The Signs: When To Change

Change is hard.  Well, change can be hard or it can be smooth.  Oftentimes, big changes and transformation are difficult because the terrain is bumpy.  

Right now the physical three dimensional world is imbalanced.  We are in transition.  Much infrastructure that exists does not work like an old operating system or VHS tape.  We are shifting from outdated to new structures.  Sometimes modifications and revisions are needed.  In other cases, complete release must occur to create space for beginnings.

An aspect of change that many struggle with most is attachment.  Attachment to the current state of things - a regular schedule, routine, friend circle, communities, and income.  Prior to necessary change, energy builds up like the pressure of overgrown plant roots against the sides of a pot or gas that forms when shaking up a soda can.

Many of us tend to overstay in certain scenarios.  Personally, my career area of life has been a navigational tool in helping to understand the emotional body.  With moon in the 10th house, my emotional body and career are intertwined.  A career to me is not just a job; it moves me.  When a certain career or job is not aligned but I stay in that role, balance is thrown off. Energy does not flow freely, which affects the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual body. Here’s what happens:

Mind becomes overactive, over thoughtful, obsessive.  Thoughts become pollution and leak into the emotional body.  Logic is off.  Intuition is clouded.

Body ailments arise - tweaked neck, sore back, digestive problems, issues sleeping.  Focus and meditation become difficult.

Soul fire starts to wane.  Passion or desire is lost.  In extreme cases, meaninglessness ensues.

These signs indicate that something is not right.  Externally we appear fine - presentable with a secure home, good friends, no major health issues, stable finances, freedom to travel.

Here are more signs:

1. Fragmentation are your heart, mind, and will in conflict?  Does your heart say, “hell no” while the mind says “I should” and your will feels forced?

2. Imbalanced Mind is the mind overactive, obsessive, dominant?

3. Imbalanced Body is the body not functioning optimally? Are there aches, pains, small injuries?

4. Imbalanced Soul does your inner self feel like it’s screaming, caged up, needy or neglected?

5. Repetitive messages or signs hearing, seeing, feeling the same things over and over?  This is important.  Listen.  Does your car need maintenance?  Do you keep seeing frayed fabric or loose strings?  Ties may need to be cut or you may be holding on by a thread.  Message is to let go.

6. Songs Stuck in Your Head?  Break down the lyrics.  What do they convey?

Overall our current world is not balanced.  Therefore, we must nourish ourselves and open up to wholeness to balance our inner temples.  We cannot rely on concrete, traffic, what people say, our jobs, our friends, or what we consume to balance us.  By strengthening our inner selves (our soul fabric, keeping our bodies clear and charged) we increase our abilities to stay balanced and to thrive in the world.  Again we must rely on the inside because what’s on the outside is a reflection of the inner.  Change from within is what changes the world.

Cultivate Inner and Outer Balance

Sagittarius, corresponding to the 9th house and planet Jupiter, is dual in nature. On one hand, it is a time of gentle expansion and organic growth as we rebound and emerge from the emotional depths and revelations of Scorpio. We seek meaning and truth, broadening our horizons through education, learning, travel, and exploration on both inner and outer planes.

On the other hand, nights grow longer and we turn attention inward to prepare for winter by storing our energy and resources. This inner exploration is balanced by the force of our outer expansion. The philosophical growth we seek and discover externally reverberates to the inner depths of our being. And the deeper we explore our inner architecture, the greater we can expand and express outward.

Corresponding to the archer symbolically (and Temperance card in tarot) Sagittarius energy reminds us that as humans we connect spirit and heaven to matter and earth. Imagine the hexagram, a blend of the upward (spirit) facing triangle and the downward (earth) facing triangle. Returning to a state of balance, centeredness, and alignment allows us to consistently embody and express our highest nature. It is within these dual aspects—fluid yet rooted, passionate while cool, grounded and uplifted—that we create stability. Juggling two balls and holding equally weighted bags on either shoulder creates more balance than just one. This equilibrium or still point culminates at the Winter Solstice.

I created a spread specially for Holisticism to help us balance this season. This alignment will prepare us for the building and planting phase of Capricorn; what we plant in the winter blossoms in the Spring. Therefore, it’s important that we initiate our creations from a centered and balanced foundation.

