Express The Sensual

Sometimes your creative Muse is motivated, playful, filled with wild hip swaying, booty bumping energy.  Sometimes your Muse can’t wait to Dance, Dance, Dance.  Sometimes she has a love crazed hard-on (yes, I said it. Get over it.) to grab that pole and make the world beg for more.   And sometimes she couldn’t give a shit.

Sometimes, she looks at that shiny vertical shaft of steel (or titanium, or brass, or chrome) and all she can think about is how cold it probably is right now.  How she’ll have to pull out the yoga mat to warm up.  How tired she is. Or how long it would take to change out of her damn pajamas and into her booty shorts, tank, leg warmers, 6 inch heels, and sexy cover-up, let alone find all those things in her closet.  Le Sigh!

So instead, she decides to skip her workout and visit Twitter for a few last minute tweets before bed… and maybe a stop on youtube for a quick pole video from one of her favorite Sensualistas… and then over to Amazon to pick up that new awesome album by Adele…

But something happens.

Something unexpected, especially since she’s wearing slippers, a pink heart covered pajama shirt, and nothing remotely practical. A tingle, a tickle, an urge to move, travels slowly up her spine.  Now, the Muse is no stranger to random movement and assumes it’s just a simple reaction to Adele’s luscious voice singing “Turning Tables”  and “Set Fire to the Rain.”  But as one song leads to another, leads to another, she starts to feel constrained. Her body is too tight, with her legs folded and spine bent squarely, resting on the office chair. Her mind attempts to protest, “Dancing in slippers is simply too ridiculous, and, well, too  slippery.”  But the mind is too tired to put up a fight and the Muse, recognizing the unconscious call of passion, uncoils from it’s dark cave and says “Why the fuck not!”

The Muse still doesn’t give a shit; about training or warm-ups or working her abs or building her strength or any of that practical crap. It’s 10pm at night for goodness sake, and she’s tired.  But that doesn’t mean she’s uninspired.  In fact, now is her chance… to be Deliberately Lazy, Deliciously Dirty, Undeniably Sexy for no damn reason other than she fucking feels like it.

The conscious mind pops out of it’s sleepy stupor to remind the Muse that she’s in no position to be making difficult demands like inverting or pole ups and then goes back to sleep.  But the Muse has no need for difficult tricks.  She just wants to MOVE, BE, BREATH.  The Muse wants to remind us to Live in the Moment because it’s the only one we’ve got.

And so she slinks. Over to the pole for slow, delicious, pelvic circles that take forever.  No, longer than forever.

She slides over to the wall (even easier than usual thanks to her slippery slippers) and paints passion into the air.

Breathing deeply, living for movement, tugging on those pink heart pajamas, dragging her fingers through her hair.

Dancing with sweetness, dancing with compassion, dancing with the steady, slow energy of the quiet night until she can’t remember her own name.

And when the night changes it’s melody from the cooling tones of Adele to the butt bumping beats of Kanye, Katy Perry, and some kind of ET alien invasion…

She gives in to that too.

Sometimes you have to give in the Muse fully, completely, without fear and simply trust that your body knows exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.

BTW, if you can say the title of this post 10 times fast without messing up (to me live, on the phone or in person), I’ll give you a free 30 min Yoga or Pole Private on Skype. No foolin’! PRACTICE FIRST and then contact me to set up a time or just leave a note in the comments.

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Twirl, Swirl, and Fly!

Let’s talk about sex [socks], baby

Striped or Polka Dotted, Thigh High or Anklets, Cotton or Silk; socks are one of my favorite tools of sensual exploration. And if that sounds dirty, then you’re definitely in the right state of mind.

Cold toes suck!

Back when I first started pole dancing, I learned my beginner moves barefoot, and I absolutely hated it.  I missed my comfy tennis shoes, I missed my ankle support, and I really missed my oh-so-warm socks.  Later, after I’d learned how to climb and float around the pole, I understood the importance of training shoeless.  So, I started using foot undeez, a special pad jazz & ballet dancers use, to help protect the balls of the feet.

But I missed having warm, comfy toes. In fact, I regularly found that just the idea of dancing in a cold studio made me want to skip out on a practice session altogether.  Sometimes, I’d just have to force myself to deal with freezing toes until the heat of movement finally warmed things up.  I still shiver with goosebumps at the thought of that cold, icy floor.

It doesn’t have to be that way though, especially if you’re willing to explore the more slippery option of socks.

First, I LOVE the sensuality of socks

They come in all shapes, sizes, heights, colors, patterns, and materials.  Whether you love cute little hearts and red bows, scary vampire kisses, crew cut stripes, or sexy black thigh highs, there is a sock for you.  You can use them to dress-up as a sweet school girl, naughty librarian, or sexy referee.  You can express a mood like anger with skulls and crossbones, or playfulness with tie died colors.  Socks can have silk ribbons at the top or fluffy pompoms down the back or even pink cuban heels. And most importantly, socks keep your toes warm and build body heat in your leg muscles even before you start moving.

