Pole Competition Survival with Champion Amandalyn Morighan

Pole on the Call Podcast — Season 4
Pole Competition Survival with Champion Amandalyn Morighan

In this episode, Cris Rivers & Mændy Mac interview the incredible Pole Coach & Champion Amandalyn Morighan who shares her helpful guide for pole competition survival.

BIO:
Amandalyn started pole in 2020 after seeing someone perform a flying body when she became obsessed with learning the skill. She started classes and began teaching herself reverse grabs in her garage. From the very start power spins were her passion because it feels like flying. She progressed very quickly in her first year, thanks to her background in gymnastics and dance.

In 2021 she competed for the first time in Level 2 at the PSO Atlantic competition and won. The competition bug had officially bitten her. That same year she won a virtual PSO competition in level 3 and by the next APC in 2022, she competed and won level 4 championship. Later in 2022, she also competed in the semi-pro level at The Pole Championship Series at the Arnold. The following year in 2023, she won again at PSO Atlantic, this time in level 4/5 Low Flow with a guitar prop in hand (may that category rest in peace). She also had the honor of performing in the creepy showcase at PoleCon as the killer doll. These are still her top two favorite routines to perform because she gets to really lean into the characters.

In the fall of 2023 Amandalyn competed in her first Professional level competition as a finalist in US Pole Champions. Then in 2024, she competed in Pole Theatre USA and won her first professional title, winning in the Pole Art category and the Overall title. A few months later she competed again as a returning Pro finalist at US Pole Champions, this time winning first place and her 2nd professional title! She also had the opportunity to perform at PoleCon a second time, in the sport showcase.

Amandalyn teaches classes and private lessons at Phoenix Fitness & Dance in Manassas, Virginia. She offers a variety of workshops and would love to come teach them at more studios! Reach out to her on Instagram (@amandalyn.morighan) if you are interested in more information about her workshops.

LINKS:
Instagram @amandalyn.morighan


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everyone, Welcome back to Poll on the Call podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
My name is.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
Mandy Mack and I'm Chris Rivers.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
And today we are super excited to be here with
Amandolin Morgan and talking about the competition's survival guide.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yay, Amanda has a pole champion.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
She just recently won the US Pole champions and also pso.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Poll Theater.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
I'm mess up, but it's okay, We'll just continue. Thank
you so much, Amanda, for Amandolin for being with us today.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
That's truly our pleasure. Before we get into the nitty
gritty and the topic of the episode, do you mind
telling us a little bit about your pole journey and
where it started and how it grew.

Speaker 5 (00:56):
Sure, So I started around the time of COVID, So
like when I started, we were wearing masks and glass
so we definitely didn't recognize anybody when we saw them out.
So I got into it because so I have a

(01:19):
a background in gymnastics and dance, and growing up, I'd
always had that sort of.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Outlet and also.

Speaker 5 (01:29):
Just a camaraderie with you know, a community of people
that were also doing that thing, that understood you on
that level.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
And I think growing up or being an adult, you
kind of lose that. And I was sort of searching
for it again.

Speaker 5 (01:47):
And I had been taking you know, dance classes as
an adult and all of those things, trying to.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Sort of find that again.

Speaker 5 (01:55):
And I remember being out somewhere and seeing girl do
I saw what I know now. I didn't know what
it was at the time, but I know it now.
She did a flying body, like just a reverse grab,
and I thought that was the coolest thing on the planet.
I had never seen anything like it. And I was like,
I'm doing that. I'm gonna do that and like whatever

(02:18):
I had to do to do it. And so I
signed up for a class and it was just kind
of a beginner class, and I feel like I.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
The community that I was looking for.

Speaker 5 (02:35):
I was like, this is it like that, like this
is the thing that I had been looking for.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
And so that was really when it kind of locked in.

Speaker 5 (02:47):
Yeah, And then after that, like I got a I
got my home pole set up, and uh, you know,
they weren't teaching in the classes I was taking, they
weren't teaching the flying body or the reverse graps. I
started teaching it to myself because I'm very impatient, so
because that was just like the only thing I cared about,
and like, when I have like a trick that I
really want and I'm still this way, I'm like relentless,

(03:10):
like a dog with a burrow. And so I did
a bunch of online tutorials about it. I I the
one that was like really clutch was Annette Blower has
one that on YouTube that is the one that's the
best one. And I still credit that tutorial to like

(03:33):
the reason a lot of my power spins are the
way they are because that sort of like fundamental technique
that she has, which is still kind of like my,
uh my preferred style of power spins, you do know,
everybody has like their own thing.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (03:48):
And so from there, I I started training at Phoenix
Fitness and Dance, and the it became besties with the
owner there, Sarah, which I think you guys know, yeah,
and then I started.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Teaching there a little while later, and I guess that's
that's sort of it.

Speaker 5 (04:06):
I started competing, uh this, I think I started competing
pretty early in my pole journey, So I kind of
went up through the ranks every level, did a competition
at each level, so I had kind of the the experience,
ah doing all of that stuff at uh like a

(04:27):
level two when we used to still call it exotic
uh at psou and that kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
So so, yeah, such a fast journey. You had a
lot fast journey.

Speaker 5 (04:42):
Yes, uh I I have definitely not been doing it
as long as a lot of my you know, co competitors.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
I mean I totally credit.

Speaker 5 (04:54):
The the gymnastics background and all of that stuff, because
when I started, I was like, oh, like this is
you know, I feel like this feels like home, Like
I've done a lot of this. I'm just like switching apparatuses,
so it felt pretty natural, you know.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
But then you do get.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
To a point where it's like, oh now, now shit
is hard, Like it doesn't stay easy, but you do
hit that point where you're like, okay, but yeah there's
a quick one.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
I think definitely for sure that is awesome.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
And thank you for bringing up how gymnastics kind of
helped because I was going to ask that next question.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
Shout out to a net blouse.

Speaker 4 (05:38):
I always get her last name wrong, but I'm obsessed
with her videos, so I definitely understand.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
She's She's my queen all hale.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
I love it.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
I said, she's one of the few power polos that
makes incredible tutorios and videos.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
And gives you the conditioning for it. She's really she goes.

Speaker 5 (05:56):
Into detail too, like it's it gets really so for
the people who are real upsessed with it, Like she
gives you what you want, you get you know, the specifics,
not just hey, you just fling yourself around and do
the thing.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Cool.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (06:08):
It gets into you know, a lot more of the
like physics of.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
It, which I really appreciate.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
So yeah, definitely, yes, I love physics and pulled hands.
I love to how you were obsessed with that one
trick and you just like went for it. I feel
like all of us when we first start we had
that one. We're like, Okay, that's I want to do that.

(06:39):
But yeah, the the flying body, I think we.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Call it the It has a lot of names. It
has a lot of names. I've learned. I like the
flying body because that makes sense.

