Tantra Fitness Vancouver - Connecting Mind, Body, & Pole.

T.G.I.F.F. is Friday May 31st at 7:30pm!

Tantra Fitness — Sat, 18 May 2013 23:03:05 +0000

T.G.I.F.F. (which stands for Thank Goodness It’s Flirty Friday) is a party we throw every 2 months to celebrate the awesomeness that is our Tantra Fitness Community. Anyone over 19 years of age is allowed to come as there will be unlimited wine, snacks, as well as amazing performances by Tantra Fitness Instructors AND our super-talented Members! Watch as they perform on the pole, in aerial hoops, in silks, and much much more!

Admission is $5 cash at the door. You can bring whoever you like–guys, gals, moms, dads, brothers, BFFs. The more the merrier! And dress however you like, come casual or do it up fancy! Heck, come in a costume!

Lynda Allen Pole and Circus Marathon Photoshoot – Sunday June 9th starting at 9:00am

Tantra Fitness — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:58:59 +0000

She’s back by popular demand! Lynda Allen is partnering up with Tantra Fitness again on Sunday, June 9th for our second marathon photoshoot!

First time slot starts at 9:00am. Each time slot is 45 minutes. There are only 12 time slots so book now!

Cost: $125 cash only the day off. You must reserve your spot with a credit card number. You can cancel your spot by MAY 26th 2013. After May 26th, the cancellation fee is $125.

What you get: You get a 45-minute photoshoot with Lynda on the pole or circus apparatus (we have silks and aerial hoops). You can change outfits but keep in mind it will cut into your 45-minute time slot! You will receive an email to access your own online photo gallery from Lynda. You can pick 10 photos from your gallery to be edited as a part of your package. Any extra photos you would like edited are $5 each.

What you need to bring: 1) $125 cash (exact change!) the day of the shoot; 2) a list of 12 moves you would like photographed so you and Lynda are fully prepared; 3) any gripping agents you might use, powder and lip gloss…as you will sweat because it’s harder than it looks!

To book, please call Tantra Fitness at 604.738.7653, visit us in person, or e-mail us here.

To know more about Lynda, click here.

Free Pole Dance Lesson of the Month by Tantra Tutorials

Tantra Fitness — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:09:35 +0000

We now have 160 Tantra Tutorials (and counting!) for Pole Fitness, Exotic Dance, Lap Dance, and more! We have many lessons on individual moves, but we also have lessons to show you how to put a combination of moves together into a routine!

Here is one of our Pole/Exotic Dance routines which will show you some of the moves we teach in our Tantra Tutorials subscription. We have lessons that break down each move in this routine in detail, including progressive exercises and tips to make it look this graceful! This pole dance video is a part of our paid subscription package…but FREE for your viewing for the month of May!:) Happy Poling!

Pole Dance Lesson Plan with Tantra Tutorials – May 8th

Tantra Fitness — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:27:00 +0000

Do this workout 2 to 3 times this week before moving on to the next.

Warm up: You want to spend at least 10 minutes warming up. You can do anything from running on the spot to freestyle dancing around the pole (no pole moves) to jumping jacks and lunges. Whatever you choose to do make sure it is energetic as the purpose is to get your joints lubricated, increase blood circulation and to increase body temperature. You cannot achieve this by doing static stretching so you want to do dynamic movements.

Conditioning: Once you have warmed up you should do some conditioning to help work on your strength.

Video #98: Fireman Slides – if you feel you cannot lift your feet up off the floor, please leave them on the ground and just let your legs become soft so that you are still mainly supporting with the upper body but you still have your toes on the ground. Hold your weight up for 10 seconds before sliding down. I want you to do 10 seconds with each hand on top 3 times on each side (so 6 times/60 seconds total). Watch that you don’t let the elbows extend and the shoulders release on the way down!!

Video # 99: Knee Hold Side Crunch – Watch that standing foot! Don’t let it shuffle away from the base of the pole too much. You don’t want to strain the “bottom” hip (when you are sideways). Do 30 on each side, and I recommend doing 10 on each side, and then repeating that 3 times to make 60 total. Don’t sacrifice form for reps! Keep it in check!

Video #131: Jackknife Sit-ups ON THE FLOOR! Focus on exhaling on the way up, and a controlled down. Chin away from chest. 20 reps.

Moves: You must continue to review the foundations as these are the basis for every pole spin you will learn. It carries through to more advanced spins and it is much harder to unlearn bad habits than to learn proper technique from the get-go. If you can perfect the foundation then all you will need to do is learn new moves!

REVIEW from April 27th:
Video #2: Walking and Wrist Safety
Video #3: Set-Up and Momentum
Video #4: Abdominal Engagement
Video #5: Shoulder Engagement
Video #7: The Backspin – remember: even though you are not facing the pole for this move, the general rules you learn in Video #2 and #3 are the same.
Video #8: Backslide – watch those knees, make sure your feet are not too close to the base of the pole to prevent hyperextension on the way down.

