Look, entering a dance competition 9 months after giving birth is not the best idea I've ever had. Funnily enough, babies don't really like being ignored, left to play on their own on the floor in a dance studio. They also don't care for being pushed through the shops on a mission to Bras and Things for a costume, and certainly don't have the patience to wait while you try on 5 different things.
If you can push through the mummy guilt long enough to leave the baby with someone else, you get to the studio and realise that it's hard to be creative on 4 hours of broken sleep, and wonder if maybe you could just lie on the carpet gazing at the ceiling and visualise your choreography? That works right?
Or maybe watch some floor work videos on Instagram, that's always inspirational....until you remember you haven't danced full time for 18 months, and you still are trying to get your abs to make a comeback post caesarean-section. Now is not the time for new tricks Roxanne! Probably won't be able to master any new moves with a grand total of 2 hours rehearsal time per week.
So, here we are 3 days out, I've chosen a song I love and look forward to dancing to and I have enlisted my husband as my human prop...not as fun as it sounds folks, sorry to disappoint! Turns out after afore-mentioned broken sleep, 3 hours commute, leaving home at 5.30 am AND a full work day, he doesn't feel like rehearsing either! I have made up my mind to just do what I can already do and try and do it well enough to not fall over or off the tiny stage. I'll be happy with that to be honest. And yes, visualisation is approximately 50% of my rehearsal technique at the moment!
Jokes and self-deprecation aside, the one thing I can hold on to is that I am doing this because I love performing! As nervous as I get every time, even in the studio just in front of my class, I absolutely love performing and being on stage. I'm looking forward to seeing my show idea come to fruition, and to sharing the stage for the first time with my husband. I'm so looking forward to seeing students and colleagues past and present, and all the happy smiling faces of the pole community smiling back at me! Seriously, you guys better smile.
My first dance class after having my baby was at 7 weeks post-partum. It was a master class with the amazing Yanis Marshall from France, in a dance style I don't do. Back in November when I was pregnant I saw Yanis was coming and, idolising him as I do, I decided to buy a ticket to his workshop, fully aware that I could feel totally incapable of it at the time, but thinking it is better to have the choice than to have massive F.O.M.O. Lovely husband insisted he could handle a day on his own with bubba, and the clinching factor was that my work Christmas party (in January) fell on the same day, so I would also be able to see my lovely friends. I was in two minds about it until literally the day before when I decided to go.
I actually cried when I was feeding her that morning! For myself I might add, M would be fine, husband is amazing, and she adores him. But I have been existing as a half of a pair for 11 months now, she's like an extra appendage, how would I go all day without my little companion? And as I drove off down the freeway to Sydney I had all sorts of thoughts in my head...am I even the same person anymore? I have a new life now, I am Roxy the mother, bearer of life and boobies, not Roxy the dancer? Do I still need to be that other person?
I was also terrified of being out of my comfort zone...even at my fittest, this dance style Yanis teaches is not something I am very good at (street jazz, like video clip kind of dancing). I also had heaps of throwback emotions from when I was a professional dancer and going to auditions...man I really know how to psyche myself out!
And psyche myself out I did! I stood there at the back of the room looking at these young, hot amazing dancers at the front, nailing the chory and picking it up straight away and I felt like, well, like a mama with a 7 week old baby who hasn't exercised in 3 months!
Here's Yanis being amazing in our workshop...sorry it's filmed from behind!
Eventually though I managed to force myself to just zone in on the movement, and it was amazing to have to focus my energy and my mind on something other than myself or my baby for 2 hours. When choreography is that fast and not your natural movement, your concentration has to be focused like a laser. When I wasn't dancing I was standing at the back marking the chory through, purposely not watching those young, hot kids nailing it, but instead focusing on remembering the movement. It took me outside of myself and at the same time deep inside myself, to a part of my brain that hasn't been used for ages, and it was amazing! I felt so good for it afterwards!
It threw me for a couple of days though, bringing up a whole heap of memories and some new emotions. My past life as a professional dancer (pre-pole) was unremarkable really, even though I know I was talented, and I now cursed my past-self for not working harder or wanting "it" more, and for allowing myself to get psyched out in auditions. I realised that once and for all that part of my life is over, even though that's a decision I made many years ago, and one that I'm happy to have made as it brought me home to Sydney, to pole and teaching and, ultimately, to my husband and baby.
And then I got mad at myself for getting so nervous about this workshop and for holding back a little bit, making excuses for myself. I spent a couple of days wishing I could go back and do it again, and fantasised about flying interstate to his subsequent workshops to get a do-over. And then I felt guilty for feeling like this, and what that meant in terms of being away from my family.
