​Pole Dancing has taken the world by storm as a fun workout that combines strength, cardio, and fun! If you’re on the fence about trying your first class (we were all nervous our first time, too!), here are 10 reasons why you should give Pole Dance a try.
 
10. It’s great cross-training for other sports/dance.
While most sports focus on lower body strength, Pole Dancing focuses a significant amount on upper body strength. While this doesn’t come naturally to most women, we use conditioning and exercise to increase your strength each week. Combining strength and cardio, pole is a great alternative exercise format! For our dancers, pole gives you the opportunity to try your favorite dance style (hip hop, ballet, Latin), using the pole as a prop! Or you can learn new styles of dance in our classes like Poleography, Chair Dance, and Low Flow. 

9. Dance helps improve brain function.
Dance has been scientifically proven to improve cognitive function, and even assist in preventing Alzheimer’s Disease. This article from Psychology Today discusses how not only the physical act of dance improves your brain, but even visualizing your dance steps as a practice method can improve your muscle memory. Dance helps with gross and fine motor skills, decision making, creativity, balance, and mood. (Source. Image from Pinterest)

8. Pole Dance is accessible to everyone.
Pole Dance appeals to a wide variety of people! Among our students, we have doctors (of both the PhD and MD persuasion), entrepreneurs, exotic dancers, students, engineers, ministers, and more. Studio Phoenix’s current students range from ages 18 to their upper 60’s, but there are even pole dancers in their 90’s throughout the world. You don’t have to be young, be a dancer, or be athletic to start… most of us come in with no athletic ability. Our studio environment is warm and friendly (no mean girl behavior here!), and all women are welcome. 

7. You can try something new.
With busy work and/or family schedules, we often get stuck in a rut. We drive the same route to work, stop at the same restaurants for take-out, and watch the same TV shows to unwind. How often do you try something new? Not only does a new activity get us outside our comfort zones, but it helps our brains create new neural pathways for learning. Each week you’ll learn new moves that challenge you, and help you grow stronger.

6. It will improve your strength and grace.
Dance has the dual benefit of improving strength and grace. Know that most of us come in the door with neither! Take it from someone who often bumps into walls, or smacks limbs on things… you don’t have to be graceful on the ground to be graceful in the air! Most of us don’t come from dance backgrounds, and we don’t expect you to come in the door looking like a pro. But each week as you practice, you’ll find yourself growing stronger, and moving more gracefully. With the expertise of your instructors, and the encouragement of your classmates, you'll find yourself improving each week! 

5. Dance can help improve your health.
As mentioned above, dance helps with brain function and balance, but it also helps improve your general physical health. As you dance, your heart rate increases, bringing more oxygen to your tissues. As you do conditioning moves, your muscles get stronger. We’ve seen many of our students reach healthier weights (which is slimmer for some, and larger for others), due to increasing muscle mass in their bodies. For some of our students, dance helps improve depression and anxiety. For those with muscle/joint/pain conditions (myself included… I have Fibromyalgia), moving helps keep our bodies from “freezing up” and being in pain. When I first started Pole Dance, I was in the process of applying for disability, because I couldn’t walk most days. I was determined to not spend the rest of my life in bed, wracked with pain, so I gave the class a try as a last-ditch effort to save my health. Pole Dance has improved my quality of life to the point that I can teach several classes and parties a week, as well as coaching cheerleading. 

4. You’ll have fun.
Work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, repeat. Being an adult is not always fun. When’s the last time you did something new that allowed you to play? From spins to hair whips, to sexy shoes and great music, pole dancing is just plain FUN! You’ll feel like a kid at the park again, flying through the air with a smile on your face! As you make friends with your classmates, you'll find yourself laughing with them, and cheering them on each class. From Theme Weeks ("on Wednesdays, we wear PINK"), to hanging out after class, you'll build relationships with your Pole Sisters. 

3. Pole Dance allows you to get some
​“me-time.”
For many of us, we carry the weight of work, relationships, exercise, diet, kids, hobbies… and don’t take the time to do something for ourselves. Pole Dance class is 60 minutes where you’re no one’s wife, mom, employee, daughter… you’re just a woman. You can focus 100% on your dancing, without the distractions of life. And our studio is a safe place to have fun and be sexy without judgment. 

2. You’ll feel sexy.
When’s the last time you did a hairwhip? Maybe never? How about shimmying your hips to a song that moved you? Wearing an outfit or heels that made you feel beautiful? There’s something to be said for tapping into our feminine sides as women. There’s often a stigma surrounding sexuality… especially as women. Your skirt should be shorter than this, but not TOO short. Look pretty, but not that pretty. Fit this exact mold for body type. You won’t find any of these restrictions in Pole Dance class. We have all different body types and ages in our classes, and all different abilities. We teach you how to move your body, and embrace the differences that make your movement unique. And most importantly, you can do it without judgment. The relaxed and encouraging atmosphere of a Pole Dance class allows you to explore sides of yourself you may not have before. You’ll leave class with a smile on your lips, and a shimmy in your hips. 

