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What's In Your Gym Bag?

Yesterday I drove to Orlando so my dad could take care of my tax return for me. I also stopped by to see my friend, Sarah, at her new gym.

Sarah has recently started taking pole dancing classes. I have been intrigued, especially after hearing her for weeks rave about these classes and how she feels while taking them. She's thrown out words like, "Alli, I've never felt sexier" and "I climbed a 16-foot pole tonight" (said with the same enthusiasm I will expect to hear after she climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro.) How could I not want to know more about this?

I walked through the well-covered door of Vixen Fitness in Orlando and was greeted with deliciously feminine pink walls and a dimly lit room lined with two rows of shiny silver poles. Everything about this place screams, "GIRL!" and for the first time in my life, I think I felt completely comfortable with that.

The class itself was enjoyable and challenging in ways I never dreamed imaginable. I wasn't sure I had the upper body strength to hang on the pole, but I had enough. My spins weren't exactly graceful, and my hands were too afraid to try sliding down the pole, but I did manage to get in a fireman spin (including one with my leg sticking straight out), a hook spin, and (my favorite) a backward angel. The climax was a full routine during which half the class walked around the room with fake money to throw at us.

Um...a woman stuffed fake money in my bra last night. I never thought I'd say those words!

All in all, the class was a completely enjoyable experience. I am sore this morning in places I never knew existed (like the outside of my left knee), but I'll take that in exchange for what I witnessed last night. I don't think I've ever been part of such camaraderie among women before. Everyone was so supportive of each other, and while some in the class were clearly better versed in the art of pole dancing, there was no sense of competition there. We were just there to celebrate our bodies.

We were women last night. Beautiful. Sexy. Somewhat graceful. It was femininity in it's purest form. (All we needed was some chocolate and a few hours to discuss men, but Sarah and I took care of that later.)
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Comments

Claire Griffin Sterrett said…
Awesome. As someone who has pole danced for three years I still get excited when I read about other women experiencing it for the first time and really enjoying it! There is something so very important about having a space for us to fully explore andcplay around with our sexuality and feel powerful and string, rather than judged our fearful. I'm glad you had such a good time!
8:09 AM
Christy said…
What. Great. Fun!
6:49 PM
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