Speaker 5 (06:51):
Yeah, I mean so I learned it as flying body.
I heard reverse grab. I think A Nett called it
a reverse grab.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (06:58):
And then it's also gonta dislocator. I've heard it called
an una spin. I've heard it probably something else that
I can't remember what it was, but yeah, I've seen
it called a bunch of different things.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
So it's like when you have tag it on Instagram,
you have to do like PD this, PD that all
the things.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Well PD dislocator though, like that also makes sense unfortunately with.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Your arm out of the socket.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Oh oh, well, so you got into competitions. Right at
the beginning, you said, what was your first competition Atlantic?

Speaker 2 (07:39):
Pso Atlantic?

Speaker 4 (07:40):
Yay? Local?

Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, it was, it was local. It made sense.

Speaker 5 (07:45):
It was actually the one during COVID that was kind
of small, which actually worked out pretty well because it
wasn't as overwhelming as I think it could have been,
you know, because sometimes it's pretty packed and it can
be intimidated. So yeah, it was kind of a lower
key atmosphere that year. So it gave us a chance

(08:08):
to me and a couple other friends from.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
My Pole studio.

Speaker 5 (08:12):
We all kind of went in it together and kind
of braved our first competition, you know, out of Atlantic.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
So I yeah, I think it was.

Speaker 5 (08:28):
A useful time to like learn about the ropes because
you could actually like talk to people, and.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
You know, I think it was good, right, And then
from there, millions of other competitions in order to come with.

Speaker 5 (08:46):
Yeah, you got a little guide with it after that, Yeah,
which I don't know why, because leading up to it,
I'm like, I don't understand why I'm doing this.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
This is horrible. I think everybody's like that.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
But it's two funny. I was good. I was going
to ask, how do you do so many competitions?

Speaker 2 (09:05):
I'm not even the worst like I have.

Speaker 5 (09:07):
There are some people who are way worse than me,
and and you know, she knows what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
But yeah, it's I think I knew I wanted to.

Speaker 5 (09:19):
Do USPC again, and I had already gotten into Pole theater,
and so this year just ended up being kind of
a long competition year more than normal, just because I
started earlier for Pole theater and I just kind of
changed the routine for each competition for like whatever, uh

(09:40):
the judging criteria was, or whatever the type of competition was,
And so just again just ended up being a really
long comp season for me this particular year. I don't
think I want to do that again, like do a
little less this coming year.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
But you said you did the same piece I did. Yeah,
Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine like overwriting the
muscle memory to make it slightly different.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
It's a thing, Yeah, it's it's not an easy thing.

Speaker 5 (10:16):
I feel like the first iteration or the first like
change like iteration on the original was the hardest to
break some of that muscle memory because I actually I
tried to change it more than I ended up actually
changing it, and there wasn't enough time. I think you
need a lot, like a lot more time, Like a

(10:36):
few weeks is not enough to really wipe it clean.
Because I just could not get it to work, and
I was like, you know what, forget it, forget this,
forget that, cut this, cut that, like all the stuff
that I planned on adding.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
I was like, fuck it, We're do the original. And
we pretty much did the original with maybe like one
or two different things.

Speaker 5 (10:57):
But then when I had more time for USPCE is
when I was able to really kind of change it
up a little bit. And I had some tricks that
I had been working on that weren't ready for Pole Theater,
but I think they were ready for us PC, so
I was able to put those in. So yeah, I
think I need more than three and a half weeks

(11:19):
to do that.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
So I think that, yeah, a lot of people probably
would too.

Speaker 4 (11:24):
Yes, I'm actually going to start that method in Jane
Jane Away for a twenty twenty five competition year. And
I'm excited because I guess it works for a lot
of people.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
To use a routine the whole year.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
Yeah, and then built it.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Uh huh.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
I actually have not done that before until this year,
and I'll never not do it that way because it honestly,
it's so expensive, the costume, the travel, all of that stuff,
you know, the hours in the studio, it just it
gets it gets to be a lot. And for me,

(11:58):
I take a really long time to choreograph, so because
like I'll spend an hour on like an aid count
just like being weird in the mirror, like doing something
that is like not a big deal at all and
nobody's gonna notice it but me, but you know, to me,
it matters. So yeah, I like to have that extra
time to put the routine together, and then once you

(12:20):
perform it, you kind of learn what works and what
doesn't because sometimes being on stage, I would say, like
being on stage is like performing high like you're it's
not the same as doing a run in the studio.
Your brain is on all kinds of stuff, and so
like some things work when you're high and some things
don't work when you're high. You have to kind of

(12:41):
make adjustments based on that.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
So yeah, right, that's a great analogy. Do you feel
that the piece was like it's now a masterpiece because
you've worked on.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Definitely not.

Speaker 5 (13:00):
I mean I could continue changing it and refining it
until the end of time until it was like not
even the same routine because there's always things that.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
Are just like it could be a little better.

Speaker 5 (13:13):
Yeah, definitely, not anywhere close to a masterpiece. I think
it is probably the best I could have done it
in the time that I had, But if I wasn't
completely sick of it, yeah, I mean there are I
even like after the last run I had of it
in Boston, I still went off and I wrote notes

(13:34):
as if I was going to do it again, even
though I'm never going to use it again.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
But these are the things that I would change. And
I don't know why I did that. I just I
just do it because I'm a psycho.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
So it's like you never know, like I'm bringing back
a piece from a few years ago, so you never know.

Speaker 5 (13:52):
I mean, in this piece, you know it deserves to
rest because it was originally one that I did for
a competition when I first started Pull the song and
basically like the concept and some some of the choreo
not much, but like the beginning position and all of
that stuff was from the original when it was like
a level three piece.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
I think I did so I wanted to.

Speaker 5 (14:15):
I really liked it, and I wanted to give it
like the full you know what I can do with
it now? Treatment So yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
It's it's done, its job. She's ready to go to bed.
Oh my gosh, I love it. It seems like a masterpiece
to me. What I said, Well, actually.

Speaker 4 (14:36):
And it worked, because can you tell us about your wins?

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (14:42):
Still still a little bit, you know, surreal. So Pull
Theater was the first one, and that one I so
I'm like kind of.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
Big into you know, vibration and manifesting. I was super.

Speaker 5 (15:01):
But I was really in I feel like a zone
for that one creatively and just vibrationally and all of
those things, you know, and just it just felt like
I always in hindsight, I can always tell when I'm
gonna win a competition. I'm like, yeah, that makes sense,

(15:23):
you know what I mean, Like I can kind of
feel it and then I can and I'm like able
to sort.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
Of sense when I really.

Speaker 5 (15:29):
Want to win it, but I'm you know, I know
I'm not going to, but I feel like I I
don't know. I just like felt good about that competition,
and I was super excited about the video that I
had a girl at my studio who does like video
editing as her career made that video for me and

(15:53):
I would just watch it over and over and over
again because it was just so cool and so I
just felt really inspiredired at that time. And uh, you know,
I was excited about the choreography and I wanted to
stretch myself a little bit more creatively. So it was
kind of a you know, as much as it can

(16:13):
be an enjoyable process to put the routine together, right, like, it's.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
Never really enjoyable. But yeah, I I just I think
the vibe was.

