There is no doubt that I have been struggling with the pole studio this year. My health issues make it difficult for me to teach at the level I want to. We've also had a lot of instructor turnover as our wonderful instructors have left to pursue bigger dreams and passions. As I sat to contemplate the future of the studio I came to realize that studio isn't really about pole or lyra. Yes, we teach those skills, but the studio is really about community. People come to the studio to learn, but they get so much more. Aerial Bliss is a place to make friends, to feel welcome and accepted, and a place where we support students goals and dreams. I am very proud of the tight knit, supportive, loving community that we have built at Aerial Bliss. 

Photo By: Pixabay

Health is among the many things we can be thankful for, but good health doesn’t just come naturally. It takes effort. The good news is that giving your body some TLC is a lot easier than you think. In fact, you don’t need to be a health nut or a fitness guru to lead a healthy lifestyle. The following strategies will put you on the right track to a healthier you from head to toe.

Prioritize Mental Health

The need for mental well-being continues to gain more attention, underscoring that mental health is just as important as physical health. Our mental state affects everything, from our work and home life to our finances to our relationships, which means it should be a priority for everyone. To promote wellness all the time, there are various strategies you can implement to make prioritizing mental health a part of your daily routine. This includes exercise, meditation, journaling, socialization, and scheduling time for yourself on your to-do list. Even something as simple as a walk outside can have positive impacts on your mood and emotions that can last almost seven hours! Thankfully, Madison offers plenty of gorgeous trails where you can walk, bike, or hike, so grab a friend, leash up your dog, or head out alone for a moment of solitude.

Take Care of Your Smile

You weren’t a fan of the dentist as a kid and you probably aren’t now, but this isn’t a reason to skip out on your visits altogether. Good oral hygiene is essential to prevent cavities and gum disease, so make sure you are brushing, flossing, and rinsing at least twice a day. For best results, use an electric toothbrush, though a manual toothbrushes is great too as long as you use short, circular strokes. To promote strong oral health, be sure to visit your dentist twice a year for cleanings and checkups. If you don’t already have a dentist or are in the market for a new one, a simple online search can point you toward reputable dentists in the Madison area.


Don’t Neglect Your Largest Supporter – Your Bones
When you think about taking care of your body, chances are you forget about the 206 bones that make up your skeletal system and provide structure, support, and protection. You produce bone mass into your 20s and 30s, after which bones start to become more fragile, setting the stage for breaks, fractures, and osteoporosis in your golden years. Support your bone health by eating/drinking plenty of calcium and vitamin D, and doing weight-bearing exercises to build bone mass.


Fuel Your Body the Right Way
If you’re like most people, you started a diet and fell off the wagon shortly after, vowing to try it again another time. Dieting can be helpful for weight loss and health, but it’s important to be wary of fad diets that could do more harm than good. Seeing results from healthy eating requires commitment. If you think dieting will help put you on the path toward better health, talk to your doctor about creating an eating plan that suits your needs and lifestyle. If a diet isn’t something you’re interested in, even small changes such as cutting down on fast food, watching portion sizes, and adding more fruits and vegetables to your plate can make a considerable difference in overall health.


Find an Exercise Routine That Sticks
Just like eating healthy, if you don’t keep things interesting, regular exercise becomes a hard habit to maintain. Hitting the treadmill at the gym three or four times a week can quickly turn monotonous, giving you more of a reason to skip. Shaking things up is the best approach, and it can help you ward off a plateau if you’re aiming for weight loss. In addition to your regular exercise routine, add some fun classes such as pole dancing, Iyra, or yoga. Keep yourself moving forward by setting attainable goals. Perhaps you’d like to complete a certain number of reps without stopping for a breather, reach a weight loss goal, or train to run a 5K.


Head-to-toe health sounds like a lot of work. However, it’s really all about small changes and habits that make a huge difference. The suggestions above are a great start, putting you on the path to healthy living.

Hey everyone. I am slowly getting everything back on track. Back in October I was diagnosed with POTS and I'm learning to manage it and listen carefully to my body's needs. I need to drink a lot of fluids with electrolytes and eat lots of salt. This is important and there will be a test later, LOL. I am getting back into a regular exercise routine and hope to get back to pole on a regular basis in 2019.

So the exciting new is...I was selected from among thousands of applicants to be a Nuun Ambassador for 2019.  Nuun makes a variety of electrolyte drinks. They come in a convenient tablet form. I even keep a tube of tablets in my purse. Each tablet flavors 16oz of water. Due to my needing extra electrolytes, I go through a lot of these, 2-5 tablets per day.  So far my favorite flavors are watermelon and ginger lemonade. 

If you do heavy workouts, or have a weird medical condition and are looking for an electrolyte drink you may want to give Nuun a try.

If you have tried Nuun, I'd love to know what your favorite flavor is.

#nuun, #nuunlife, #nuunlove

I've known for a while that my pole game has been declining rather than improving. I just kept trying to push through, thinking I hit a wall. Back in June it became glaringly obvious that my health problems were increasing and I couldn't teach pole effectively anymore. I'm slowly trying to tackle the health issues one at a time. I've seen cardiology, ENT, and my GP. I have appointments with a pain specialist and allergist later this year. Anyway, I'm hosting some events at the studio to stay involved with students. I am very grateful for the teaching staff at Aerial Bliss; Ari, Caryn, Katie and Regan. I know our students will have great experiences with them.
XOXO,
​Jackie

This video was inspired by conversations on social media as well as my post pregnancy pole dancing experiences. I hope you enjoy and find it helpful.

I know I am due for some sort of epic post about pole or a dozen tutorials. The truth is health issues have kept me busy for the last two months and I took a couple of weeks off of teaching. I created this video a while ago and just edited it tonight. It seriously took me multiple tries over a couple weeks to film it in the right orientation because my brain was mush. Anyway, enjoy my video about why you CAN pole on a 50mm and why you might want to more often. Thanks for reading and watching.

Have you ever had your iTac dry up and become basically unusable? It happens. I mean you only need a tiny bit of iTac at a time so a container lasts quite a while. Sometimes you toss your iTac in a pole bag and forget about it for a while. I decided to experiment and try to revive crusty, clumpy iTac using 4 different methods. Check out the video to see what I used and how it turned out.

OK I acknowledge that this vague title could go in many directions, but I'm going to talk about my inaction in regards to the Aerial Bliss YouTube channel. My vision for the channel is to create many great pole tutorials for my students to be able to review at home and for students who can not access or afford quality in studio instruction. I want pole dancing to be affordable for all and SAFE. The comments I read on online forums scare the crap out of me, major injuries should NOT be the norm and some advice is scarily dangerous.

I got a little off topic, let's get back to the Aerial Bliss YouTube channel. It has been quite a while since I posted new material. I got disheartened by the lack of views, by YouTube's ever changing standards for monetization and the poor video/sound quality of my videos (in my mind). I researched cameras for hours and hours, but have come to the conclusion that I can not afford a high quality camera at the moment. This dissatisfaction with my videos led me to just not make any as I researched and researched and researched. 

Thankfully, I have finally broken trough my inertia to create some new tutorials for all of you. The camera is the same, but I rotated to landscape view, changed the height of the tripod and added supplemental lighting (a bit too much to be honest, but I will get it dialed in). I guess the overall lesson here is to keep going and take the small steps you can to improve what you are doing even if you can't make the giant leap to where you eventually want to be.

Enjoy the new tutorials for Standing Fireman and Superman Basics!

Please let me know if you like the improvements to the videos and what you would like to see.