Hello Steemians! I'm Jackie O!

I'm a pole dancing, fiddle playing engineer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and I was introduced to the Steemit community by @jaybird and @dan-atstarlite . I love the idea of creating content to mine tokens and am fascinated by blockchain technology. I'm excited to share some of my creations, activities and musings with you all and equally excited to learn from and support this community! There's something special happening here.

I've decided to do the "introduce yourself" post a little differently and do a 3 posts for the 3 main aspects of my personality. It was too overwhelming to do all in one!! So I'm breaking it down into three. This is the first side of Jackie O: The Pole Dancer!

But... Pole Dancing is What Strippers Do!!

And therefore, I must be a stripper, right?? Well, actually, no.

I took my first pole dancing class when I was in undergrad at a studio right next to the University that I walked past frequently. I was addicted almost instantly because of the challenge it presented and the obvious benchmarks for success and improvement. Almost 9 years later, I'm still hooked. A killer core and upper body workout, combined with dance and a bit of daredevil mentality makes this my absolute favourite fitness activity.

It's about more than just the fitness too. This is one of the activities I do to prove to myself that I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to. Moves and combos that I thought were impossible years ago are now some of my go-to flows and movements that feel like second-nature. Striving for those new moves keeps me motivated to stay in peak condition and reaching for that incredible rush I experience when I am able to do a new move for the first time.

Right now, Monday nights are my pole nights. My happy time. Here's a freestyle from last night in which I do a combo on a spin pole (the pole is spinning) and incorporate a few different moves:

• Jenyne climb (forearm crossed in front of pole)
• helicopter inversion (wide leg with one bent to get upside down)
• butterfly/special K (when I drop my leg out)
• extended butterfly/special K (pushing away from the pole)
• flat line (inside leg hooked and hand supporting below)
• closed Allegra (reaching behind the pole to grab foot and extending top leg)

I was really happy with my closed Allegra last night. I've been working on my flexibility and unlocking a whole new dimension of pole moves. It feels great to see progress in action. :D

And yes, it's always a challenge to not hit each other with the very dangerously pointy shoes...as I did in the video. Haha. :P

Here's a photo from 7 years ago for comparison, when I could only do the open Allegra:

If anyone is curious about trying pole or has questions about anything, I'd be more than happy to discuss this awesome fitness activity with you!!

Stay tuned ;)

Jackie O