Assume the Position!
January 14, 2013 in Exercise, General Inspiration by Devin Lytle
Do y’all remember when bearing your mid-drift was a thing? Like, when everyone, and I mean everyone, had one of those sparkly god awful tops from the Limited Too? Don’t get me wrong, I love 90′s fashion; but I would personally pay out every single influential gay fashionista to keep that trend dead, gone, and out of vogue. Seriously. My little tum tum is happier when she’s covered, please and thank you.
Believe it or not, this “ism” that I have with my torso has nothing to do with size or body fat composition. I honestly feel vulnerable and defenseless whenever my little miss belly is out to play. According to Hinduism, the belly is the epicenter of the solar plexus chakra, or the manipura. While the manipura deals mostly with survival issues, it also is where we store our self worth and confidence. Think about it, people who are confident often walk with their cores open and exposed, while those who are riddled with self doubt tend to cower to protect their centers.
Obviously, this is an issue for me in my pole classes. Just like there’s no crying in baseball; there is absolutely no slouching in pole dancing. In fact, boys and girls, there is a simple pose that we do everyday in class to combat this bendy-over energy. And, everyday, when asked to assume the position, you can hear a gentle “fuuuuuck” coming from my direction. Its called Picasso’s Arch. And I fucking hate it. See below.
My tat, my cat, and my new glasses. Oh yeah, and this fucking pose…
Ugh, its terrible! Its all “hey, why don’t you just bend in the one direction you weren’t ever supposed to go in…ever,” and I’m all like “nah man, I’m good. Efff off..” (Obviously, I have a very deep and complex inner life. But, I digress) Whenever I sit in this simple backwards fold, feelings of fear and doubt rise to the surface of my psyche and I go from zero to bitchy in 2.2 seconds flat. I made the mistake of telling one of my teachers this one day during our warm up, and she lovingly made me stay in the pose for an entire minute. By the end of said minute, I was close to tears. She told me that my body was trying to tell me something. At that moment, I’m pretty sure my body was trying to tell me to cut a bitch, but I gently smiled and told her I’d meditate on it.
However, we all have these moments in the realm of fitness, don’t we? Whether it be lunges, burpees, or running a mile, there are certain movements that we naturally tend to resist. My dad is a basketball coach and is of the school of thought that we should push, push, push through the discomfort because it makes us stronger. While, I certainly agree with that sentiment, I think its also appropriate to take a little minute and examine why it makes you feel poorly. Our bodies are complex machines and we all know we store memories and emotions in a little pockets tucked away in muscle groups and joints. Also, our bodies are smarter than we think. When you’re sick, do you ever find yourself sleeping a little more than usual to fight off the illness? Or when you fall, do you ever immediately put out your arms for protection? These are instances in which the body speaks and the brain is silent. Perhaps, then, when we reach these “fuuuuuck” moments in our exercise, our bodies are trying to show us something.
Picasso’s Arch is all about exposing my most sensitive body part. When a dancer takes this pose, it makes such a statement. It’s as if she’s saying, “Boom. I’m here and I’m unashamed of my presence. I belong here.” After a lot of classes and a lot of frustration, I came to the conclusion that this was a mindset I had not yet accepted into my being. And, I’m not just talking about my time with the pole – I’m talking about living here in the City of Angels. This pose forces me to be unapologetic and bold. My discomfort with Picasso’s Arch in class stems from my inability to represent these ideals in my everyday life.
Woah. Shit just got real heavy. I know.
Right when I discovered this new factoid about myself, I watched Amy Cuddy’s TED talk on how body language shapes who we are. According to her study, when we assume “power positions” (i.e. postures that take up space) the testosterone levels in our bodies rises and our cortisol levels lower. These hormonal reactions provide our brains with the perfect chemical cocktail for creating confidence. Thus, when we marinate in poses, we become more powerful. We can literally fake it until we become it. I really encourage you to watch her talk if you have a free moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc
So, y’all, Picasso’s Arch is my reluctant new best friend. I throw that pose in whenever I can, just so its boldness can seep into who I am as a person. I still hate the ever living hell out of it, but because it forces me to face my fears, I find I can execute much more technically difficult tricks with ease. See below. Oh haaaayyy…
This is called the Diving Snake. It too reveals my mid drift. Oh hayy
Alright, happy Monday everyone. Let’s fake it till we become it! xx
“I go from zero to bitchy in 2.2 seconds flat.” This. Just this.
I love this post, Dev! This demonstrates everything that fitness can mean for a person – not just about getting fit and being healthy, but learning about yourself and building confidences through struggles. Ugh. Preach it, sister.