1. You’ll gain confidence.
There’s something about Pole Dance that inspires self-confidence in all of us. Each class you’ll be conquering new moves, learning to appreciate how strong your body is (no matter what it looks like), and hearing what a strong, beautiful woman you are from your instructor and classmates. As an instructor, I love watching some of our new baby polers walk in shy and unsure, and then watching them leave their first session with a sassy sway in their walk and heads held high. Pole Dance is empowering!
 
What reason spoke most strongly to you? If you’re already a pole dancer, what reasons made you decide to join, and what has kept you dancing?
We’d love to hear from you!
 
Ready to try Pole Dance class for yourself? See our schedule and register for a Pole Fundamentals class here.
See you in class! 

By Jenni O'Connor

“Just come keep me company… I’ll pay for your entry.” These were the words my friend used to convince me to join her at a Pole Dancing class. It was 2010, and I was 32, obese, and applying for Disability for my Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The severe pain, fatigue, and depression did not allow me to work a full-time job.
 
On an average day, I feel like you do when you have the flu… achy, exhausted, and my brain is a little fuzzy. On a bad day, I literally can’t walk. My husband carries me, or I use a wheelchair. I lack the fine motor skills to pick up a pill, and the strength to hold something “heavy” like a water glass. Constructing a simple sentence takes major effort, and my words slur as if I’m drunk. Sometimes the pain is so overwhelming, my body just trembles, as if it doesn’t know quite how to process it. There’s currently no cure for Fibromyalgia/CFS, and the knowledge that the rest of my life would look like this caused me to entertain suicidal ideations. My beautiful daughters, and knowing how much my death would hurt them, were the only things that kept me from ever following through. I was painfully shy, and had no self-confidence. Photos show me turning away from the camera, or hunched over in a subconscious effort to hide myself and my “flaws” from the world.
​
(Photo caption: Left: Before pole dancing. Right: at a Pole Dance Showcase I performed in)
​
This was the condition I was in when my friend asked me to join her for class. I had seen a few celebrities take pole dancing for fitness, and was curious. But in my mind, it wasn’t for me. I was very conservative, and definitely not what I considered to be sexy. I went to “do her a favor,” and wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into!
 
In our first class, the instructor used supportive and encouraging words that made me realize how little I valued myself. I quickly realized how much confidence the experienced students at the studio had, and how much I was lacking. I knew I needed this class… physically and emotionally. What finally sold me was watching a certain upper level student dance. She wasn’t an overly athletic 20-year-old. She looked like me. And she could flip her body upside-down and hold it in mid-air. She rocked a tiny pair of booty shorts, with no self-consciousness about rolls or cellulite. She was so strong and confident… I wanted that for myself. And so my pole journey began. Not only did I take weekly classes, but I also got courageous enough to perform… both in showcases, and in pole dance competitions. I started to see my body changing, and my pain levels decreasing.
 
As I grew in strength and confidence, I realized I wanted to share this experience with other women. After a bad experience with my second studio, I realized I not only wanted to teach, but wanted to open my own studio. I even chose the name and bought the website, believing that this dream would happen for me. I named it Studio Phoenix, after the mythical creature that rises from the ashes in rebirth. I returned to my original studio (with the owner’s knowledge that I wanted to eventually open my own), became certified to teach pole dancing, and started teaching for them. A series of events transpired that resulted in Studio Phoenix opening in October 2013.  With the help of my amazing staff of 15 (at this writing), we have grown quickly. I teach several hours of pole dance classes a week, as well as floorwork classes, aerial yoga, and parties. It’s a level of physical activity I never thought I could accomplish. Having experience in working through a pain disorder gives me the unique perspective to compassionately and safely teach my students who also live with pain.
 
Through pole dancing, I’ve been able to improve my health and strength to the point that (with my doctors’ blessings) I no longer need daily prescription pain medications, anti-depressants, or sleep medications. I primarily treat my symptoms with nutrition, exercise, and natural methods (with the occasional assistance of prescription medication). While I still deal with depression and anxiety, I am no longer suicidal. And while I am still curvy, pole dancing has taught me to value my body for its strength, and not focus on the “imperfections.” While pain conditions can cause us to resent our bodies, or see them as the enemy, pole dance helps train me to work with mine.
 
I’ve learned to love myself. Most importantly to me, I’m able to pass this along to other women. To help them see their value, and show them they’re capable of things they never imagined. To show them you don’t have to fit a certain stereotype to be a strong, beautiful woman. I can use my weaknesses to inspire others to overcome.
 
I still have Fibromyalgia/CFS. As I said, there’s currently no cure. On my bad days I can’t walk, and I work on my business from bed. But on my good days, I can suspend my body upside-down on a pole using just my arms. I can soar through the air gracefully in a beautiful spin. And that’s the balance of life with a pain disorder. Some days I can’t walk… but some days, I can fly.