Eventually it was Yanis's own words that comforted me. At one point during the workshop he stopped the music and asked one girl why she was looking at the floor when she dances and she stammered something in reply about being out of her comfort zone. Yanis replied "F**k everybody! Dance for yourself!" I'm paraphrasing here but he continued asking us all "why do you dance? Because of how it makes you feel! The joy of it, and the escape from every day life into something higher, something divine". It sounds like hyperbole, but his message resonated with me so much. I dance because of how it makes me feel, and because IT IS who I am, deep in my bones and in every tiny muscle and in that part of my brain that can remember choreography.
As corny as it sounds, although I am a mother now, I am still me. I get to be all the past me's and the present me all rolled into one...Roxy the Ballet and Contemporary dancer, Roxy the Musical Dancer and Actress, Roxy the Pregnant Pole Dancer, and, perhaps my favourite version of myself yet, Roxy the New Mummy xxx
Hello! I'm still here, and still pregnant! But sadly not pole dancing at all any more. I think you will forgive me for this when I tell you I am 39 weeks this week, which means 1 week away from D. Day! Apparently in Australia it is most common for babies to arrive between 38-41 weeks, so any day now (please baby!)
My last term of teaching at BPS and The Peach was term 5, from 29th August- 23rd October, or from 28 weeks- 35 weeks pregnant, and it was absolutely fantastic! I cut down from the previous terms 14 classes per week to just 7, of which only one was actually a "pole" class, an open level, the rest being stretch, floor work and chair based classes.
I am so glad I kept on working even though at times I was exhausted and aching, or sometimes the commute to and from Sydney and the Central Coast got a bit much, especially at 10pm! I'm just so glad I did it because it kept me moving, even in the more advanced classes where I pretty much just lead warm-up and then instructed. Just doing those 7 warm-ups per week made a huge difference to my fitness and well-being, and got me squatting, stretching and strengthening my joints. I was still able to demonstrate some floor work and chair tricks, but, as in every blog post I've written so far, I have to thank my beautiful students who were always happy to demonstrate and always let me off the hook of pushing myself too hard. Not to mention my gorgeous colleagues who supported me so much and, in one particular case, came to my classes as a student, ready to take over the class as teacher should it be necessary...shout to the divine Lacey at BPS!!!
Last week 8! 35 weeks
I feel like this third trimester was more about tackling the mental challenges that pregnancy presents for a fit and active person, rather than the physical. It is such a strange limbo period as your body changes, you are not yet fully physically incapacitated and still have quite a lot of energy, but at the same time you are not capable of your "normal" pre-pregnancy or even early pregnancy activities. It was frustrating sometimes as someone who is used to being so active, and sometimes I felt guilty for not being able to do more. What I kept telling myself was that there are very few times in your life when it is definitely ok to be easy on yourself and rest your body, so to take full advantage of it!
Pregnancy is such an interesting experience for everyone, but for body-concious, fit people it can be very challenging. For the first time in my life I have little to no control over my body, it's limitations and the changes occurring. Any athlete is used to being able to push their physical limitations using mental strength and determination, and through pregnancy you have to let go of this control.
If you have had any kind of injury that has restricted your practice, you may be able to relate to this. You have to force yourself to stop or hold back, but almost more than this, it is the other way around, with your body telling you when to stop. And similarly to injury there is always a small fear in the back of your mind of pushing that little bit too hard. There are some things that you actually cannot physically do whether you want to or not, for example as I have written about before, losing abdominal strength and not being able to invert, or not being able to properly stretch my hamstrings due to the bump stopping me from leaning forward far enough.
29-31-33-35 weeks
The other mental challenge for a lot of people during pregnancy is body image. I've read a few bits of writing from several different pregnant fit chicks and an ongoing theme seems to be dealing mentally with your growing body. Look, anyone who knows me knows I am not a carrot sticks and protein shake kind of gal, but if you are someone who is used to being pretty strict with your diet and who can control your weight very specifically through the food you eat, then you might struggle with the loss of control over the size of your belly. Personally I have never been a tiny person, always erring on the "curvier" side, so maybe this made it easier for me to embrace the belly? I couldn't wait to get a bump, as evidenced by my five million side-on selfies! Now that I am actually bloody huge and ready to pop, it is hilarious to look back on the pics of my "bump" when I thought it was big, it reminds me of this meme-
As dancers and athletes it is hard to escape conversations about body image and body confidence. From my point of view and from what I have observed in my students on a daily basis, pole dancing increases women's confidence in their bodies. I can see 2 very obvious reasons for this. Firstly, your body shape does change! As with taking up any new sport, new muscles will develop, you'll be sweating and dancing your little heart out, and some lucky people will shed a few kgs, especially when they first start, or whenever training schedules amp up a level.
