If I can do it, you can do it.

TLDNR: This is My Origin Story - on my 11th Pole-iversary!

Facebook told me today is my 11th Pole-iversary!

TODAY is my pole-iversary!

“I was never an active child...or adult.”

I was never an active child...or adult. I was introverted, and learned “How to Extrovert” for my chosen career” by copying my Mum and my little sister. 

I was a book worm, not naturally gifted at sports, so nothing really stuck…except swimming because we went as a family, so I didn’t have much choice. 

As a child, I remember doing physie- I even got a trophy for most improved! I’ve no idea why we stopped that; probably Mum got sick of me whinging about having to get off my arse and leave my bedroom or something. 

“I felt like I was never good enough because I wasn’t thin and fit like the rest of the team…I felt like I wasn’t accepted into the team and was letting the team down.”

As a teen, my parents got worried and tried to find something I liked, and I tried jazz ballet and netball but only ever lasted 2 years. I felt like I was never good enough because I wasn’t thin and fit like the rest of the team.  I was never actually fat, but it was the 80’s and I haven't been doing it for years and years like the rest of them. It was the bitchiness of teen girls that always turned me off. I felt like I wasn’t accepted into the team and was letting the team down. 

As an adult I tried aqua-aerobics, Pilates, softball, even going to the gym, but organised sport and fitness just didn’t stick.

“Organised sport and fitness just didn’t stick.”

Finally, at around 37 years old, I discovered yoga. And Oh My Jack, the aches and pains I had developed over the years were now manageable… until the Fateful Floods of 2012. 

You see, Jeff and I shared a mosquito for our 10th Wedding Anniversary and we got Ross River Fever- yep both of us. If only one had gotten it, I'm not sure we would have believed that the other was not faking it. Overwhelming fatigue, joint pain, and more fatigue. Protect yourself from mosquitoes, friends.  I don’t want anyone to ever go through what we went through. It’s supposed to last 6 weeks, but always the overachievers, we had symptoms for 9 months. 

Whoever had the most energy was the one who made dinner, and even then, toast was all we could manage most nights. Old aches and pains reappeared as we couldn’t exercise and mental health became a real challenge. Jeff’s fatigue kind of cleared around that 9 month mark but I had chronic fatigue for the next 5 years, give or take.

“I finally got a diagnosis…“Do some core strengthening,” I was told.”

Sometime during this 9 months , I finally got a diagnosis for the cause of my chronic back pain- a slightly bulging disc in my lower back (I think L2-3). “Do some core strengthening,” I was told, “to stop it getting any worse”. 

As I said, I had fallen in love with yoga a few years before, but my favourite style- vinyasa yoga involves a series of poses on one side, and when it came time to do the other side, I was pooped out. All I could do was sit or lay on my mat, but the unworked side was needing the yogas. So that was no longer going to work for pain management. 🙁 I even tried Tai Chi, which was beautifully relaxing, but I needed muscle building. I need muscle building and if I couldn’t have that, I needed A LOT of pain meds. 

“Someone suggested I try pole.”

Lamenting my woes one day, someone suggested I try pole. 

Yes I was still fatigued, yes it took me a few months to be brave enough to meet new people and try a new thing when I was not at my best. 

But I couldn’t see my “best” coming any time soon. 

So I said fck it, I’m just going to have to give it a go and take things as they come. My best is not going to be the same as anyone else in the class, but it’s not a team sport, so I‘m not going to be letting anyone else down. I mean, I was 40 so it’s not like I was on the same trajectory as the young whipper snappers anyway!

“I remember sitting down to regain … enough energy to attempt the next trick when it was time.”

For the first 6 months or so, I remember doing 2-3 attempts on each side and sitting down to regain energy whilst the rest of the class did their 3-4 attempts. I remember worrying my teacher because I spent so much time on the floor leaning against my pole, but this gave me enough energy to attempt the next trick when it was time. And I got to watch others doing cool things. I was ok. 

“I … remember feeling so much better after class and for the next 2 or 3 days.”

I remember my introversion and depression making me not wanting to leave the house to go to class. I also remember feeling so much better after class and for the next 2 or 3 days. 

The discomfort associated with muscle growth is so much better than the pain I felt otherwise. And way better than any discomfort keeping me in the house! 

In time, my back pain started to reduce too, so much so that I could eventually reduce my reliance on opioids, which I had been a big part of my life for so many years before starting Pole. 

“You get all the benefits of team sport, without ever feeling like you're letting anyone down.”

Pole lights me up like nothing else, you get all the benefits of team sport, without ever feeling like you're letting anyone down if you have different abilities to anyone else in your “team”. You get cheered on for solid attempts as much as you get cheered for achieving significant progress. You meet the most amazing, lovely people. And there’s always something new to learn, even if it’s “just” something about yourself. 

\Where else can you get that? 

There have been many ups and downs over the last 11 years, but like life, Pole is a journey. 

If I can do it, you can do it.