Do a spread for yourself! Step by step instructions here.

Why I Love Crystals

Vessels of wisdom,

Crystals are magical and sacred pieces of Earth.

Crystals embody all elements ~ spirit, air, fire, water, earth.  

Crystals express vibrations of the soul and are here to help us.

Crystals revitalize and attune us to our natural and highest frequencies.  

Crystals are bright, glowing, sparkling, shiny, natural, elegant, beautiful, unique, timeless, and divine.

Crystals, like people, express Heaven on Earth.

Musings on Money, Jobs, Career

Navigating Change, Shifting Perspectives, Exploring Freedom, Maintaining Balance

What’s the relationship between money, a job, and a career? The simple answer is that a job or career is work that provides development of skills, opportunities for growth, a platform for collaboration, income, security, and fulfillment. Oversimplification by collapsing the three into one association where we perceive our job to equal our career which equals our source of money can birth the belief that we must stay in a certain job to make money. The below video paints a valid picture:

Digging deeper, let’s break down job, career, and money to examine how these aspects relate but are different. For each area I associate the following descriptions, associations, implications, and keywords:

General

Job: work, money, teamwork, connection, interaction, collaboration, choice, freedom, knowledge, experience, opportunity, leadership, charisma, power, empowerment

Career: mastery, longevity, experience, wisdom, knowledge, fulfillment, satisfaction, completion, full cycle, growth, building, evolution, promotion, transformation, power, empowerment, leadership

Money: currency, flow, in and out, exchange, energy, abundance, resources, freedom, experience, security, sharing, ability to help others, leverage, power

Specific for me:

Job: sales, marketing, business development, community building, event management, event planning, consulting

Career: health, wellness, empowerment, pole

Money: navigate with intuition, plentiful, ebb and flow, resourceful

What are your personal associations with each word: job, career, and money? Try listing them out.

Jobs for me have followed this general trajectory: beginning - excitement, stimulation, eagerness to learn, middle - savviness, groove, mastery of work, end - feeling of completion and fulfillment.

At the junction of a complete role and a new role, feelings of stagnation arise especially if the transition between the two positions is long and slow. Currently, I am in one of those cycles with Saturn and Pluto in second house Capricorn and Uranus in fifth house Taurus.

With time and space to reflect and plan, I analyzed the following:

Prior Method: Relying primarily on feeling and intuition to navigate, flowing to where I felt called with the mantra spend more, make more and if you have choice A and B, get both. The underlying energy was one of expansion and abundance.

Recognizing the need to change: Within the past year, it became apparent that my prior means and navigational methods called for an update.

New Method: One that encompasses the old but also adds structure, mechanics, slow, steady building and growth with the actions of budgeting, resourcefulness, and a keen sense of discernment where the answer is not always yes and more, but sometimes no.

Weaving elements of the prior method with new additions creates a balance between intuitive expansion and logical structure, a formula that reaps long term benefits.

Helpful realizations related to money:

When we equate a job with one source of income, we can feel stuck and tethered to that role. If we open to receiving money from seen and unseen places, realizing and recognizing that a job does not need to be our only source of income, we can embody expansion and liberation.

Self-Experimentation Highlights and Recognition:

Upon entering the workforce after college, I equated job with money and stability. However, within months of my first job, I desired freedom of time and money, and in my early 20s Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Work Week book inspired me to work as little as possible and have financial freedom to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. This attitude prompted me to work with smaller and smaller companies until I eventually had the courage to go freelance and experience the four hour work week style.

However, what I realized is that without purpose, intention, and societal contribution, no matter how much money you make or how many beautiful places you visit, the exact same feeling of entrapment that arises when you are in a specific role for too long also occurs when you have unlimited freedom and lack of direction. This stuck, lost sense stems from lack of purpose despite how much or little money you have.

I believe the answers for foundational balance lie in maintaining multiple streams of financial income, experiencing collaboration, teamwork, structure, and purpose in work and mastering skills, expanding, and evolving in your career. In this light, here are my refined goals:

Job: growth and development of new skills, challenges to maximize potential, interaction with people, connecting community, collaboration and working with others, planning and organizing, space for expansion

Career: health, wellness, environment, human empowerment, fulfillment on all levels

Money: steady flow, abundance to spare and share, residual income, multiple sources

What are your visions for your job, career, and monetary income?