NEW MOVES:
Video #6: Fireman – keep in mind that inside leg is the one that touches the pole, not the outside leg!
Video #14: Backbend with a kick
Video#10: Pole Combo #1 – I want you to do the Combo #1 2 times on EACH SIDE! Experiment with different tempos, and challenge yourself to not stop dancing…even if you don’t remember what you want to do next!

Stretching: Make sure you take at least 5 to 10 minutes to stretch it out. You will feel it more tomorrow if you don’t! You can use the pole to stretch more than one muscle at a time.

Face the pole with your feet about a foot to a foot and a half away. Grab the pole in front of you at about chest height interlocking the fingers. Now pull the hips away from the pole and extend the spin. You can alternate rounding out the back as you breathe in and dropping the chest as you exhale. Once you have done a few stretches you can take a step back and lower the arms to deepen the stretch.
Stand in front of the pole so that the pole is about one foot behind you. Now grab the pole behind you with both hands, interlocking the fingers. Tuck your tailbone under and lean away from the pole with the hips. Make sure you don’t arch the back. You should feel the stretch through the chest, across the front of the shoulders and even in to the abdominals. After you have done a couple you can move the arms up an inch to challenge yourself. Do not overstretch as you can injure yourself stretching! It should not hurt.
Keep your feet a foot from the pole but open them wider, keep the pole behind you. Rest your hips on the pole and bend forward so that you are grabbing the pole through the legs right under the hips to mid thigh. Make sure your feet are grounded and slowly bring your hips off the pole until the arms are extended. You should feel the stretch across the back. Keep the legs straight to feel the stretch down the back of the hamstrings. When you are finished, rest your hips back on the pole and roll up.

Vancouver Pole Dancers and Fitness Enthusiasts Supporting Light Activewear’s Eco-Friendly Line

Tantra Fitness — Tue, 07 May 2013 05:53:27 +0000

Tantra Fitness loves Light Activewear. That’s not a secret. No matter what class it is, you will see at least a few members sporting their infamous Stella Skort in our Dance Fitness classes, or our Pole Dance Instructors wearing their super-comfortable Cleo Shorts and Lily Bra while hanging upside-down explaining the move of the day.

But that’s not the real reason why we love Light Activewear. We love it because we love our Tantra Fitness Member and pole enthusiast, Judy, who is also the Creative Director of Light. Getting to know Judy over the last couple of years, we know she is extremely passionate about design, people, and our environment. While this sounds cliche, it’s one thing to say you care about all these things, it’s another to actually create change and take action. We love Judy because she takes action, and this is the motivation behind Light Activewear’s latest Indiegogo campaign!

It’s simple: Buy clothes. Save the planet. Read Judy’s message below for more details and to offer your support! You go girl!

May is Mother’s Month! Let’s show our Mother Earth We Care!

Dear Tantra Family,

We are extremely excited to tell you all about Light Activewear’s Indiegogo Campaign! For those of you who don’t know, Indiegogo is a revolutionary crowd funding platform which empowers the public to raise money for the next greatest ideas.

With your help, Light Activewear would like to launch our first eco-friendly line called We Care. This stands for everything that we care about including our customers, our products, animals, people, and our precious planet.

For the month of May, for each item purchased off our Indiegogo campaign, Light Activewear will match that and donate a piece of clothing to the Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter.

In addition, the We Care line is made out of 100% post consumer products (ie plastic containers). Not only does it help reduce waste on our precious planet, but it also uses a Dope Dying process that saves on gallons and gallons of fresh water and energy!

Because this is a fixed campaign, we would need everyone’s help in order for us to reach our $10,000 target in 30 days, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get a single penny hence we won’t be able to go into production for these beautiful pieces.

Please join our cause and inviting everyone you know who is as equally passionate about making a difference by forwarding them this blog, or share our link on your Facebook and Twitter page.

Your support holds a special place in our hearts, thank you!

Take a look at our Indiegogo campaign video:

Thank You,
Judy Lei

Creative Director of Light Activewear (www.lightactivewear.com)

Pole Lesson for Beginners – April 27th 2013

Tantra Fitness — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 05:45:38 +0000

Hello Subscribers! Here it is: my first lesson plan for Tantra Tutorials Viewers. My goal is post something once a week to keep you motivated, exercising, and feeling great! Here is a good start for those of you have reached out to us with questions about where to begin. We have over 150 tutorials now, so let’s narrow it down for a place to start. Happy Poling!