Secondly, and most importantly in my opinion, your perception of yourself and your body changes. You spend a few hours a week staring at yourself and other beautiful women of all shapes and sizes in the mirror in hot pants and bra. You suddenly realise no one is looking at you and judging you, in the same way that you are not judging them...no one cares! You start to think perhaps you should be a bit kinder to yourself. You realise that girl with the six-pack doesn't like her thighs, or the girl with legs to her arm-pits thinks she has too many belly rolls. The girl whose beautiful shoulder and arm muscles you admire wishes she were more dainty, and the girl with no cellulite and tiny thighs wishes she had more booty.
There is no perfect body out there (ok, I just watched Miss Pole Dance Australia on Saturday night, and may have been proven wrong on this point! But I bet you they don't think they are perfect!) What all of our imperfect bodies have in common is the AMAZING things they can do! Did you ever think you would be able to invert when you started int 1? I didn't! Did you see yourself suspended horizontally from the pole supporting your whole body weight through your arms and shoulders??? Hell no!!!! It is nothing short of amazing what our bodies are capable of, and that knowledge instills a quiet (or not so quiet!) self-confidence deep inside of all of us Polers. Pole teaches us that we should care less about what our bodies look like and focus on what our amazing bodies are capable of!
For me pregnancy has taught me the same lesson. With little to no effort on my behalf my body has grown a human!!! With fingers and toes and a heart that beats and lungs that breathe! And a brain! A brain!!! Our bodies are nothing short of miraculous.
And I for one feel incredibly empowered by this amazing body. Some fit people talk about not feeling sexy or beautiful any more when they are pregnant, but I definitely do! I feel sexy, beautiful, feminine and divine! My poor classes had to deal with me still teaching them all the sexy moves, often forgetting how big the bump was and that it might look strange to some people. Why shouldn't a woman still be allowed to be sexy during this time? Hopefully none of my darling beginners were too freaked out, and hopefully the boundaries of what is sexy may have been blurred a little for some of my students as they were for me.
I've really enjoyed and embraced dressing the bump, and have loved getting dressed up for events and getting the bump out at the beach. I find it extremely empowering to waddle down the beach in my bikinis!
Just for fun, and because I don't really have any pole stories to share with you, here's a headstand I attempted a couple of weeks ago at the end of 37wks, just to see if I still could. Other than feeling a little heavy on my neck and head, it went surprisingly well! I know from the angle it looks like I'm leaning on the pole, but it was just there for moral support. So there's still some abs in there somewhere I guess! I wonder if this skill will be helpful in labour ;-)
So here I am in semi-retirement, playing the waiting game. I have lost my ankle bones, my feet look like they've been stung by a swarm of bees, I have carpal tunnel in my wrists, have bouts of excruciating sciatica, and can barely sleep at night. But I have had such an incredibly lucky and healthy pregnancy that I really cannot complain about a few weeks of discomfort. Since finishing work I have nested big time, deep-cleaned the house, washed every thing in sight, cleaned out cupboards and decorated baby's room....now we wait!!!
Thank you all so much for reading and following my journey. I hope there are some people out there in the same position who have felt encouraged by my posts. And as always if you want to message me directly please feel free (roxycarless@gmail.com) Next blog subject will of course have to be about the journey of getting back on the pole post baby!! EEK! Until then, happy poling and remember to love your amazing body!
As happens a lot in life, it never rains but it pours, and finding out the amazing news of me being pregnant coincided with some other big news: my husband being made redundant. This was happy news for him, in a kind of bitter-sweet way, but, as you can imagine, financial security is pretty high up there on the "important stuff to consider when having a baby" list, so this news was also a little scary! Months before we had said that if the redundancy came through we would take a lovely big holiday together, yet it was still a surprise when I came home in my 9th week of pregnancy to tickets for a 3-week trip to the USA! So at exactly 12 weeks pregnant off we went for 10 days in New York, a weekend in San Francisco, and some time in Vegas and LA, the trip of a lifetime! OMG I loved every minute of it, and am so grateful for the amazing surprise, but let me tell you, forget what they say about morning sickness ending after 12 weeks!!!! Of course everybody is different, but I still had the seedy "hang over" feeling the whole time we were away, and it was exacerbated by motion sickness and jet lag. What should have been "We're in Vegas-let's party!!" became "you go out honey I'm going to bed". There was almost no pushing past 10pm every night. Maybe a beachy do-nothing kind of a holiday is a better plan for pregnant ladies! Seriously though, it was so amazing and I am so grateful to my gorgeous husband!