Speaker 5 (16:26):
Really good and I really enjoyed being there with all
of those people, and I think I would have been
super thrilled even if I hadn't won it.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
I just had like a really great time. So yeah,
that was that was very that was very surreal. Uh.
I have a have a I have a Tiara, What
what I'm gonna do with that, Tiara.

Speaker 5 (16:47):
But I definitely wore it downstairs at the hotel for
coffee and my pajamas the next day.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
So that was that was fun.

Speaker 5 (16:56):
Yeah, So that was pol Theater. That is a great competition.
I highly recommend anybody who's interested in like really stretching
themselves creatively and you know, and having the opportunity to
really have control over your lights, your your video in
the background, like you really get to put together a

(17:18):
whole production for yourself, which is very very cool.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
So yeah, so I was Poll Theater and then US
Pole Champions. I had done that one before.

Speaker 5 (17:30):
Actually that was the first time the first time I
competed there. Last year was my first pro level competition ever.
And so I went into that one like I'm just
here for the snacks, Like I Am not trying to place,
do not.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
Care like super just I'm just happy to be here.
And so.

Speaker 5 (17:51):
Either you know, I was definitely intimidated in a lot
of imposter syndrome for that one, and so I went
into it just trying to be like all right, just
put on a clean run and you know.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
Be happy with that. Uh, And I was.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
I had a pretty clean run. I kind of knew
that routine wasn't it you know what I mean, Like
I actually love the routine.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
You know, it's meaningful to me.

Speaker 5 (18:17):
Uh, but it wasn't as far as I can go creatively.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
And I know that competition really is a place to.

Speaker 5 (18:30):
Really put out there your authentic creativity that is gonna
make you memorable. So I after after that one, I
kind of was like, I'm doing this one again, and
I want to do it like for real. Uh and
so ho I was like, cross my parents, like I

(18:50):
hope I getn't. So when I got in, I was like,
all right, let's fucking go. And it's the same routine
and you know, amp it up a little bit. So
so that's, you know, that's pretty much what we did.
We added a little bit more difficulty to it. The

(19:12):
core of it is was pretty much the same, So
not a ton of changes, but ones that I thought
were appropriate. And plus there was a time change. I
had to shorten it, so that was that was the thing.
So I had to cut out some stuff. There's this
one part that I really liked, and I was kind
of sad to cut it a moist, sad to take
things out, but I had there's like a part where

(19:33):
like like I walked forward and it's like this whole
like dramatic thing, but it doesn't really work without the
video and I didn't have time, so you know, I
had to get cut. But yeah, so that was that
and like USPC, like it was very surreal to win

(19:55):
that one because like I didn't place last time and
so to come back the second time and when it
was crazy that was just nuts and like and also
the people that were there, I was like, you know what, again,
I'm just happy if I have a clean run because
some of these people are like insane.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
So yeah, that was that was that one. So yeah,
that it's it's been.

Speaker 5 (20:24):
A little bit of a ridiculous year.

Speaker 3 (20:29):
Yeah, it's awesome. I was working.

Speaker 4 (20:36):
What was any the difference that you noticed between training
for the two different competitions, because one is very artistic,
is kind of it's artistic but not as artistic as theater.

Speaker 5 (20:50):
If you what was the different Yeah, you mean there's
like a there's more of a blend of the uh
sport and the art with USP. See, I think the
big difference for me was at for Pole Theater, I
was able to worry less about the difficulty and not

(21:11):
feel like I had to keep things in. And so
I was ripping things out of that routine left and
right because I just I was like, that is not
the important thing about it, and so if it's not
working and it's stressing me out, cut it, and which
I think was ended up being the right decision. But

(21:33):
it was a little bit different for USPC because I
was less quick to cut something that wasn't working. That's
always a problem for me, like I will wait too
long to cut something that isn't quite working, which is
always why I'm coming up with a brand new spin
pass two weeks before competition. That's like my thing. It

(21:55):
never comes together. Spin pass is the devil. So yeah,
I think it just allowed me some freedom at a
poll theater to let go of some of those things
because I packed.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
I always packed too.

Speaker 5 (22:10):
Much shit in and I have to start pulling stuff out,
and so it was a little less tricks stressful, if
you know what I mean. And then USPC UH had
a little bit more of that, a little bit more
of the trick stress.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
Thank you for sharing that to think about.

Speaker 5 (22:37):
And I also did this routine at a couple of PSOs,
which was also a very different experience because PSO I
did championship and this routine is like very artistic, but
it like I feel like it's it's like straddling the
line between artistic and championships. So so I wanted to
put it in a championship. So it it was definitely

(23:00):
tricky to make that work because I think there there
were some things probably missing from it that needed to
be there for a championship routine.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
So uh so it's yeah, it's very different for PSO.

Speaker 4 (23:17):
I believe it so much thought to be put into
like every specific competition.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
Mm hmmm, all the creative solutions you had to come
up with.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, Like the strategy is is a thing.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Yeah, that's why it's so important to know the rules
of the competition before.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
You get in.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
Ye. Yeah, read the rules.

Speaker 5 (23:41):
You can't lick the polls, you can't throw stuff off stage.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
Oh you know what you're doing?

Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yes? Well, what are some Do you have any cross
training that you do for competitions?

Speaker 2 (23:57):
Do you want to share a lot? So?

Speaker 5 (24:01):
I do weight training once a week, so I have
a trainer that I see for that, and then I
do a lot of recovery stuff. So I do flexibility training,
not as much as I should, admittedly, but I do
a lot of very intentional recovery stuff as part of

(24:23):
the training, and I think that has been one of
the most important things. The weight training is a big thing, yes,
but making sure that you are resetting yourself is super important.

Speaker 1 (24:37):
Thank you for bringing that up, because we forget that
when we build muscles, they need time to repair themselves,
and the active rest is hard to find when you're
competition training.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, when do you how far in advanced you would
you recommend that you would start training for a competition,
because I feel like for our studio we start three
months before.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
I think that's right.

Speaker 5 (25:11):
Yeah, at minimum, at least three months. If I can
start earlier than that, I definitely do. But like I said,
that's because I am I take forever to choreograph for myself.
Like when I'm choreographing for other people, it's like boom
boom boom, it happens like super quickly, and for me,
I'm just like the cobblers children have no shoes kind

(25:34):
of thing, like it just nothing is ever right. I Yeah,
I think three three to five months is probably a
good amount of time.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
If you.

Speaker 5 (25:48):
Want to be you want to be doing like full
runs the month before. I never am, but you know
you should, right, Like I.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
Feel like I would never be ready like a month before.

