30 Day Invert: Day 22

Today you'll recover with the pole massage routine, but if there's something else you'd rather partake in, like a real massage, or some foam rolling instead, go for it.

Pro tip: Speaking of self-care, today's RANT is "Self-care for pole dancers." Caring for your body is just as important as learning new pole tricks and skills. If you neglect this aspect of training, injuries, frustration and slow progress are inevitable. Always consult your medical professional if you have injured yourself. This is not medical advice!

Let's recap the 8 points of self-care as a pole dancer:

1. Bruising: Learn what excessive bruising is for your body and understand how to prevent it. Please understand when I talk about excessive bruising, I'm referring to individuals who do not have any underlying health conditions that cause bruising.
2. Self talk: Understanding and becoming aware of your thoughts and how you speak about your pole practice matters. Don't judge yourself when you go down a negative path. Instead be grateful you recognized it and then take steps to work towards change. Things that can help you in this journey are:

• Journaling
• Meditation
• Mindfulness

1. Massage: Angry fascia, knots and tight muscles along with mental stress can often be reduced if you allow time for massage. Here's a list of different methods of massage:

• Pole
• Foam roller
• Peanut, tennis or lacrosse ball
• Massage chair
• Massage pillow
• Massage cane
• Professional massage

1. Rest days: If you're a student of mine, I hope you've seen the benefits of having rest days. Also, in addition to resting the muscles, relaxing the mind allows our nervous systems to recover too. This is very important if you deal with mental health issues, are hypermobile or neurodivergent.
2. Social media breaks: If you have a tendency to doom scroll or compare yourself and your pole skills with others, put down the phone! Instead of wasting your life by watching others, learn a new skill, try new hobbies, gather in person, spend quality time with yourself.
3. Eat anti-inflammatory foods like:

• Berries
• Fatty fish
• Broccoli
• Avocados
• Green tea
• Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Grapes
• Turmeric
• Ginger
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Dark chocolate and cocoa
• Tomatoes
• Cherries

1. Heat: Heat is incredible for sore muscles and aiding in healing injuries, both acute and chronic. Ways to use heat are listed below:

• Sauna
• Hot bath or shower
• Hot tub
• Heating pad
• Hot water bottle

1. Cold: Gone are the days of recommending ice for injuries. While I believe using ice immediately is key in treating acute injuries, I only do this one time, as soon as possible after an injury occurs. If you're a fan of ice baths go for it. Just make sure to track if it's offering a positive or negative effect on your training. We're all different so it's important to do what's right for your body and many people are finding out ice baths are not great for many of us. Ways to use cold are listed below:

• Acute injury treatment
• Ice baths