How to Rekindle Your Pole Spark: Capacity, Goals, Novelty, and Lowering Demands

<p>Dr. Rosy Boa of Slink Through Strength discusses why long-term pole dancers may lose motivation and how to rebuild a sustainable relationship with pole. She flags that dreading hobbies and anhedonia can be a symptom of depression and encourages seeking mental health support if that’s present. Otherwise, she recommends: assessing overall life capacity and scaling pole to fit current energy (including taking breaks without fear of major strength loss), clarifying what you currently want from pole using a “best possible self” meditation or journaling to align training with changing goals, adding novelty through different teachers, movement styles, and music to increase play and awareness of preferences, and reducing perfectionistic demands by focusing on consistency and effort over outcomes while lowering setup friction to make showing up easier.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Links and resources:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Free sample class: <a href="https://mailchi.mp/slinkthroughstrength.com/free-pole-flow-class"><u>https://mailchi.mp/slinkthroughstrength.com/free-pole-flow-class</u></a> </p></li><li><p>Join my mailing list: <a href="https://mailchi.mp/slinkthroughstrength/newsletter"><u>https://mailchi.mp/slinkthroughstrength/newsletter</u></a> </p></li><li><p>2025 studio dance playlist (these are all songs members suggested/brought to class!): <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/06yzGCF4wi22B8516YuhIZ?si=9226904ac6f54287"><u>https://open.spotify.com/playlist/06yzGCF4wi22B8516YuhIZ?si=9226904ac6f54287</u></a> </p></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Citations</strong>:</p><p>Carrillo, A., Rubio-Aparicio, M., Molinari, G., Enrique, Á., Sánchez-Meca, J., &amp; Banos, R. M. (2019). Effects of the best possible self intervention: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 14(9), e0222386.</p><p>De Kleine, E., &amp; Van der Lubbe, R. H. (2011). Decreased load on general motor preparation and visual-working memory while preparing familiar as compared to unfamiliar movement sequences. <em>Brain and Cognition</em>, <em>75</em>(2), 126-134. </p><p>Encarnação, I. G., Viana, R. B., Soares, S. R., Freitas, E. D., de Lira, C. A., &amp; Ferreira-Junior, J. B. (2022). Effects of detraining on muscle strength and hypertrophy induced by resistance training: A systematic review. Muscles, 1(1), 1-15.</p><p>Flett, G. L., &amp; Hewitt, P. L. (2014). “The perils of perfectionism in sports” revisited: Toward a broader understanding of the pressure to be perfect and its impact