Speaker 5 (26:03):
But I think now we're getting like proper runs, Like
if it's a new routine, two weeks before the competition,
we get like a full run that is like cleanish. Right,
stuff never comes together until the very end. For me,
I'm like, I'm the worst. Right.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
Everyone works so differently too, but what.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
It should be doing and that's not it.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
But do you want to share like a like a
competition training week, like what you would do.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Sure?

Speaker 5 (26:37):
So I tend to do kind of very I have rituals.
I tend to have the same week every week. So
Mondays I will I will train for like two hours
usually Mondays, I will focus on running the passes, So
I'll run each pass. Depending on how far we are along,

(27:00):
if it's early and I'm still building up endurance and
that sort of thing, we may do a little bit less.
We may focus on like a couple of the combos.
We may focus on like figuring out a pass, so
that sort of thing.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
But as it goes.

Speaker 5 (27:13):
Along, it starts to become the run the spin past
three times, run the stat of past three times, and
then like spot clean things after that, and then Tuesdays.
Tuesdays tend to be like little fixes, like if there's
small I'm usually kind of tired on Tuesdays. It's just

(27:34):
the way the week shapes out, so I will do
what I can, like if I can run the pass
like once and then fix a couple of things, or
if there's one particular thing that isn't working, I'll spend
some time troubleshooting it. Tuesday is troubleshooting day. Wednesday is
rest day. Always that is, every single week. Thursdays, I

(27:58):
will typically do a run, and depending on where I
am in the prep phase, I may start with is
like running half of the routine and then running a
second half or running you know, I'll go as far
as I can before I'm dying on the floor, and
then you know, we'll see where it goes. And then Fridays, uh,

(28:24):
if I if it's as we get later and I
have ramped up in durance, I'll do runs on Fridays too,
and then uh usually comp training time. I tend to
not train as much on Saturday and Sunday. I depending
on where things are. This last comp season, I was
training on Saturday a bit, so it just kind of depends,

(28:49):
and then I'll do my weight training on Sundays. Uh,
and then I think that's probably why I'm tired on Tuesdays, honest,
but but yeah, I tend to have that sort of
cadence for every.

Speaker 4 (29:04):
Comp, training like a professional, and that's why you're winning.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
Thank you for sharing that. I'm uh yeah, Chris and
I are starting to train for the end of the
year or maybe something in between.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
So it's what are you guys gonna do.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
I'm definitely gonna do PSO Northeast.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
I am god.

Speaker 4 (29:30):
Someone told me like it's been two years and I
didn't even it's been two years. So I'm gonna definitely
do PSO Northeast. But I'm also doing Exotic Generation Virtuals,
which is in I really want to try us POL
champions and pole Theaters. I have three routines I'm working
on some of the year. This is I kind of

(29:54):
want to like, you know what, it's you, Chris, like them,
they take it.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
I mean, you know what, who cares forget them? You
do what you want to do. Impositive, syndrome is throw
it out.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
What competitions are you doing this year?

Speaker 2 (30:16):
I don't know. I am it is if it's an.

Speaker 5 (30:18):
Odd feeling, I am currently not signed up for any competitions.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
That's very weird.

Speaker 5 (30:25):
I don't know what to do with myself. My training
is crazy right now. I'm like all over the place.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
I think I will probably do carry as my next one.

Speaker 5 (30:36):
I think that's in the summer this year, so I
may do that. I may do Dallas, depending on what
the timing looks like. So one of those two, let's
see what the schedule looks like. And then after that,
I don't fully know. I might do Land of Lakes.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
I might do us PS.

Speaker 5 (31:01):
Oh my god, don't start in the letters like you the.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
One of the things, one of the one of the
big letters.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
Yeah, one of those, probably an artistic not sport.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
The sport scares me.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
Is that the one in Florida?

Speaker 5 (31:18):
I think, yeah, I think there's yeah, there's one, and
I thought it was in North Carolina.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Maybe I don't know.

Speaker 5 (31:26):
There's clearly I need to do more research because I
don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
We are to orange you. There's so much out there
now yeah, I can't wait to see what you come
up with.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
Do you have any more tips to share with anyone
for training for competition?

Speaker 2 (31:48):
Oh gosh. I think.

Speaker 5 (31:57):
One of the big things that I will tell people
when I'm coaching them for competition is to stop competing.
Like I don't think about it like that, because they'll
be worried about who's competing against them. They'll be worried
about whether you know they're doing enough or whether their
routine is hard enough. And I get it, right, Like,

(32:18):
I have all these same thoughts, and I think over time,
and not just in poll but like in other you know, sports,
in my life, you.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Know, you kind of have to start.

Speaker 5 (32:30):
You have to focus on yourself, and so I think
the way to go about it is to you can
compete with yourself and focus on what you're doing and
try to do the best you have at least you
do the best you can with the time you have
and not let the external stuff come into your bubble,

(32:54):
which is hard, super hard, right because like you know,
every yeah, you're looking at the line up and you're
like shit, such and such signed up like camera, but
but you got to put it away, put it in
a drawer and let it go, because it's really easy
to get caught up in it and let it kind

(33:15):
of take over your your whole thought process. Right like
you're gonna like, oh, I got to put this trick
in because such and such is going to do this
thing and I got to be competitive. No, don't do that.
Stay in your lane. Do the things that are right
for the routine, that were part of your creative vision,
that were that are in your like green zone tricks.

(33:36):
That's another thing I'll mention in a second, but like
things that are you can do safely and comfortably, and
and maybe like some things that are stretching you, but
you've got to focus on your lane. But yeah, I
also for green zone tricks. I also tell people most

(33:58):
of your routine, like maybe seventy five to eighty percent
of routine should be green zone, meaning these are tricks
you could do easily, like you've been doing them for
a while, you are comfortable doing them. They are not new,
not necessarily new. I mean, I guess it's possible a
new trick could feel.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
Like a green trick right away.

Speaker 5 (34:14):
It's possible, but they should be things that you don't
have to really stress about. They don't keep you up
at night because you know, there's always one trick in
your routine that kind of keeps you up at night.
It's the one you're thinking about going in, which is
why I say, like, most of it needs to be
green zone, and then you can have maybe one or
two that are yellow zone. You can have one that

(34:35):
is red zone that is like a stretch goal that
you are it is the one. And if you have none,
even better, but no more than one, and especially not
more than like a few weeks out. If you still
have like more than one red zone, then you got
to start taking some of those out. Like red zone
is something that's not working or it's something that you're

(34:56):
inconsistent with. Uh, it doesn't have to be something you're
scared of. It can just be some thing that doesn't
work every time, but definitely something that you're scared of.
If you're still really scared of it, then you know
that probably means you're not fully ready to put it
on stage. So I think that that's a big thing
that I will tell people learn from experience, because I

(35:18):
have put a whole ship ton of red zone things
in a routine and I had to rip them all
out towards the end and replace a good, good portion
of that routine.

Speaker 2 (35:29):
So that was a big lesson learned from me.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
No, those red zones need to turn orange.