And girl, I love yo midriff.
I haven’t shown my midriff in public since 1988. It would be a disservice to our great nation.
I’m honestly fascinated by pole-dancing. From what you’ve shared so far, it seems a bit like a more acrobatic form of yoga.
Matt, you are hilarious and I love you.
Pole-dancing is so great. It doesn’t feel like a workout and then the next day, your entire upper body screams. There’s nothing sexy about it when you first start. A lot of flailing about. I wouldn’t relate it to yoga, though.
I guess I meant that it’s similar to yoga in the sense that much of the intent is body/mind connection, feeling centered and so forth. As opposed to pumping iron, which is more about being a bro. However, I’ve neither pole-danced or yoga’d extensively so I don’t actually know what I’m talking about.
Well, 1988 was the year of the midriff so thats understandable.
Hahah Matt! Thanks for that.
And Sam, thanks for letting me PREACH.
xx
I will always be here to listen to you preach. x
This post has shown me why I don’t like getting my belly out.
People always say “why are you exercising? You’re tiny!” but I have those bits that I don’t like.
And a lot of what these blogs have shown me is that you actually feel so much happier having done exercise. I’ve been doing Wii fit every night for just under a week and I feel amazing. It’s not heafty physical stuff but I like that I get a bit more flexible each time and I’m even starting to like yoga!
Devin, how to you keep motivated to get over your hate of this move?
Hm. Thats a tough one.
So, I’m in class at least 6 days a week, and we all have to assume that position at least once. So, I guess in a sense I’m lucky, because I have an instructor who sort of forces me into it.
The reason I wrote this article is to highlight that we all have frustrations over certain movements. Its not like everyone else in the world is perfect and you’re the only one having trouble with your split, or your bicep curls, etc etc. I try to shift my perspective on the move itself. Yes I hate it, but look how much farther I can reach today! That sort of thought…
Does that help?
I love this post.
We all have that area we hide and most of the time we do not realize we are doing it. My safety pose is shrugged shoulders and hunched back, hoping no one notices my chest and stomach. I find myself hugging my body during insecure moments instead of standing tall and proud. I need to find my own Picasso’s Arch.
I love that you wrote about this, and I love that TED talk. I forget sometimes how much physical insecurities and letting them take over by folding in on myself affects the rest of me. But I’m trying to let myself be more vulnerable. Gryffindor resolutions, huzzah!
GRYFFINDOR!
I really loved this post! It makes so much sense,although I don’t think it’s something that I would ever have been able to express to myself or anyone else. Baring my midriff makes me feel really exposed and extremely uncomfortable. (Same when I’m wearing a low cut shirt that I think exposes too much of my chest, which I don’t like.) But anyway! It was awesome, and those poses look CRAZY, but kudos to you for doing them anyway!
This post is probably my favourite post because so much of what it’s saying is true and relevant. I am so glad I kinda missed the whole midriff stage because I am not comfortable with that. In a way, I’m kinda glad that when I go to the beach I have to cover up because of sunburn because even though some days I beg to just go in my bikini (which would result in horrible sunburn) I look back and think why would I bother asking? Would I even be comfortable with walking around in a bikini anyway? And then I look back at the days when I actually did get to wear a bikini to the beach late in the afternoon and wonder how I ever had enough confidence to do that. I think that is like what you were saying about how you didn’t like the midriff stage. I may be taking this totally the opposite way to what you meant but, thank you for posting this.
Those poses though. As Dana said, kudos to you for doing them! must be difficult.
I think I’ll stick with my Zumba and my over sized t-shirts. Haha.
I can’t believe I am as old as I am and never knew all this stuff. This webpage gave me one of my first aha moments. I love the folded over pigeon yoga pose though this one is close.
http://myprojectyoga.blogspot.com/2010/11/strike-pose.html
I know there are parts of my body that are still holding tension and stress. I found this out the hard way last month when I did an upper body workout. Just a few exercises on the wi-fit but the next day I felt so sick and I had the worst head ache and every pressure point just ached. I didn’t have major soreness, but ow!!!
I should have known something was wrong when I woke up the next morning (Monday-it figures) in tears. The pain hadn’t hit yet. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill at PT and my knee started acting up again. By the time I got home I was in tears again and took the longest hot shower of my life. I then ended up laying in bed all day with a heating pad rotating it to the parts that hurt the worst. Releasing all that just hurt.
I had finally decided this weekend since it was going to be so cold that I would try doing upper body work again. I’m a bit apprehensive, but I need to work those areas. My body needs it.