I Will Thrive ~ Exotic Dancing

As I mentioned before I am taking "Stripper" Classes at a place called Studio Rio. The instructors are former dancers, personal trainers, etc that are excited and more than willing share their knowledge with those of us in class. I finished the four week Beginner Series and have started in the four week I Feel Pretty series. At the end of the Beginner Series we were given a routine do perform for him using the song Darling Nicky by Prince. At the end of the I Feel Pretty series we'll have a routine for ourselves using the song Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. For this class we're using a railing, the stage, and a pole. It is a bit intimidating but it is so much fun!

I decided to sign up for their membership so that I can take as many classes as I want each month. So far I've taken Stripper Stretch (working you up to the splits) and Poles 1. Stripper Stretch was good but difficult and I do feel more flexible. Poles 1 was a lot of fun. She taught us a bit of Pole Seduction which was more about playing with the pole than doing tricks on it. Although we did learn some tricks. The hard part for me is I hold on too tight. You have to hold on but you need to have a loose grip. (Hold it like a banana) I definitely want to take more pole classes. And I think I will continue with the Stripper Stretch class too.

They have other classes I want to take but because of my work schedule I'm not able to take some of them because I'm still at work. I'm hoping they will revamp some of their schedules as we get further into spring and summer. So we'll see.

Girl Power and Why We Need to Claim It

Studio Rio, Virginia Beach, VA

As I mentioned earlier I've been taking the Beginner Series Class at Studio Rio for the past few weeks on Monday nights. Next week is our last class. (Frowning Face) Ultimately we will have a seductive dance routine to perform for our loved ones. I will tell you I have never done dance classes ever in my life. I've worked out and done some aerobic classes but nothing like this. It works parts of your body you didn't know you had (or at least I didn't). Last week's class left my legs and core sore to the point that getting up and down from a chair was an experience that required not only psyching myself up but also a few expletives. This week we worked with poles and I loved it!! I want to do more. I feel awkward but it is invigorating and freeing. And such a good workout. But I have a tighter core, better posture and I've lost a few inches in the course of this class. I'm also feeling more coordinated. As I told J when I talked to him this morning it is a great experience for me that he will benefit from as well.

But the biggest thing for me is the confidence that I'm feeling. I have had a number of confidence destroying experiences in my life. Some of them I have worked to overcome and some of them are always deeply buried in there for me. In this class there are women of all shapes and sizes and all ages. We come from all walks of life with all different experiences. I admit I figured when I saw these size 6 girls that they would nail it but they are as unsure as the rest of us. It has been fun and an awesome experience. We are in a sisterhood. We support each other. We laugh. We huff and puff. And it is great!

Last night we got to talking about our lives and the experiences after class. In particular about men. Rio the owner talked about her first marriage and divorce. She talked about how much power she gave her first husband to control who she was and how she felt about herself. As I listened to her I got to thinking that as women we often give other people a lot of power over us. We often let their opinions determine how we feel about ourselves. We are often our own worst enemy. And we need to claim our girl power back. We are amazing women who have many great characteristics, great skills, great beauty inside and out (no matter what our size), great compassion, and great love. We just need to apply that great love to ourselves. I know that is often easier said than done for myself but I'm working on it and this class is helping. It is helping me channel my inner hot girl, my inner bad ass, and my inner confidence. J has always loved me just as I am, where I am...now I'm just trying to get where he is too.

I'm not saying everyone needs to go take seductive dance classes but everyone needs to do something for themselves. It does need to be all about you one occasion. Girl Power rocks!!

So what do you do for yourself? Or what are you going to do for yourself?