Speaker 4 (35:39):
Yeah, superfing because that was one thing I learned fast. Like,
you cannot be adding a bunch of tricks you are
not ready for in your routine because the time working
on those instead of the full piece itself.

Speaker 3 (35:52):
I like that. I like red, yellow, green, green light,
yellow light red.

Speaker 5 (35:59):
Yeah yeah, yeah, but no, that's exactly right. Is that
you spend so much time on these few things that
the choreo goes out the window, the detail work goes
out the window, the execution goes out the window, your
stage presence goes out the window. All of those things
get a backseat when it should be the opposite. It
should be those things are first and then maybe a

(36:22):
stretch goal can get thrown in there. So yeah, that's
that's a big one for me. And I'm still like
working on it right, Like I still sometimes will have
a couple of red zones and like my coach Sarah's like,
let it go, you gotta let it go.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
But no, funny, I love it. Do you currently have
a red zone that you're working on.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
I have a few. I have a lot of red zones,
have a lot of things that are not comforting. One
of the.

Speaker 5 (36:59):
Things that I have is so there's like a fongie
variation that I'm trying to do that is like.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
It's from the elbow and it comes back and then
it returns.

Speaker 5 (37:11):
But I'm having a hard time with the catch from
the elk Like I'm doing it from the elbow and
then the catch is like not quite right.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
So that's a red zone.

Speaker 5 (37:19):
I would not put that in a rogie a fly
by to cup grip. For some reason, that one messes
with me a little bit. I actually had a pretty
bad fall out of that recently, and so I think
I have like a little bit of a mental block
going that I'm working through. But yeah, so for whatever reason,

(37:41):
I have a hard time with the the mechanic the
wave on that one, if you know what I mean.
So that's that's probably one. Yeah, I mean there's a
whole bunch. There's a lot more. I just spent my
last training session pretty much falling on my ass for
an hour.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
Doing like various things.

Speaker 5 (37:58):
So that's ninety percent of my training is falling on
my ass.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (38:04):
I love how all your red zones are, like, oh
my pole goals, I would love to even tempt it.

Speaker 5 (38:11):
It never ends. The list of things never ends.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
No matter what.

Speaker 5 (38:15):
Your pole goals are, it just keeps going.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
You'll never get it done.

Speaker 4 (38:22):
Oh no, I got my baby fungie, and now I
want my fungi. And now about this elbow grip thing.
And I don't even know what it looks like, but
it sounds funny.

Speaker 5 (38:32):
You know what's funny about that one is that the
one part of it, you know, the cast off. You know,
you normally catching your shoulder mout and now when you
patch in the elbow.

Speaker 2 (38:43):
I got to tell you, it's like way fucking easier.

Speaker 5 (38:46):
It's so much easier because think about, like you're right there,
you're just going like that, and I was just like,
why did anybody tell me?

Speaker 2 (38:57):
I could have been doing this the whole time.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
So you're catching in like an elbow shoulder mount type.

Speaker 5 (39:04):
Yeah, and so like you're in this uh this grip
here and then you twist and all you have to
do is kind of lift your elbow, so you're not
even doing the full thing. So it's one of those
things that you put it on stage where it's like,
oh my god, it's so crazy, and I was like,
you guys don't.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Even know it's easier, but whatever.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
Will you be teaching that in any upcoming workshops?

Speaker 5 (39:27):
Probably not in a workshop yet because I haven't.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
So I have like a.

Speaker 5 (39:32):
Fondie drills workshop, and I'm actually going to be teaching
that one in Boston in January, but I haven't put
that in the workshop yet because.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
I feel like.

Speaker 5 (39:47):
The the elbow shoulder mount is a little bit harder
of a prerequisite than a regular Shulder mount.

Speaker 4 (39:53):
So I will.

Speaker 5 (39:53):
I will say that that it's easier if you have
the ability to do that shoulder ount.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
And so I haven't tried that out live yet. Maybe
I will.

Speaker 5 (40:08):
Maybe I'll be like you guys, just give it a try.
To see what happens. At my own studio, I make
them guinea pig stuff.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
So maybe I.

Speaker 5 (40:18):
Feel like that's one of those that's like I would
you have certain things the only teach in.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
Privates because it's hard to teach to a whole class.

Speaker 5 (40:25):
But yeah, but I do have a fungie workshop for
like a whole bunch of I have a ton of
drills to do for it.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
So I know someone who might be signing up for
that workshop. Yeah, not me, but.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
Like I love that journey for her.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
It's actually for for Chris, because Chris has been working
on fungis for quite a while, and I think I'm
so happy to see that they're not for me.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
I would love to dance with you January seventh in Summerville.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Yes, I'm signed up for your Heart Style workshop.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Oh really, Oh awesome. I was just working on that today. Actually,
I was so excited.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
There was only one spot left when I signed up,
so really, yeah, oh.

Speaker 2 (41:23):
Shit, I didn't know that.

Speaker 5 (41:24):
Okay, that's cool's buddy, Yeah, yeah, twenty twenty five.

Speaker 4 (41:31):
I want It's my top goal to be a student,
so mainly sent me this today. I was like, why
not January seventh. That's like a perfect way to get
into being a student more.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
I do that too. That is one of my goals
for this year. It was one for last.

Speaker 5 (41:45):
Year too, and I did okay at it, but for
this year it's a big one too. Is to take
more virtual classes and get into more because there's always
something to learn, you know, even if you're going to
you know, a level class that you've already been through,
Like you always can refrash your technique and maybe somebody

(42:06):
has a way of teaching something that's different.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
And even as an instructor, you.

Speaker 5 (42:10):
Can always you know, you first you can validate if
you're teaching it right, but you can learn different ways
of queueing things. And so I mean, yeah, I like,
I love it when other instructors come to take class,
and I go and take class with other instructors in
the area because I just think it's, you know, important

(42:30):
to build the whole community, not just one place, right,
Like we're all kind of building up the area that
you live in. You can all kind of work together
to raise the level in general, not just in tricks,
but like just the level of you know, dance, the

(42:51):
level of heels, whatever, whatever it is. So yeah, I
think I think Boston's going to be fun. I'm glad
you guys A fine.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
Yeah, I'm so excited.

Speaker 3 (43:04):
Fongie. I love the baby fongie. But it's it's with.

Speaker 4 (43:07):
Normal pull, like you got one side, but then when
you go into the.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
Next trick, it's like your least favorite side. So I've
been conditioning that eat of my.

Speaker 2 (43:16):
Existence is this you speak of going from one side
to the other side.

Speaker 5 (43:22):
Nothing is ever on the right side from me, I
swear to God, I always have to like pick one.

Speaker 2 (43:28):
Yeah, when you say baby FANNGI do you mean like.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
I've heard people call different things baby Fannie's are you
doing me the shoulder mount flip fanji?

Speaker 3 (43:36):
No, the flag to a funny grip invert.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Okay, okay, yeah, that's my.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
It's my goal to now right now with I.