Grand Canyon
So, back to pole dancing! I came back to teaching 15 classes a week at 15 weeks pregnant...3 weeks more pregnant (ie. heavier!) than I had been when I left, 3 weeks of no pole or exercise really, and 3 weeks of American food (even heavier!). This is when things got really hard and when I really had to carefully tune into what my body was telling me. As with the first trimester, I found my energy levels and strength changed daily, so I had to modify my teaching style around that.
It was actually a really fun time though, the morning sickness finally passed, my energy levels were up again and, best of all, at this point the pregnancy was public knowledge, and everyone from students to colleagues were really excited for me. I was glad to tell my students finally as I wanted them to know I had a good excuse for getting fatter and being lazier in class! It was really fun as every day I would see different people and go through the whole excitement and congratulations again.
In terms of modifying my dancing, I really had to take a step back now from demonstrating everything multiple times, and from doing every single thing with my students. I really believe that this is a good thing for them, and that the standard of my teaching was in no way impacted by this. Actually, I have been modifying my teaching style for a few years now, as I got older and as my workload increased. With anywhere from 15-23 classes per week, you really have to protect your own body and minimise stress on your muscles and joints, especially when you rely on your body's health for your income. I truly believe it is actually better for students not to be spoon fed, and I think everyone learns a lot more by trying something themselves (with guidance and spotting) than by watching the teacher do it 3 times. So when it came to finding a new pregnant teaching style, I don't think it was a big change for my students. I still demonstrated almost everything from weeks 15 to about week 20, and then as the weeks went on I did less and less, calling on students to demonstrate for me, or even just talked through the moves in more experienced classes. I danced the routines with my students, but stepped out for breathers....again, I truly believe this is good for my students, teaching them to remember the choreography rather than follow me.
Which leads me to one of the best things about this journey: the support and encouragement from my beautiful students and colleagues. This may sounds silly, but I was so afraid that I would lose students by trying to continue teaching throughout my pregnancy. As pole teachers, part of our job is to be inspiring, not just to be able to explain moves well, but to demonstrate them perfectly, often in slow-motion, and all while hanging upside-down by one leg! I'm sure we can all remember when our pole journey first began, watching our teacher in class, or in a week 8 show and absolutely falling in love them and wanting to dance like them one day. Instructors have to be able to show how something is done "properly", with straight legs, flexy lines and pointed toes, with flowing transition, with grace and ease of movement, and all whilst smiling!
This is why one of my biggest fears with pregnancy and poling was NOT being an inspiring teacher. I felt like I was getting fatter, less fit, falling out of moves, and I was unable to perform perfect inverts anymore...surely my students would not want to be instructed by me for much longer? Yet, right through to now, my beautiful, loyal students have continued to attend and re-enrol into my classes. I am so humbled and grateful to this amazing group of women (and a couple of men!) who are thrilled for me, interested in my journey and who laugh with me when I can't Candy (twisty-grip shoulder mount) anymore. They've helped me out by demonstrating things they are good at, they tell me not to worry about what I can't do, and that they are amazed by what I am still able to do. On top of it all, they tell me I look great, bless them! Once again, the amazingly supportive pole community astounds me, and my beautiful students remind me daily why I love my job so much!
Similarly to the first trimester, the biggest lesson I have taken away from this period is to have no expectations on what my body is or is not able to do from day to day. As I said, I lost my Candy in about my 17th week, but yet here is a video of me teaching press up hand-stands and pull up static-vs (ayeasha) in my 18th week, and finding it all pretty easy!
The morning sickness finally subsided around week 16, and I finally began to feel more energetic again. And then a couple of weeks later....BOOM! Baby belly! Seriously, I just woke up one morning with a feeling of having a hard ball in my tummy, and I feel like it's grown bigger every day since. This can wreak havoc with your centre of gravity and balance, although I feel like I haven't had any serious problems with this yet. I still dance and teach in my 7-inch heels, and love wearing them and luckily haven't had any falls...which is pretty amazing considering I am generally a pretty clumsy person, preggers or not! The most off centre I've felt was in week 22 when I was demonstrating a free-standing head stand and nearly overbalanced. But here's a video I made afterwards, just to prove to myself that if I really switched on my core I would be able to do it.
