Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

 -Thomas Merton

Tait Brown is a student at PhysiPole Studios Bendigo and MFS Aerial Fitness. She started pole just under two years ago when she saw a Try Before You Buy class advertised on Facebook, went with a few friends and loved it! Tait is currently a level 8/9 static pole student, but has found that due to work commitments, she hasn’t been able do as much pole as she would like. Currently, Tait is only in Bendigo for one day out of the week and drives there specifically to participate in her pole dancing classes.

Three years ago, Tait’s had a shoulder injury that started to play up and she was advised not to use it for nine months. She found that she lost a lot of strength in her shoulder and believes that the loss of strength caused more damage – it got so bad that she ended up unable to even pick up a pencil. It was a year after her shoulder problems started that she began pole and has since found that over the last two years, her injury has greatly improved. She says that doing pole fitness is a great, pain free, strength workout for her shoulder. Because of these improvements, she’s been able to start doing everyday things without struggle.

Although she didn’t have a specific moment of her pole journey that she thought was particularly special to her, Shania says that it was the overall journey that was special. She loves the support when she finally gets a move that she’s been struggling with and the confidence that it builds. She is determined and even did a bootcamp with PhysiPole, in which she lost 5 kg and was really impressed with herself.

I asked Tait what she would tell her younger self if she had the chance and she says that she would try to help herself forwards. She’d tell herself to ‘focus on her life goals, look after herself and to not push herself too hard’.

Everyone in the pole community has their own inspiring story of growth, strength and overcoming issues. It doesn’t matter how small or unimportant you might think your story is, it’s yours and that’s what makes it special.

So always remember,

You are amazing.

Written by Shania Barrett

Read how pole has helped Tait with her shoulder injury.