Speaker 2 (43:49):
Think it's cool, like on on its own.

Speaker 4 (43:51):
I agree right now with my PHONGI like my right flag,
I'm killing it. But then to get to my left
shoulder mount, I've been working on my left shoulder out
or vice versus like my right shoulder out killing it.

Speaker 3 (44:04):
But to get to my.

Speaker 2 (44:07):
Yes, I know that pain. I really really understand that pain.

Speaker 4 (44:11):
Yes, I'm excited. We're going to make this happen anyway, summer.
This episode might come after, but we can make a clip, man,
a clip.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
We'll post it, We'll get all of your your workshops will.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
Sell out, I hope. So, I mean you're always a
little bit nervous. You're like, no, what if nobody lacks me? No,
You're amazing.

Speaker 1 (44:33):
I also wanted to ask you, do you offer online
classes so we can continue learning from you.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
Yeah, I do.

Speaker 5 (44:40):
We we can do virtuals through the studio that I
work from, So they have a virtual class private option
that you can get, and so really, if anybody's interested
in a private you can just DM me on Instagram
and I'll help you figure it out because sometimes it
could be hard fine stuff. So but yeah, yeah, we

(45:02):
can definitely do virtuals. We have like a little set
up there with a big TV, so.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
Yeah, we'll have all those links and everything in the captions.
Would be open to teaching for an online studio online
classes because I'm starting a new project in twenty twenty five.
I'm trying to build the community for an online student
to have whole dancers teach from home.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Just yeah, that's a cool idea.

Speaker 3 (45:31):
Excited.

Speaker 4 (45:32):
I think I think it will be awesome for students
and instructors to kind of try something.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
M Yeah, I like that.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
Need content like yours to be put out there virtually.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
You right, thank you for offering online lessons because sometimes
people come from areas that don't have a lot of
pole studios and maybe we're want to train with a champion.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Thanks.

Speaker 5 (46:03):
Yeah, I and I know online classes can be difficult
sometimes because it's hard to not when you don't have
a spotter and stuff like that. But I encourage people
to get the resistance fans too, because if that is
a helpful thing for virtual classes. I know some people
are not into it, but I'm very into resistance fans

(46:24):
for training.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
Wow, so I swear by them.

Speaker 4 (46:28):
I hated them at once and then right, They're absolutely
right once they help you, Like, Okay, now I get it.

Speaker 5 (46:36):
They have saved my life a couple of times. I mean,
they've made me look like a damn fool many many
more times. But I feel like the benefit outweighs the
few blueper Real videos that I've.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Gotten from them.

Speaker 3 (46:50):
I have put out many leg hairs because of them.

Speaker 5 (46:53):
Oh my god, Yeah, I can imagine.

Speaker 3 (46:57):
Good.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
I don't do any that would require me to use
those things.

Speaker 5 (47:05):
I mean, but have you ever tried like tying yourself
to them and just like bouncing between the poles?

Speaker 1 (47:09):
I have definitely done that as a Yeah, so I
guess I do use them. Well, we talked about your
redstone tricks, but do you have like a go to
poll trick?

Speaker 2 (47:27):
Uh?

Speaker 5 (47:28):
Yeah, I have a few of them, flying body.

Speaker 2 (47:33):
Freaking go to.

Speaker 5 (47:34):
I feel like I did it so much that it's
like my jam now. It's my favorite thing still is
I still would say that's like one of my absolute favorites.
I think so actually right now it's either flying body
or like fly By is my new favorite. I really
like them. It's the where you start and then you

(47:57):
grab and then you go under, and then you grab
and then you do another you do some kind of phoenix.

Speaker 3 (48:04):
So those are That's been another one of my goals.

Speaker 5 (48:11):
And I so funny that you say that she actually
is the one who taught me a flyby. I went
to Mountain Pole Camp and she I learned from. I
learned it from her in.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
Person, which was super super cool. It was amazing. But yeah,
the one I'm working on now is.

Speaker 5 (48:32):
The fly by to the twisted grip, which is a
little scary, uh and I think I'm I had to
put it away because I started like bulking at it
and creating more mental block and I was like, I
need to stop. So, but that's the next big one
that I'm that I'm working on.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
To see that fun I tried, I always try, actually,
and I could get the hand up there.

Speaker 3 (49:00):
Bring it around. I don't think the worst part. I
think I'm getting enough like space from the pole or something.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
Yeah, I think, I mean, And people do flybys in
all kinds of different ways, like some people like there's
variations of the wave on every spin, there's variations of
the wave that you can give it, and I feel
like flyby is one that I don't know For me personally,
I like to have a big wave and so like

(49:29):
when I start it off, I like to like get
a big, a big arc so that when it gets
to that point, I'm very far away and so I
have a lot of lyft to do that switch, because
I think it's a lot harder to do it when
it's more circular and you have to like like get

(49:50):
there with very little distance. So yeah, it's that's the
most difficult part for sure.

Speaker 3 (49:57):
What pole grip do you recommend for this? Oh?

Speaker 2 (50:02):
I use like.

Speaker 5 (50:03):
Four or five different grips. I I am an i
attack person, I admit it. I'm sorry everyone, but not
like a ton. I don't bathe in and I just
put a little bit behind my knees really, and.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
Then for hands, I do dry hands.

Speaker 5 (50:24):
And then monkey grip on top of that, and then
alcohol spurts of alcohol and then I clap them again.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
I'm very ritual focused.

Speaker 5 (50:34):
It's got to be everything has to be very OCB one, two, three,
four five. Just so so that's my that's my thing,
the monkey hands and the dry hands.

Speaker 4 (50:48):
I'm working on new grips because my hands and my
hands are just clamming.

Speaker 5 (50:53):
Do they do the thing where the seasons change and
like your grip stops working. I feel like that's happening
to me kind of right now, maybe to everybody.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
Yeah, I am not a pulld answer in the winter.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
You're on hiatus. It's just like it might floor worker.
Just yes, I totally get it. Yeah, my hands get
that weird like they're dry, but they're also like pruney
at the same time.

Speaker 5 (51:28):
It doesn't make any sense, but it's a new state of.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
Being winter.

Speaker 4 (51:36):
Now that I'm older, Like back in my twenties it
wasn't so bad. I didn't even need grip now like yeah,
and changes over time.

Speaker 2 (51:45):
I've been noticing that as well. Mm hmmm. I think
like any kind of uh, you know, change.

Speaker 5 (51:53):
In your physiology, like diet or any supplements you're taking,
who knows, like all of that can have an effect.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
You never know.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
Yeah, do you have any special nutrition tips to share?

Speaker 2 (52:14):
No?

Speaker 5 (52:16):
I so, okay. I try to eat healthy during com season.
I do a meal service.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (52:22):
People probably heard a factor I do that one. They're
not paying me to say that, honestly, Like most of
it is not that good, but but it's relatively healthy
and it forces me to eat some vegetables, even though
I only eat like half of it. But I don't know,
like I feel like that offsets.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
All the Taco belliet a girl of my own heart
Mexican pizzas all day.