Speaking of core strength, I had a bit of a chat to my physiotherapist about this, as I was a bit confused as to what the "right" thing to do is, and you may be too. I wasn't sure whether to continue to pull my tummy in, or just let it all go. I know that sounds funny, but I'm sure I'm not the only dancer out there who feels like I suck my belly button in basically all the time. Is this bad? Am I restricting the baby's growth? Or inhibiting my abdominals ability to grow and stretch as they need? She told me as long as it is the transversus abdominals, or the deepest layer of muscles in the abdomen (which is basically the feeling of drawing your belly button to your spine and not of clenching or crunching) then it is totally fine, and actually beneficial, as your core will continue to stabilise your spine and help to prevent back pain or injury. So what pregnancy blog would be complete without an embarrassing bodily functions story?! Well, I've got one!! Skip this paragraph if you're not into wee stories! When I was 25 weeks pregnant I was teaching a flexibility class, rolling around on the floor, kicking and splitting... About 30 minutes into the class I felt what can only be described as a gush of fluid coming out of me. It took me a second to think about...I had just been to the toilet before class, and I didn't feel the sensation of passing urine. Just when I noticed I could see some wet marks coming through to the outside of my leggings then I felt it again! I jumped up and squeaked "excuse me for a minute" and ran out (on my lovely class, who handled it like champs and just continued stretching themselves until I could grab another teacher to take over...thank you Jedda!!!). Luckily my lovely boss Ness, who has had 2 kids, was there and I told her what had happened, not sure whether to laugh or cry and kind of doing both at once. I have to add here that someone had asked me earlier in the week how many weeks pregnant I was, and when I said 25 had replied "oh my friend just gave birth at 25 weeks!"....Seriously?!?!! So that was also lodged in my brain. So I decided to pack myself off to hospital and luckily the amazing staff at Randwick Women's Hospital took me straight into a room, strapped monitors to my belly, tested for amniotic fluid and a host of other things, and then reassured me that the weight of baby and the uterus had just put pressure on the wrong thing at the wrong time and I had actually probably just wee'd myself!!! I can laugh about it now....
Weeks 21-23-25-27
Now in week 27 I feel like my baby bump is really getting in the way and my slowly stretching abdominals are starting to hinder my ability to do anything. I feel so much heavier hanging on in basic spins, I can't breathe properly when in certain stretches and positions like shoulder stands, I can hardly bend forward to stretch my hamstrings in a seated stretch, and I get out of breath performing the slightest activity. Up to about 24/25 weeks I was still just about able to demonstrate a static-v (ayesha) or an extended butterfly, but it was tough, and a bit scary, not to mention very messy looking. So I have decided to embrace the fact that my inverting days are over, mostly as I am just starting to feel so heavy and can't completely trust my body to hold me up safely. I can't believe I still have about 13 weeks to go! I'm actually really ready for a bit of a break, everything is aching and even buckling my stripper heels is becoming hard work! Also mentally it will be good to reboot and enjoy a little bit of calm before the storm of a baby!
Well, I am super excited to be in the third and final trimester of pregnancy, and I am so stoked that I was able to continue to be as active as I have been. I honestly feel like the decision to continue poling or not has been taken out of my hands by my body. I have reached a point where it is not physically possible...for me at least. Side note- did you guys see the video of the chick doing an iron-x during labour?!?! If you haven't, check it out here. Omg she is amazing! It just serves to prove once again that every body and every pregnancy is different!
A new term begins at BPS and The Peach next week, and I will only be teaching 1 pole class a week, which is open level, as well as continuing to teach flex, chair and floor work. So I will at least be able to report on any dance-related/pregnancy things that are going on in the third trimester (hopefully no more wee stories!!) as well as post a few special blogs on specific topics. If anyone has any questions about anything pole and pregnancy related, please don't hesitate to ask!! 'Til next time gorgeous pole peeps!! Roxy, the pregnant pole dancer xxx
Heaps of people who read my first blog post about my first trimester of poling pregnant wrote to me (thank you!) and said there was a massive lack of information out there on the subject and subsequently they had felt scared to continue poling throughout their own pregnancy. This is such a shame and is also my whole motivation for writing this blog! Please continue to share your experiences with me so we can all contribute to getting as much info out there as possible and hopefully more women will be able to safely and confidently continue their favourite sport during their pregnancy!!
So I thought I would write a post specifically about this- some advice from a pregnant pole teacher to a pregnant student. Almost every pole teacher I know has had the great privilege to be amongst the first few people to know about a student's pregnancy. This is so beautiful and we are very grateful to be trusted with this secret. And as such, we often find ourselves in the position of being asked for a little bit of advice- Should I stop pole completely? Should I drop a level, or switch to flex or floor work?
