Epsilonte

Thanks!! PCR came back negative. Nose is still stuffed though. xD I tried a few handstands, but felt really weak, so I'll probably really not do (m)any in the next few days...

Sunday! Just did a few quick handstands with the wall (normal kicking up, nothing special) in between tidying up. I kept it light as to not overuse my wrists after the longer session on Saturday. My wrists are used to quite a bit with pole and stuff (and I always do at least a little warm up before handstanding), but then I don't want to risk anything. ^^ Rest of the day was spent playing DnD and eating ALL the pizza. Awesome day all around. I love my new Tabaxi, she aligns pretty well with me. Feels natural. xD Finally able to let my inner cat girl out. Monday: just started, but I woke up with a cold... Don't know how much handstanding will happen in the next days, we will see how it develops. I will know in the evening if it's C or not (it could be possible...). So far I feel fine beside a sore throat and a runny nose... Hmmm maybe getting upside down will clear the nose? xD So I'll be doing my bellydancing class today on zoom instead of live (again. ), probably won't be going into the office tomorrow (I planned to do an in person day since I have some time this week and that is a rare occasion xD) and am searching for someone to do my pole classes. Annoying. Silver-lining: at least we don't have much school this week, so I'm not missing out on a lot there.

Thank you!! I think it depends, splitty ones give you the legs to balance as well as the hands, so in some way they are easier free standing, but then I hardly ever do them, so they feel a bit weird. xD Thank you!! Yes I think that might be it, getting a tiny bit closer. I tried the weight leaning thing, but I think I leaned not quite enough. xD Next time. Thank you!! Thank you! Yes, I love variations. Keeps things fun and I also think it helps with learning a skill. Repeat without repetition... ^^

Yaaaaas handstands!! Yeah Pole does that with lats and chest... It got better for me once I got more diligent with stretching them out after class again (I always make my students stretch them, but then don't do so myself because I have a second class or am staying a bit to train and then I just don't do it... xD I'm getting better with this now. Slowly) Yaaaas, I can imagine. Much scary, But also fun? OMG he is so cute!! ❤️ Oh this is great as well. Feeling good is the first step towards looking good.

Saturday. Had a chill morning not doing much besides finishing my Tabaxi (will play her tomorrow ❤️ ). After that I went to the studio and did ALL the handstands. Really, I did almost an hour of only handstands. xD All without the wall but using the poles to balance with one foot... It's hard. Really hard. I have a few videos, you don't see much there, but I could really feel something. A hint of balance. Or at least a hint of not total loss of control. xD So most of my afternoon looked like this or like this. xD At least I have some comparison videos now for the end of the challenge.

Hope you feel like yourself again soon. Such insecurities (I think its imposter syndrome? ) can really get at ya...

You are right, I tend to use "lots" and "plenty" quite interchangable, but they are not the same... xD Yay for doing a nicer class. And fingers crossed for Tuesday. Have a great evening!

Here to watch you sleep (in a totally non-creepy way. Ahem. xD).

Friday! I overslept half an hour (still was at school at the right time though, but quite a bit more stressed than usual xD), so that was some start of the day... Consequently I was super tired all day. In the afternoon I worked for a bit, then resumed binge watching season 2 of Dance Academy. I almost cried, season 2 is pretty sad overall. xD But then, I also ate 2 whole bars of chocolate AND some ice cream, so it might just be hormones. xD No handstands so far, but I still have 40 mins to go till midnight, so we will see. Playing guildwars at the moment. So overall today was super-restday. But I plan to go to the pole studio tomorrow for a nice long training session, because exactly nine years ago tomorrow I did my very first pole class and that needs to be celebrated. By doing pole. And handstands. Maybe even without the wall this time, in the studio we have biiiiig fluffy crash mats... Might as well use them.

Awwwww thank you, that is so nice! My adventures of work, school and pole classes? xD xD Oh true. Well then I shall keep to try to show up. xD Thank you!! ❤️ Ah I'm still using my big fluffy winter cover because I want to keep my options open for summer... xD

Aaaah this is so badass!! Amazing!! Ah, straight leg inverts are overrated. I like one leg straight and one bent best, they look the prettiest. ^^

Thursday! Work, School, chilling, Pole. My everything hurts from yesterday. xD In the spirit of the challenge I still tried some handstands after teaching, exactly three. xD Ah well, on some days, showing up is enough of a challenge. ^^ Especially since it was super hot today again, so much heat so fast is killing me. xD But apparently it's cooling down to normal May temperatures soon. I literally went from "turning up the heating in the pole studio" to "desperately searching for all the fans I can find" in a span of two weeks... xD Now really looking forward to my fluffy bed. ❤️