Speaker 3 (52:52):
Yes, there's not like smoking and durrant and then hitting
the taco both.

Speaker 2 (52:58):
Oh my good.

Speaker 5 (53:01):
I like to train really hard and then go get
Taco bell It's like my favorite.

Speaker 3 (53:07):
Yeah you did.

Speaker 4 (53:07):
There's a lot of protein and supposedly better than McDonald's
and Burger kingse.

Speaker 5 (53:15):
Yes, and they have this new like apple what's it called?
Uh not even a lot of a.

Speaker 2 (53:25):
It's a thing.

Speaker 5 (53:25):
There's like a new apple dessert thing that they have
that's really really good.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
So you should get that.

Speaker 4 (53:32):
Lately, I've been Upseess obsessed with their decades created what
if every think.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
That sounds amazing?

Speaker 3 (53:46):
Good times? Okay, back to pold dancing.

Speaker 5 (53:49):
I mean they're sort of related, like taco bell.

Speaker 4 (53:57):
What else can we talk about for this competition survival guide?
We have covered so.

Speaker 5 (54:03):
Much and I feel like, I so I'm a little
adhd and a little all over the place. So I
feel like we've been bouncing around. That's my fault. But yeah,
what else could we talk about?

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (54:18):
One of the big things for me is so like
mental training is a big, big thing, and I actually
I would consider that like part of my cross training
even so more than just kind of working your routine
and trying to just stay calm about what you're going

(54:39):
to do. Their ways to sort of practice that calmness,
which I feel like has really helped me a lot
on competition days. And so meditating is one way to
do it, and it doesn't have to be you know,
the way of meditating. You you think it, everybody does,

(55:02):
just you know, there are other ways to go into
that calm state. You know, if you're just like listening
to a guided meditation or listening to I don't know,
like some chakra balancing music or whatever it is, right,
but you're just kind of you know, like focusing on

(55:22):
breathing and just like calming yourself down.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
And I do that as part of my.

Speaker 5 (55:28):
Day of ritual every time, and I feel like it
does make a difference because I've had a couple of
competitions in the earlier days where I was a mess.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
Like going into it, I was like, oh, like.

Speaker 5 (55:42):
Not good, and then like the last three or four,
like I've gotten to the stage and I'm like, this
is weird. I feel like I should feel worse, Like
I feel like I should be more nervous, and like
I'm actually okay, like I'm I'm in control, and like
for me, it's always that worry of not being in
control of your own body, like my shakes are going

(56:03):
to be so bad that I'm not gonna be able
to grip or something like that. But I feel like
it really has helped me calm down quite a bit.
And then also like get yourself like a coach, like
a mental coach. I know it may seem like something
that's not necessary, but I feel like having somebody to

(56:24):
talk to about that stuff is.

Speaker 2 (56:28):
Really really helpful, you know.

Speaker 5 (56:31):
Like so I for this, I uh see, I talked
to Heidi Cocher as my mental coach, so I will
meet with her and you know, we'll talk about things
that are stressing me out, and she'll offer breathing techniques,
will like dive into like some of the specifics of

(56:52):
of what is uh you know, cause it if I'm
if I'm not in the right headspace, like if I'm.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Thinking too hard about who is my competition or if
I'm not you know, doing that.

Speaker 5 (57:04):
So like it's helpful to sort of keep you on
track mentally, to have that guardrail. And it doesn't have
to be, you know, something crazy like that. It could
be just somebody at your studio that you work with
that is kind of like, you know, we're we're mental
coaching buddies or something like that, where you can kind
of like keep each other on track.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
You know, that could work too.

Speaker 5 (57:27):
But something some sort of intentional mental training I think
is really useful and one of the things that I
also do that I really swear by and other people
may think it's you know, wu wu, but I love it.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
So Heidi makes these hypnosis tracks.

Speaker 5 (57:47):
So if like you, you talk to her about certain
things and it could be as specific as like I
don't trust my grip on this one part, and it'll
she'll make a custom hypnosis and it'll like and it's
not you know, she does it in.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
A way that is is not.

Speaker 5 (58:07):
You know, you should trust your grip on this part.
Like it's different, like it's it's like bigger and so
I feel like those have really helped me a lot,
and it, uh, you know, it helps to keep me calm.
Like I'll listen to them before a competition and there's
a there's one of them, Like to this day, I
fall asleep every time, and that's I think, what you're
supposed to do. I still don't know in the middle

(58:28):
of it. I still have no idea what she's saying.
I couldn't tell you. I sleep through it every time.
It's in here somewhere, right, I think that's the idea.
But uh, and it's working. It works for me, I
feel like, but I couldn't tell you what she said.
She could be saying all kinds of crazy shit.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
Oh my gosh, I love that so much.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
I think that you're the first person that's actually talked
to us about like the mental part of it, which
is so important obviously because our brains and our bodies
are connected.

Speaker 5 (59:01):
And after comp care too, right, Like people forget about that,
like the after comp. Blues is a thing right where
you go up on this high and then right after comp,
even if you win, it's it's like, well, now what
right like things are?

Speaker 2 (59:19):
And so I think having.

Speaker 5 (59:24):
A person that can help you work through those things intentionally,
not just like, oh, you know, I feel like shit today.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
It's like, let's unpack it. Why why do you feel
that way. It's like you feel like you should be
doing something or you're used to being at this high level,
this highly.

Speaker 5 (59:42):
You know, energized level of training, and now it's like, well,
now I don't know what to do. And I still,
you know, I have that where I'm like, I don't
know what to do with myself. But I also know
now I am aware of the fact that I will
go into that sort of space, so I'm able to
kind of I think acknowledge it is the biggest part

(01:00:03):
because then you can be like, oh, that's that's the thing,
that's the blues. So I can kind of like let
some of this go that is not really necessary or
serving me.

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
In any way.

Speaker 3 (01:00:17):
I love that. Thank you so much for Shane, and
that with les.

Speaker 1 (01:00:21):
Hetty Cocher is amazing. I had no idea she I
love those resources.

Speaker 5 (01:00:26):
Yes, she it's God, She's amazing and like every everywhere,
And I'll train with her on tricks too, like she
I have almost killed her on trying a three sixty. Sorry,
but she's going to be it Phoenix Fitness and Dance
in January, she'll be she'll be teaching some workshops there.

(01:00:48):
I think there may be some spaces still, but yeah,
but yeah, that that's a crazy good opportunity for people.
If you haven't ever trained with her, should definitely.

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
Do that, yes, right, And like, do you have any
like mantras that you do or.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
Sort of that just reminded me of them? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (01:01:13):
No, I mean it's I feel like I have a
different thing for every comp.

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
One thing that I'll do is I'll kind of write down.

Speaker 5 (01:01:22):
My keywords I guess, like things that I and it
may be different for everyone, Like if I am looking
for intensity or if I am.

