspiration and care of the wonderful Julie, my instructor and pole role model, I have grown in leaps and bounds. The fact that I was able to do what I did today after only a year and four months of pole is partly thanks to the amazing teachings of Julie. So Julie, and my other Vertical Vixen instructors, Brenda and Rory, thank you! Thank you for being part of changing my life. Through all of you I have discovered a mental, emotional and physical strength I never knew I had. So thank you for helping my reach this point.

I can’t wait for the next league and I’m going to keep doing them until competing feels as natural as breathing. 

This is the official SAPSF video

Build your body confidence with Pole Dancing

Hey ladies, do you hate your body? Do you look at it in the mirror and cringe or cry? I have. I’ve hated my body for not being perfect. The strange thing is I’ve seen women that I think have perfect bodies, cringe over the way they look. So who’s defining this idea of the perfect body anyway?

The truth is, the perfect body is one that’s health, strong and fully able. Your stretch marks and love handles don’t change that fact. It’s taken me a LONG time to realise that.

You want to know what helped me get to that realisation. Pole dancing. Since I started in March 2013 I have lost weight and there’s now some muscle definition around my stomach and even my legs, but at the end of the day, I still have big hips and thighs and I’m still a size 14 and I’m still more or less the same weight on the scale as I was when I started (yes I probably have changed some fat for muscle, but still).

Yet, I find myself enjoying my body now, so what changed if my body hasn’t that much? It’s simple, my perception of my body has changed. Since I started doing pole dancing my body isn’t this wobbly gross thing. It’s now a strong and powerful dancing machine that can do things I never dreamed of doing.

Even the way I think of my hips and thighs has changed simply because I need them. There are certain moves which you’ll struggle more with if you don’t have a bit of hip, or thigh or bum to grip with. So those body parts you hate suddenly become useful.

I haven’t stopped noticing those parts of my body and wishing they were smaller and more toned and I still envy the way other women in my studio look in their pole short. But then something special happens, I do a move that they can’t, a move they want to be able to do and they envy me. That’s when I’m reminded that I’d rather have this body, with its strength than their beautiful lean bodies.

Pole dancing has given me a confidence to feel sexy and beautiful no matter what I’m wearing. I’ve seen women who are two, maybe three times bigger than me, strutting around in their pole shorts like a size 8 diva and you know what, they look amazing. It just goes to show you, it’s not how much you weight or even your shape that matters, it’s how you feel that matters. No one can really pinpoint what it is about pole that transforms your perception about your body but it really works wonders.

So change your perception and improve your body confidence with pole dancing. Trust me, you’ll never look back.

PS. I’d love to hear your stories on how pole has changed how you feel about your body so please share them in a comment.