I will preface everything further I have to say on the subject with this- I am not a doctor! This is not professional health advice! This is purely my own experience and thoughts on the subject. Remember that every body is different, and every pregnancy is different! Always seek advice from your doctor or obstetrician and always listen to what your body is telling you.
Ok, disclaimer out of the way, the general consensus on all sports when pregnant seems to be that if your body is used to the activity, and you do not have a high-risk pregnancy (again-speak to your doctor or obstetrician about your pregnancy and make sure they understand what pole is...show them a video if you must!), then you should be ok to sensibly continue with the type of exercise you are doing. Think maintenance of the level you are at, not pushing yourself or learning new skills, now is not the time to have a go at the latest, greatest pole trick on instagram!
My advice as a pole teacher to any pole student who approaches me with their good news is:
*LEVEL- Most likely you will want to drop down a level. You could stay in the level you are in for now IF you are very comfortable there and find it quite easy. But at some point you probably will want to drop down one or two levels. Do not increase the intensity level of your exercise program is the general advice, so that means stay at the same pace until your body tells you you need to back off even more. You may prefer to drop it down a notch straight away to be on the safe-side.
*TRICKS- Don't learn any new tricks because there is a greater risk of you falling when doing something unfamiliar. To be on the safe side you may prefer to stay low to the ground even in tricks you are experienced in, and only perform tricks you are super confident and secure in. Keep a hand on, or skip it if anything feels risky.
Felix Cane's famous Spatchcock- pregnancy is probably not the time to try it.
Image credit-Vertigo Photography
*TELL YOUR TEACHER- I know it's still too early to be telling the world, but please make sure to inform your teacher so they know not to push you, and can spot you as necessary. As I mentioned, you'd be amazed how often we have been amongst the first privileged few to know about our student's wonderful news, and your secret is safe with us I promise!
*TAKE IT EASY- Listen to your body! Sit down when you feel dizzy, tired or nauseous. Maybe don't do the whole routine, just do some bits and rest and get your breath back in some of the harder pole combinations or faster choreography sections. The general medical advice on this is don't exercise to the point of exhaustion or heavy sweating and breathlessness. Here is a great page from the Victorian government website about exercising during pregnancy.
*CHANGE IT UP- If there is a day when you don't feel like doing pole class, don't come! Do flex that week instead. Fatigue and morning sickness can be so debilitating so just stay at home resting (or being close to the bathroom-oh the joys!) when you need to. Look after yourself. Also if the spinning is making you nauseous, or you'd just prefer to be closer to the ground, consider switching to a chair or floor work class.
Chair is fun too!
Image credit The Black Light
*INTERNAL STUFF- Remember that during pregnancy, even before there are any discernible physical changes, internally your body is changing dramatically. Your heart is pumping up to 50% more blood around your body! And you will have an increased resting heart-rate. This can make you feel light-headed or fatigue may set in sooner. Your uterus is growing, making everything squash up in there. It's all a bit uncomfortable and exhausting growing a human! Here is a nice positive article from Huffington Post about the awesome things your body does during pregnancy. Nice to read, as opposed to always talking about the crappy side effects!
*JOINTS AND STRETCHING- Hormones such as relaxin and progesterone are softening your joints, muscles and ligaments to help make room for the baby inside your body, and to help with childbirth. Unfortunately, this can potentially lead to laxity and instability in all the joints, not just the ones obviously related to the baby. Being fit and strong pole dancers, hopefully we shouldn't have too many adverse effects from this, but regardless as you get heavier the load on your joints will obviously increase. You have to remember to engage your muscles correctly, for example don't hang out of shoulders in spins, instead keep them pulling down to engage your shoulder stabilisers.
With regard to stretching, most pregnancy advice is to keep it up, as it will help to relieve some of the growing pains that go along with your body changing, but bear in mind that this advice is usually aimed at "normal" people (non-polers), so they mean gentle stretching, not crazy over-splits with 3 blocks under your feet! Now isn't the time to try to get your middle splits! Rather, maintain the level of flex that you had before pregnancy. Also don't hold your stretches for too long or you run the risk of joint damage, especially later in your pregnancy. Here is a little page from "what to expect" about stretching during pregnancy.
still not quite flat...fake it 'til you make it!
Image credit The Black Light
*INVERTS?- You will know when it's time to stop inverting, or when you just feel too heavy to even spin around the pole any more. I've surveyed some of the Pole Mamas I know and they all said they stopped inverting around the 4 or 5 month mark. Bear in mind they were all pole instructors so were very fit and their bodies very used to inverting. You may feel like you need to stop sooner. This is because we obviously use our abdominal muscles to invert and they are starting to stretch out to make room for bub, so will not function how they used to. My experience was that I just couldn't do it one day!
