There Should Only Be One Goal When We Exercise
Spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with losing weight
The day before my 24th birthday, I broke up with my girlfriend. It was my first time being in love and that breakup ripped apart my whole being. I cried constantly, completely heartbroken and alone in a new city. I cried myself to sleep, I cried in the bathrooms at work, I cried on the phone to my friends back home. I soon became sick of my own crying but I didn’t know how to stop.
Then I saw a flyer for a pole dancing studio. It was the first thing to distract me from my heartbreak — event for a moment — so I called and scheduled a free intro class. When the class ended I was sweaty, my muscles ached, and I smelled disgusting… but I also hadn’t thought about my ex in two hours. I handed over my credit card and, for the next few years, those dance classes became my new obsession.
I attended dance classes 2–6 times a week, channeling all of the pain, betrayal, and confusion I was feeling into my movement. When I was ready to date again, I danced about it. When I felt like I was the hottest human on the planet, I danced about it. When I hated my job, I danced about it. Everything in my life, no matter how blissful or devastating, I turned to dance to process it.
