This 100 day challenge has truly been a challenge with the cold weather. Warming up takes twice as long if not longer which limits my time for intense contortion stretching. However, I am maintaining my flexibility for now until it warms up or until I find more time to devote to an intense stretching routine. It takes dedication and constant motivation and inspiration to keep me going everyday buut it helps that I work at an aerial studio which builds encouragement. I also get the chance to work with amazing contortionist pole dancer David Owen. He has been working at the same studio I work at for the past month and it has been a dream come true. It’s so nice to see somebody that has accomplished the same thing you are wanting to accomplish, it’s the sense of hope and community that I completely adore.
With everything going on it really is nice to have a hobby that can help you relax and clear your mind. When you focus on your breath and relaxing your muscles its hard to think about anything else. A clear mind is a mind that invites opportunities and ideas, it is a way to get in touch with our inner self. Much like yoga, intense stretching has helped me strengthen my inner self. You gotta be pretty tough to endure the hurt so good pain of stretching….and we still love it soo much! <3
Progress
100 Day Challenge | Contortion Flexibility | Days 1-5
100 Day Challenge | Contortion Flexibility | Day 18-37
100 Day Challenge | Controtion Flexibility | Day 38-69
100 Day Challenge | Contortion Flexibility | Days 100
Day 7
I still did some intense stretching on Day 7. I believe this was the last day before the brutal cold. I made some progress on my side over-splits and held my middle split for quite some time. I also worked some more on my back although I need to focus more on the upper back because at the moment my lower back is doing most of the work.
Day 10
Day 10 was a wonderful day at the studio, I started with 1.5 hours of deep stretching with and without the poles, I also danced a couple songs straight through to keep warm. The studio was very warm especially with the pouring sunshine and so deep stretching was possible. It was just a wonderful day of meditative stretching and good company which to me is the perfect weekend morning. After stretching I worked on a bunch of different pole moves that incorporated my new found stretching abilities.
Pole Improve after Practice Day 10
After stretching out and doing a series of pole tricks and combinations I decided to end my workout with pole dancing improv. I feel as though improv dancing for 4 minutes straight really helps improve your endurance, grace and also helps solidify the moves in your head. It is extremely helpful If you take videos of yourself so you can see where you want to improve or which transitions you like best. You will give yourself inspiration to try new things that pop up in your head as your watching yourself. If you are following along with this challenge I challenge you to film yourself, you’ll be amazed at what you can learn by reviewing your progress.
Day 15
Day 15 was awfully cold it was hard to do everything in a short amount of time. Since I had to teach a stretch & flex and finding your flow class later that night, I only did a 45 minute warmup and 15 minutes of light stretching. Maintaining your flexibility is just as if not more important than increasing your flexibility. If you don’t feel your best or you don’t have enough time, don’t give up on the challenge just take it easy. You don’t have to do 100 days straight to improve your flexibility in the end. Go easy on yourself and stay healthy through the brutal cold.
Happy Stretching and Keep Warm!!