Noooo please don't give up because of one bad class! It will surely get better (plus there appear to be lots of other classes with more qualified trainers, yes? )

Wednesday was fun! It started on a weird note with street construction work in front of my window at 6:30 in the morning (whyyyyy xD), but got better and better from there. School was fun, I finished my step count twice during the school day because we were so active in the school gym. xD Also got some free and fun cardio in (my collegues did a step aerobic class and damn that shit is crazy, but fun!! ). And a slight little sun burn during lunch break... So after doing already two hours of sport I was super tired while driving to the pole studio for my class (thank god it was only one and not the usual two yesterday xD). But I had some time to sit in the park besides the studio and enjoy the shadow and warmth (almost too warm yesterday, we had 30 degrees. In May. I don't need that before July, but well, what can you do...) and a very tasty protein bar. Pole class was super fun and brought my energy levels up to their usual levels. I even stayed afterwards to practice a bit for next week. The rest of the evening was spent cuddling and watching Vikings. Handstands: No ball stuff, but I did some handstands in the gym at school, played around, and did some more after pole class, even got the perfect amount of kicking up once and floated there without the wall for a second, crazy feeling. Today I'm super sore and slightly tired, I hope my pole classes tonight have the same effect as the one yesterday... ^^

I've seen a few of those, but not all. I should watch some. As soon as I'm finished with Dance Academy (currently on the second season, I try not to binge it too much, don't want it to end. Ever. xD) Yes they are crazy fun! Make you feel very strong and stable too. xD And yes to the head thing too, it closes a chain where no chain needs to be closed (and doesn't feel to good in the neck... xD My neck muscles are super tense with all the stress as it is, no need to add even more pressure there). Right now I try a variation of these ball thingies with straight legs and tucked legs (they feel slightly different and I think lifting the legs off the ball might be easier if knees are bent because then there is less pressure on the ball and more of the body weight actually on the hands... xD). Ah, I love it. Not yet, though I'm leaning towards heavy cannons. I also like the elixiers, but we already have someone in our party covering that aspect, so heavy damage it might be. Clumsy Tabaxi will be a fun challenge for me as well, somehow I always end up playing characters with lots of dex (and somehow I always end up being some kind of assassin type character xD), so it will be fun playing as someone who hasn't a ton of dex for once... Can't do my usual stunts and jumps... xD

Such a cute puppy!! And way to go slaying your goals, well done! Hope your cold passes soon.

Which ones did you get? Yaaas! Some days the body is just amazing in that regard. Maybe it was getting enough sleep?

My new character will be a Tabaxi Artificer, don't know about many of the details yet though. Only that she will be pretty clumsy. For a Tabaxi at least... I try. I'm really proud of this exam, because it was on a subject I like a lot and I was soooo nervous because I wanted to do well. Perfectionist problems...

What a busy day, well done!!

A dentist appointment is a great reason for not doing as much. At least I am always dead after those... xD Hope everything there is well?

Exciting! What pieces are you playing?

Wow, awesome!! Well then, happy writing!

Hahahaha thanks. So far they don't really feel like steel while doing this, more like ouch. xD Today was awesome so far!! Had a perfect exam in the morning and since my afternoon class was spontaneously online instead of live, I could go home after the exam and work for a few hours instead of sitting around at school all day. So I worked, had lunch, did my online class, everything nice. In between I booked ALL the workshops for our annual summery bellydancing festival, looking very much forward to that. Online class break was spent doing ball-handstands. I was vaguely thinking about how it might feel to lift up a leg there, but it's too soon, not yet possible. xD I concentrated on doing "good" reps and focussed on pushing out from the shoulders instead. I love it, it's a really awesome, very versatile exercise (looks the same frome the outside, but depending on where the focus lies, there are so many possibilies!). I did a few crunches on the ball as well, since I already had it there... ^^ All that and it's not even 4pm yet! Plan for the rest of the day: Make a new DnD character for a second group, go for a walk with the husband when he finishes working, maybe watching Vikings, maybe some Guildwars, maaaaaaaybe looking over some stuff for Thursday (but I doubt that^^). A bit of a break since I have one and a half weeks until the next exam. Bliss. xD

Welcome to the forum and to challenging!! Nice and solid goals, just a little input on the third one: 3 pages a day is a LOT. In the spirit of "slow and steady" maybe aim for a little less and be positively suprised if you actually write three pages? (I don't wanna talk you out of it, just trying to give a little perspective from someone that tends to make goals that work great for a few days and then not so much for the rest of the challenge. )