🎉 Celebrating 10 Years of Pole 🎉

Importance of Foundation, Roots, and Fundamentals in Pole, Balancing Innovation with Tradition

Pole Show LA ‘15 Reef Routine via Alloy Images

In honor of my 10-year Poleversary, here is a post on the importance of roots and solid foundation in pole dance. For background on how I got started and my pole path read ‘My Pole Dance Journey’ then return to this article.

In 2001 at age 16, I took my first pole class with Kristina at S Factor but have been involved in the industry consistently since October 2008. One of the original BeSpun Girls, I instructed at BeSpun from ‘09-’16 along with a number of other studios in LA including The Choreography House, The Vertitude, and Metamorphosis.

My roles in the pole industry include: student since ‘08, teacher since ‘09, private events performer since ‘09, XPERT instructor since ‘11, XPERT Master Trainer since ‘12, X-POLE US Marketing Director (‘11-’14), Girl Next Door Principle Cast Member (‘10-’13), Kelly Maglia’s Vertical Theater performer (‘10-’11), Pole Show LA performer (‘10-’16), Pole Presenter at fitness expos TheFitExpo and SCW Mania since ‘12, Co-Founder & Event Producer of professional pole league PCS (Pole Championship Series) (‘12-present), Pole Fitness Co-Chair of world’s largest international Sports Festival by Arnold Schwarzenegger since ‘14, and Co-Creator of POLE-GA (‘18).

Upon starting pole, twisted grip handspring was the most difficult move. There were fewer than a dozen true pole stars and Lil’ Mynx was still in the mix. PoleFit did not yet exist, and there was only one major pole competition in the US.

With pole’s growing popularity and the arrival of smart phones and social media, pole content is everywhere. Students come to class asking to learn X or Y from Instagram. In the early days we relied on the unique skills and talent of each instructor and trained face-to-face. Online pole lessons were sparse and many of the earliest inspirations came from YouTube sensations such as Tara Karina, Karol Helms, and Leigh Ann. Similar to how consumers drive the market, student requests can influence and shape class direction.

The number of pole studios, gyms offering pole, home pole sales, students, teachers, online pole lessons, competitions, shows, and teacher trainings is growing exponentially. However, one element that seems to be diminishing is strong foundation, pole fundamentals, building blocks, and layers of moves. There are hundreds of beginner and intermediate techniques many of which are skipped due to an interest in fancier tricks. Students come to class asking to learn the spatchcock but cannot yet perform an inside leg hang.

I don’t want to deter excitement for learning certain tricks but do argue that mastery of fundamentals is key to longevity, depth, well-roundedness, grace, smooth transitions, quality of form, injury prevention, and more. Mastery of basics and the ability to add layers upon moves enables polers to learn anything and to build a vast library over time.

Here are some tips to ensure a balanced and enriching pole experience:

Teachers

1. Be strict with form such as pointed toes and extension

2. Encourage new elements learned in class to be performed in freestyle

3. Provide level options for all moves

4. Encourage mastery of techniques before moving on with sloppy form

5. Incorporate strength and flexibility training in classes

6. Teach moves equally on both sides

Students

1. Master the basics and layer moves

2. Have patience

3. Balance training and repetition with proper rest

4. Train both sides evenly

5. Listen to the instructor

Studios

1. Create curriculum and enrollment based programs. The longer execution curve of pole makes a series more conducive to learning.

2. Educate students on dos and don’ts (post a list of suggestions at studio)

3. Offer class levels and other types of modalities for cross training

Pole’s multi-faceted nature gives rise to a myriad of styles, for it is a combination of dance, acrobatics, gymnastics, aerial, stylized movement, fitness, and more. Styles and tricks will vary but safe and effective techniques through mastery of fundamentals should be priority with any style. Quality of form and movement is not only more visually appealing, but also healthier! The body feels good moving efficiently and freely. As pole evolves, balancing innovation with tradition is key.

If you want to chat further on the topic, let’s connect at my pole page.