I have an entire drawer of socks just for dancing.  I usually take two or three different pairs with me to class, because I never know what I’ll be in the mood for.  In the summer, I love to wear a pair of striped thigh highs with my booty shorts peeping out from under a long red sweatshirt.   In the winter, I usually pull out a pair of wild knee high zebra socks to wear under my yoga pants (and give my yoga instructor a little tease).  During football season, I’ve even got a special pair of red and white striped anklets just to celebrate my favorite 49ers.

Second, socks are slippery

When I rediscovered socks, I found a new way of dancing.  Socks give you the ability to slide and slink across the floor.  They remove that sticky, annoying friction between the floor and your legs or feet.  So when you crawl, you can support more of your body weight on your legs and still slide sensuously across the floor.  When you spin, you can easily pivot on the balls of your feet.  And when you slide down the pole, you can create a continuous transition from standing to sitting.

Yes, climbing is almost impossible with socks and I definitely don’t recommend beginners attempt any inverted moves while wearing socks. But there’s so much more to life than inverts ladies!

Socks make your floorwork seamless and sensual. They give you the ability to showcase your flexibility as you slip from one pose  to the next.  With socks, you can transition from laying on your belly into a sexy V plank pose just by sliding on the tops of your feet.  Or slink from a kneeling pose in to the splitz by letting you legs slip along the floor.  And they are absolutely essential if you’re a booty popper like me who loves to “Back dat ass up.” (a truly naughty dance move where you rest on your knees, slide and pop your booty all at once)

Third, socks work your abs

Although you may not believe me now, slip on a pair of socks, and you’ll soon realize that your core muscles are key to staying in control. Socks remove the friction between you and the floor or pole.  Which means it’s absolutely critical that you use your abdominals to balance and slow down your movements.  Socks require you to ground the body while you stand or walk. They help  you to focus on your center of gravity while you twirl on your toes.  And they give you that deliberately lazy quality inherent in sensual dancing, stripping, and powerful feminine movement.

You can explore this by simply donning a pair of your favorite socks and trying to hold a plank pose.  Once you have your balance, experiment with maintaining the position of your torso while you slide your feet around. You’ll instantly notice how much harder your abs have to work while your feet are sliding and how much slower your movements become. Simply practicing with socks during your regular floorwork can help you develop power, technique, and more control in all other aspects of your movement.

Finally, socks give you freedom

If you’re ignoring improvisational dance, intuitive movement, or your sensual instincts, you’re skipping one of the most  powerful training techniques ever created. And socks, by their very nature allow the body to move in unexpected ways.

While you practice with socks, you might find you accidentally slide to the left, or wobble while you spin, or have to figure out a way to quickly transition to the floor.  Falling is an ever present safety issue, and taking the time to practice how to slow down your movements if your foot slips out from under you is a necessary evil.  Socks give you a way to do this when you’re actually expecting it.

Exploration is the spice of life.  It’s so important to keep your mind, body, and spirit open to the possibilities of doing it differently; no matter what IT might be.  And sensual movement cultivates our ability to move differently, live differently, be different from what society or the rest of the world might dictate.

But if you only move your body as your teacher demonstrates and you never explore your own abilities with playfulness, openness, and the permission to make a mistake, you’ll never discover your true capabilities- the luscious, unique, and sometimes powerful emotions that only you can express through dance.  Sometimes you need to add a new element, a new prop, to encourage your body and mind to find those new capabilities, to walk the path of life with a sexy stride and rainbow dream striped socks.

It’s time you gave yourself a delicious new challenge. Pull on a pair of socks and I’ll see you on the dance floor (and hopefully in the comments section too).

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Twirl, Swirl, and Fly!

How long can you DO IT? How long can you GO AT IT before your luscious energy starts to wane? How long before you cry out for breath or have to stop and rest?  How long does it take before your arms and legs start to shake from exertion?  Really?  I’m talking about GOING AT IT without resting, without stopping and starting again. Just one long continuous SENSUAL EXPERIENCE?

10 minutes? 20 minutes? An hour? (WOW!)

In order to have a truly amazing experience every time, I think it’s essential to really develop your stamina. In fact, I think stamina is just as important as your technique and your transitions. (You did know that I’m talking about POLE DANCING, right?) So at the end of almost every warmup, I include some extra songs specifically for this purpose.

I throw off my warmup pants (or strip them off if I’m in the mood) and let my sensual spirit fill the dance floor.  I don’t stop moving until my body feels warm, grounded, and excited about developing a new technique, trying out a new combination, or just building my strength in an advanced trick. It’s a great way to make sure you start every training session with gratitude and joy.

To try it, first you have to pick two songs that entice you to MOVE, twirl, swirl, float and fly!

Then, challenge yourself to drag each extension of your arm, slow down each delicious step, exhale through every luscious invert. Make a point to take this chance to dance slowly.   But… DON’T sacrifice your personal style! Just notice when you rushing into the next movement and consciously choose to take your time.  This isn’t about making yourself dance agonizingly slow (unless that’s your style).  It’s about giving yourself the chance to expand and take ownership of both your dance time and your dance space.

Once you can dance for two whole songs, try to extend it to three.  I promise you’ll love your new found stamina (in more places than just the dance floor)!

Do you prefer long or short dancing sessions? How do use pole dancing to develop stamina & cardio? Share your ideas in the comment section!

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