Aerial Fitness 1 yr Anniversary!

Time flies when you’re defying gravity. This month marks my one year anniversary of becoming an aerial fitness instructor at The Girls Room Dallas, and I couldn’t love my job MORE! As if being a part of such a wonderful and loving family of athletes wasn’t incentive enough, I also get the opportunity to empower, challenge and learn from all of these fabulous women who cross my path.

 

This time last year I was wrapping up training with Founder of The Girls Room, Karyn Pentecost. After shadowing her and my fellow instructors, I felt more than ready to get started. I began teaching private lessons on the weekends like it was going out of style. The sweating and soreness made me acknowledge that IT WAS WORKING. All of my efforts were beginning to show, in my body as well as state of mind and overall being.

 

I began experimenting with smarter, and healthier vegetarian meal options and stayed away from the bar scene to make sure I stayed on the ball. Who wants to take classes from an out of shape personal trainer? Pretty sure no one. The weight dropped seemingly instantaneously. I didn’t even notice until all my ‘skinny pants’ were dropping past my thighs, needless to say I’m in the process of re-vamping my wardrobe. All donations can be made to the Jonna-lost-like-30-pounds association. But for real.

HERE is my post from last year after Karyn gave me the opportunity of a lifetime! 

http://jblackpolefit.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-girls-rooms-new-level-1-2-instructor.html

 

I am so thankful, as well as proud of myself, to be involved and welcomed into such an incredible group of men and women who share the same, one passion. I’ve never heard of another group of athletes who train and compete against one another, and who will turn around and actually HELP choreograph, and even SUBMIT COMPETITION EMAILS for one another. That’s love right there! Now, thanks to the support (and flat out SHOVE) from my sisters, I am competing in my first ever Aerial Fitness competition this summer in Austin Texas at the Capital of Texas Pole Dance Competition! I am still just in the beginnings of my pole fitness journey and look forward to the opportunities that lay ahead of me. Thanks for reading! LOVE XOXO

 

 

COTPDC&NYC2014

Happy Hump day, friends and pole sisters!

As many of you know, I have recently submitted my application fee for the Capital of Texas Pole Dance Competition (COTPDC). I have yet to record my try-out video, and am extremely nervous to record my submission. REALLY, REALLY NERVOUS. With that being said, also keep in mind: that as a non-competitive person, trying out for (my first) competition, I am looking forward to this humbling experience-whether it be failure or success. I’ll be trying out for the “Artistic” Professional division. This is the first year for COTPDC to have an Artistic division, and I hope I am able to share my creativity and passion by breaking in the new category, and setting a standard aside my potential future pole sisters/competitors. Pole dancing can be lots of things (metal, lyrical, comedic, gymnastic) and I hope to see and portray both emotion and grace in my video submission. 

Competing is a weird concept to me, so I’m going to just look at this potential experience as any regular pole jam with my sisters, but with more glitter and stage lights J If I don’t make it, oh well, I tried, which is a first step-and 1 step is better than none at all!

Also, please do not ask to see my submission video, its top secret! I already signed my life away to TX ‘bout it.

THANK YOU ALL for your support and motivation, and straight up PUSH to compete. I literally WOULD NOT do it without the love and encouragement of my friends and pole sisters! That’s YOU Claudia, Amy, Hollis, Pam, Femi, Valerie, Jamie, Brandi, Mellissa, Jenny, Shelly, Ashlee, Xaviera, Kristen, Megan, Camille, Mia, Natalia, Marissa, Maram, Tricia, Victoria, Stacie, Bianca, Karyn, Samantha, oh my gosh the list… So much love.

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Speaking of dedication to Pole Fitness…

I had recently expressed interest in participating in Sergia Louis Anderson's summer pole camp at Vertitude in California. Sergia is a world renown aerial athlete, who has claimed some of the most prestigious pole titles to date. All things considered, she will always be my favorite for these reasons: demanding stage presence and crowd control, fluency and graceful execution in tricks, creativity with both simple and advance pole combinations. MIND BLOWING woman, right there!

I already had my savings mapped out for the next 3 months to prepare to purchase all my tickets and lodging. Then I received my cousins wedding invitation in the mail, and realized I had to pick between my ultimate, longtime pole crush - and my cousins awesome union with his fiancé. Considering The Vertitude and Sergia aren’t going anywhere (or becoming less amazing) anytime soon, I decided a vacation to New York City to visit my cousin Garrett and his boyfriend, Richard was the best way to make my summer magical. If money grew on trees, I would make both vacations a reality, but unfortunately, I like to pay my bills on time.. So there's that. 

I cannot WAIT to visit the city for the first time and reunite with my cousin, who I have not seen in years. Since he and I have visited, we've both ‘come out’ to our families and pursued what makes us happy. I’m so excited to see him, and how he’s doing with his life in the city (differing dramatically from his hometown Tulsa OK, I’m sure) and catch up. Garrett was my late mothers nephew, and encouraged him to always be himself, so I know she would be very proud and happy to know I’m attending the ceremony.

Since I am nixing the Vertitude from my agenda, I am looking to arrange a few pole play-dates at Body and Pole, New York.

Expensive? Uh-yuh. Worth it? fur-sure. As Brandi so eloquently put it, B&P is the ‘mecca’. Just typing about it is getting me antsy to pole. Oooh!

Thanks for reading, this post was a little silly, but too long to speak/type to everyone individually. LOVE YALL! 

Posts to come about ...

Valentines day in OKC performing at Adele Wolfs Burlesque Show, 

and teaching at Altitude Fitness with Tricia Lauerman!