Also, I started to find inverted positions on the floor uncomfortable, like you know when you lie on your back and throw your feet back over your head (the "plough" stretch in yoga)? Or when we do shoulder stands in floor work? I just really struggle to breathe in these positions, so I don't really do much of them any more, and I definitely don't hold them for long when I do.
Floor inversion...can't breathe!!! Image credit The Black Light
Also, FYI some old-school yoga peeps might tell you that you can change the position of the baby by inverting so that's why you shouldn't do it, but there is no scientific evidence to validate this claim. Just smile and nod, remember the advice is well-intentioned, and do what you are comfortable with ;-)
I'll miss you my pretties!!!!
Image credit-Pleaser Heels
*BALANCE- Your centre of gravity will be changing with your growing belly. If you dance in heels (the best way, in my humble opinion ;-) ) be careful! I feel super comfortable walking around in my heels as I do it 15+ hours per week, but if you feel a bit bambi-on-ice-like in your heels, maybe pop them away for a few months until you're ready to make your post-baby come back! Also, pregnant women are notorious for falling down stairs and stuff at this time, so just be extra careful generally.
So to sum up, just be sensible! Check in regularly with your doctors, don't push hard in class and listen to your body! After all how many times in your life will you be able to take it easy on your self without feeling guilty? Enjoy this time and your changing body as much as you can, and keep doing what makes you feel good, whether that's body-rolling around the pole, or slothing on the couch with ice-cream!
My next post about my experience of my second trimester is coming in the next week or two, until then, thanks for reading! Feel free to drop me a line with any questions, or I would love to hear your story or some tips from your own experience. You can email me at roxycarless@gmail.com.
Pole dancing and pregnancy...two terms you don't often hear in the same sentence. But it's the first thing I googled when I found out the good news that I was, indeed, with child. And what did I find? Not a lot! I LOVED this Cleo the Hurricane blog post, which is a fantastic read about her own pregnancy journey, and also deals with people's attitudes to pole and pregnancy. Here is an informative article which I really enjoyed written by KT Coates, a pole instructor from the UK. Some interesting opinions and experiences can be found on thisStudio Veena forum.And that is about it, no studies, no scientific papers or medical articles. Ok, I know it sounds ridiculous to say I was looking for a scientific paper on pole and pregnancy, but I at least thought I would find some information on acrobatics or gymnastics and pregnancy. Pole is a relatively new sport, I understand, but there must be more of us out there! And so I decided to write a blog to share my experiences with fellow instructors and students from around the world, hoping that in doing so we can all learn more about the strange experience that is pole dancing pregnant! First I suppose I had better introduce myself. My name is Roxy and I am an instructor at Bobbi's Pole Studio in Sydney, as well as The Peach Pole Studio on NSW's Central Coast. I came to pole dancing in 2010, after years of living and working overseas as a professional dancer and actress, and I was looking for something to reignite my love of dancing with no pressure and lots of laughs. It was true love at first spin, and I was very lucky to quickly be recruited to teach. Here's a throwback to 2011 and my first ever photo shoot with the lovely Adam Jay.
Fast forward 6 years, several hundred hours of pole, meeting the love of my life, getting a cat and having the best wedding ever, I found myself looking down at 2 little blue lines on a pregnancy test. Despite 18 months of trying due to a couple of health issues, somehow this news was still a shock...it is definitely a life-changing moment! Somewhere between disbelief and joy, I called hubby to share the news, then I double checked it with another test, then I triple checked it with the doctor. Still positive! Pretty much the next thing that I did, believe it or not, was to sit down and check with Dr Google...Just how risky is pole dancing pregnant?
As I said, there is not a lot of information out there, but I encourage any one in the same position as I found myself in to do as much research as you can. Speak to your doctor first and foremost and tell them about pole, read everything you can get your hands on about sport and pregnancy, speak to your pole class mates who have kids, speak to your pole teacher and listen to your own body! Please bear in mind when reading this that I am purely sharing my own experience and this blog should not be taken as any kind of medical advice. Every body and every pregnancy is different.
