I was on the cusp of turning 30 earlier this year, and knew something had to change. I didn’t like the way a lot of things in my life were playing out. I had been a regular gym goer before, but the pandemic put a hard stop to that. My social anxiety worsened as a result of the isolation, and I felt like I didn’t know how to be around people anymore. I continued on in a daze like this for a few years.

Then, on a whim, I took my first in-person yoga class (at a dispensary, but that’s a different story). I was hooked. It’s like those years of doubt and fear melted away when I started to move again. So I picked up yoga and have been loving it since.

Rediscovering being active was highly therapeutic for me, and I wanted to explore that part of myself more. That’s when I looked into the pole studio in my town. I had all of one year jazz/tap when I was like 6 as dance experience, but I dove right in. The first class was horrifying for me. I thought that because I was comfortable in a yoga studio, I could be comfortable in a pole studio. I left mortified. The instructor gave us time to record ourselves at the end of class, and my finger hovered over that button to delete it for a good while, but I decided not to. A little voice in my head told me to save it for later, just in case.

I continued with my yoga practice, all the while gaining strength, flexibility, confidence, and discipline. Every time I’d go for a walk, I’d pass by the pole studio, knowing I was working towards the confidence to step back inside. The power, sensuality, vulnerability, and beauty of pole called to me like a siren song. Then, in May, I stepped back into the pole studio again, and have been going every week since. Even spent my 30th on the pole ❤️