Speaker 2 (01:01:36):
Trying to be and maybe it's both.

Speaker 5 (01:01:40):
Maybe it's intensity and calm, right, like your stage presence
or your character is intense, but my internal self is calm.
And so I'll have like maybe a list of like
four or five words that I want to focus on
for that comp which I guess you know, you could
put that into a sort of mantra. But yeah, I

(01:02:06):
had this one cop and this is this is sort
of stupid.

Speaker 2 (01:02:09):
Where do you have you guys? You guys know Dune? No,
the movie, the movie and the books.

Speaker 4 (01:02:18):
The books or a person you know, Oh yeah, you
know like I do. Yes, it was interested to reading
the books because they look pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:02:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:02:29):
So there is a thing that the Benny Jet and
maybe some people will have heard of this, and I'm
a total nerd, but the Benny Jests or it have
this thing that they say, and I'm going to butcher
it now, but it's something to the effect of like
fear is the mind killer, and I'm gonna let and
I am the you know, the stone, and fear will

(01:02:51):
wash over me and then it will you know, and
then only I will remain or something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
I don't remember right now, but I was in the
middle of.

Speaker 5 (01:02:58):
Like reading the books for the second time at that
particular competition.

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
Self was like, oh that's good. So I like kept
kind of repeating it to myself and I feel like
it worked. You feel like it kind of calmed me down.

Speaker 5 (01:03:10):
You know, fear will wash over me and through me
and then I will only I will.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Silly.

Speaker 3 (01:03:18):
But I.

Speaker 5 (01:03:20):
Think the idea is just that, like it's just it's
just an emotion, like you let those things like.

Speaker 2 (01:03:26):
Pass by you, right, like.

Speaker 5 (01:03:27):
It's gonna this is not a permanent thing that's gonna stay.

Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
Uh. And so I think that was kind of the
the idea. But you know, silly York. No, it's not silly.
I like it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:39):
I think it's sort of because you don't know how
you're going to act backstage there, I'm always like I
have to pee a million times.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:03:52):
Oh so I just googled that quote because I was curious.
It says, I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. And
the other one was I will face my fear. I
will permit it permitted to pass over me and through me,
and when it has gone past, that would turn the
inner eye to see its path.

Speaker 3 (01:04:13):
Oh my goodness, I'm not have to read these books.

Speaker 5 (01:04:15):
I don't think I said the whole thing seems like
a lot when you read it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
But I feel like I.

Speaker 5 (01:04:20):
Said, maybe the movie version, maybe that one's a little
bit shorter. Oh yeah, if you like any of that
kind of stuff, like, definitely read those.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
Okay, I think, do.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
You have any other things coming soon for you?

Speaker 5 (01:04:40):
So obviously we talked about Boston, so I'll be teaching
some workshops there and I'll have availability for privates there too,
so I'll be there for a week, so I have
a little bit of time, and then after that, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
I don't really know.

Speaker 5 (01:04:55):
I feel like I have a whole bunch of free time,
which is crazy, are you? I know, I know her,
but yeah, I'm gonna play. I'm gonna play for a
while and like learn, work on some of these new
things and follow my ass a little bit more because
now I have like the time, I have the time

(01:05:16):
to do it, because when you're training for comp you
can't do any of that. You have to set things aside.
Uh you know, like maybe you'll try one thing, but
if it doesn't happen right away, I'm like not now.
And then the only tricks you know are the ones
you're competing, and then you come back and you're like, well,
I don't know how to do anything.

Speaker 1 (01:05:33):
So, oh my gosh, that's such a real feeling.

Speaker 4 (01:05:43):
I've always wanted to ask, and I think I need
to start asking how has any winning the competitions kind
of changed your life or kind of your whole career.

Speaker 5 (01:05:52):
Uh, I mean, I think it's it's nice in the
sense that it's giving.

Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
Me opportunities to teach in.

Speaker 5 (01:06:04):
Other places, and I think we it's a funny like
when you hear people talk about the UK winning competitions,
I think there are people who say, oh, you don't
get like, you know, attention and pull from winning competitions.

Speaker 2 (01:06:18):
I feel like in the US, though, it's a little
bit different.

Speaker 5 (01:06:22):
I feel like it's harder to just put out good
Instagram content and make it a thing like I do
feel like there is still an element of the competitions, you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:36):
Know, helping people do stuff here.

Speaker 5 (01:06:40):
So, but we're also a smaller overall community than you know,
in Europe because they have much larger.

Speaker 2 (01:06:52):
Community over there.

Speaker 5 (01:06:53):
So and yeah, I mean, I think the best part
is that it's giving me the chance to to you know,
meet a whole bunch of new people like all over
the place.

Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
You know, new pole friends is always like a huge bonus.

Speaker 5 (01:07:05):
And then I love teaching, so getting to teach in
other places is just really an awesome thing.

Speaker 2 (01:07:13):
But other than that, like day to day.

Speaker 5 (01:07:14):
You know, my life is still the same, you know,
Like I put on my pole theater crown and then
I you know, I get myself dressed, you know, and
then I do the dishes, and I vacuum the house
and I feed the cats, and then I take off
my pole theater crowd.

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
I'm just kidding, but I would though, just like vacuuming, and.

Speaker 5 (01:07:43):
I would.

Speaker 2 (01:07:46):
Yeah, probably should, right you. Yeah, you're awesome. Let them
know what the supermarket I mean, just because it's pretty.
It's pretty and it's really sparkling.

Speaker 4 (01:07:58):
Yes, what for a QR code and say, if you
want more information, take a picture.

Speaker 1 (01:08:07):
Yeah, oh my gosh, I love it. Well, thank you
so much. This was so much fun and I learned
so much and I'm even more inspired to compete this year,
or I guess it will be this year when this
episode released, right.

Speaker 2 (01:08:24):
It will be. Yeah, Yeah, this was fun. Thank you
guys for having me.

Speaker 3 (01:08:32):
Yeah, pleasure.

Speaker 4 (01:08:34):
It was so nice to get to say and talk
to you because we like momentarily said.

Speaker 1 (01:08:38):
Hi, ps, I met you in the hallway.

Speaker 3 (01:08:43):
I can't wait to.

Speaker 2 (01:08:44):
Talk to you in Boston because you were judging you
were spectacular.

Speaker 1 (01:08:55):
I can't wait to Pull dance with you in.

Speaker 2 (01:08:57):
Person in Boston. I'm so excited again.

Speaker 3 (01:09:01):
Soon this will be fun.

Speaker 4 (01:09:06):
Bongie classes all day, bongies.

Speaker 3 (01:09:10):
Yes, shoulder mouse, Yeah, we got this.

Speaker 2 (01:09:17):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (01:09:20):
Thank you everyone for listening to and watching this episode
of Pull on the Call podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
My name is Mandy man Ducks.

Speaker 5 (01:09:38):
Yes,