So, let's start with morning sickness. Firstly, it doesn't just come in the morning, and secondly I don't feel the term adequately encompasses the misery some women experience! One poor friend of mine vomited all day, every day right up until her baby was born! I have been pretty lucky, thank goodness, as I am NOT good with vomiting. I just had the all day seediness variety. I like to describe it as "I drank a bottle of really cheap red wine to myself last night and then started on the white"...a special kind of queasiness and constant headache that I'm sure some of you can relate to. And I was so tired! So, so tired. I would often get up at 8am, eat breaky then sit down on the couch and go to sleep until 3pm when I had to get up for work. Yay pregnancy!
You would think that spinning around a pole would be the last thing you would want to do when you feel nauseous, but interestingly for me dancing and teaching really helped me to get through this time. Having to be "on" personality-wise, and high energy for my students, as well as the endorphins released during exercise meant that for these first weeks I actually felt the best when I was at work teaching.
On top of the physical symptoms were the psychological fears. As I said, I couldn't find any science-based information on the effects of pole dancing, or even gymnastics on a foetus. So, I read as much as I could of others experiences and about sports in general during pregnancy, and then tried to apply it all with common sense. The general rule that kept appearing on many resources I found, is if your body is used to the activity, and you have a low-risk pregnancy, then you can continue with your training. Maintenance is a key word, as in don't try to increase the intensity of your program no matter what the sport. Also listen to your body, it will tell you when you should start to back off and slow down a bit. Of course I informed my midwife and obstetrician of my profession. My OB found it quite hilarious and proceeded to tell me about his son's bucks party, before reassuring me he had treated various patients who were elite athletes and as long as my body was used to it and I proceeded with caution he was fine with it. I have to stress here that my pregnancy was in no way high-risk and I'm pretty healthy and fit, not to mention I have been poling (from 8-20ish hours per week) for 6 years and dancing for 20-something years before that! So my body is very much accustomed to the exercise.
While I was cautious and immediately ruled out learning any new tricks due to the potential consequences of falling being higher than usual, I continued to dance at a reasonably advanced level. I teach beginners through to pre-advanced and at this stage I was teaching around 18 classes per week. I continued to demonstrate the appropriate moves in class, performed class routines with my students and even performed shows for them in performance week.
Despite feeling like I was working safely and within my own limitations, there is always going to be that niggling voice in the back of your mind, quoting that article you read about not over-heating, or pushing your body too hard. And I definitely found even at just 6 weeks pregnant I got out of breath more quickly, as well as feeling some strange sensations of tightness when stretching through my abdominals and hip flexors.
Some days I felt amazing, strong and full of beans! I clearly remember in my 10th week teaching an "Intro to Prep" class (pre-pre-advanced for non-Bobbi's students) and we were working on various ways of inverting and I was on fire! I felt so strong and these moves felt so easy! This was so weird for me as strength and power moves have never been my forte.
But then some days I felt heavy, bloated and lethargic and, typically, that's how I was feeling the following week for end of term performances. The last thing I felt like doing was dressing up in a tiny costume and dancing in front of people! But the show must go on, and considering only a handful of my colleagues and none of my students knew I was 11 weeks pregnant, I had to put on my false lashes, smile and just do it. A part of me actually really wanted to perform, not just for my students, but I wanted to do shows for myself, to show how amazing our bodies are, and to have a keepsake to look back on and say " I was 11 weeks pregnant when I did that!". I hardly ever post videos of my week 8 shows online, I am no Miss Pole Dance, but here's a little clip I tacked together of a couple of the shows I managed that week. Note the plentiful floor work, sloooow spins and proximity to the floor ;-) With hindsight it is quite clear that I'm being careful!
Coincidentally I had had a photo shoot booked for months prior with the amazing photographer and all-round lovely person Emma Salmon from The Black Light. I nearly cancelled, but I spoke to Emma and let her know my situation. She reassured me it was still a good idea and that I would be glad that I had done it, and she was right! She is amazing and I am so happy with the photos. What an amazing keepsake and way to mark the end of my first trimester of pregnancy! I will also, of course, be able to eternally embarrass my child with these, which is priceless. (Actually, I'm pretty sure baby's going to think her mum rocks!)
So I guess my experience of the first trimester was to expect the unexpected when it comes to morning sickness and also when it comes to what your body may be capable of! I felt my strengths, my general well-being and my energy levels changed daily so the most important thing is to really listen to your body! Don't be scared to be active, but also don't be scared to give yourself a break and take it easy! Stay tuned for my next post, where I'll be talking about my second trimester, which I'm now nearing the end of. I also want to talk about body image, expectations we place on ourselves and, because I am somewhat of an anatomy and physiology nerd, I have a sciencey post in the works as well. Thanks for stopping by, and please drop me a line any time! Roxy, the pregnant pole dancer xxx