- Tammy Morris

Workout #1 for Beginners

I recommend doing this workout 2 to 3 times before moving on to the next.
Warm up: You want to spend at least 10 minutes warming up. You can do anything from running on the spot to freestyle dancing around the pole (no pole moves) to jumping jacks and lunges. Whatever you choose to do make sure it is energetic as the purpose is to get your joints lubricated, increase blood circulation and to increase body temperature. You cannot achieve this by doing static stretching so you want to do dynamic movements.
Conditioning: Once you have warmed up you should do some conditioning to help work on your strength.

Video #98: Fireman Slides – if you feel you cannot lift your feet up off the floor, please leave them on the ground and just let your legs become soft so that you are still mainly supporting with the upper body but you still have your toes on the ground.
Video # 99: Knee Hold Side Crunch
Video #131: Jackknife Sit-ups ON THE FLOOR!

Moves: You should start with watching the foundations of Beginner Pole. So even if you are not a beginner we still suggest watching these foundation videos so that you can apply them to the moves you already know. These are specific to safety and getting as much momentum as possible to lighten the load on the joints and make your moves graceful and fluid.

Video #2: Walking and Wrist Safety
Video #3: Set-Up and Momentum
Video #4: Abdominal Engagement
Video #5: Shoulder Engagement
Video #7: The Backspin
Video #8: Backslide

Now you can combine the Backspin into the Backslide (Video #7 and #8), this will prepare you for Pole Combo #1. Don’t be overwhelmed if it doesn’t feel super graceful and smooth in the beginning, it’s about practicing until it does! Remember: pole dancing is like any other form of dance, you don’t become a graceful Ballerina overnight:)

Stretching: Make sure you take at least 5 to 10 minutes to stretch it out. You will feel it more tomorrow if you don’t! You can use the pole to stretch more than one muscle at a time.

1. Face the pole with your feet about a foot to a foot and a half away. Grab the pole in front of you at about chest height interlocking the fingers. Now pull the hips away from the pole and extend the spin. You can alternate rounding out the back as you breathe in and dropping the chest as you exhale. Once you have done a few stretches you can take a step back and lower the arms to deepen the stretch.

2. Stand in front of the pole so that the pole is about one foot behind you. Now grab the pole behind you with both hands, interlocking the fingers. Tuck your tailbone under and lean away from the pole with the hips. Make sure you don’t arch the back. You should feel the stretch through the chest, across the front of the shoulders and even in to the abdominals. After you have done a couple you can move the arms up an inch to challenge yourself. Do not overstretch as you can injure yourself stretching! It should not hurt.

3. Keep your feet a foot from the pole but open them wider, keep the pole behind you. Rest your hips on the pole and bend forward so that you are grabbing the pole through the legs right under the hips to mid thigh. Make sure your feet are grounded and slowly bring your hips off the pole until the arms are extended. You should feel the stretch across the back. Keep the legs straight to feel the stretch down the back of the hamstrings. When you are finished, rest your hips back on the pole and roll up.

Let me know how this goes for you! You can always leave me a message on our Facebook page, or email us at info@tantrafitness.com. We’d love to hear about your progress, or suggestions on things you would like me to write more about!

See you on the Web!

Tammy

Canadian Pole Fitness Champion 2012 WINS in Rio de Janeiro

Tantra Fitness — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:26:50 +0000

*UPDATE* Veronica is the WINNER of the ARNOLD POLE CHAMPIONSHIP!!

Here is her winning performance!!

We want to wish our super-star Advanced Pole Fitness Instructor, Veronica Solimano, an amazing experience at the Arnold Pole Pan American Championship this weekend in Rio de Janeiro!!!

We know you will knock their socks off!! We miss you and love you!

Coming soon this summer: Tantra Tutorials starring Veronica! Veronica will show you tricks on a spinning pole, advanced pole tricks, as well as some of her signature moves. Here’s a sample of a quick tutorial we shot with Veronica. We do already have over 150 tutorials in our subscription package with lessons from beginners to advanced! Click here for Tantra Tutorials:

Here’s a throw-back to Veronica’s performance on October 13, 2012 that won her the title of Canadian Pole Fitness Champion 2012:

You will also find Veronica in our latest super-sexy promo video:

Online Pole Dancing Classes. Anytime. Anywhere.

Tantra Fitness — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:42:09 +0000

Start your pole dance lessons today with Tantra Tutorials: The Sexiest Online Fitness Studio!

Watch it on YouTube.

Free Online Pole Lesson with Vladimir Karachunov – Advanced Chinese Pole Combo

Tantra Fitness — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:50:21 +0000

It’s still kind of surreal that he was at Tantra Fitness. We got our butts whooped in the Super Advanced Pole Tricks Workshop (that’s how we like it!) and we are bowing down. What a creative talent and a great teacher. Thanks, Volch, for visiting us from Russia!

For more Tantra Tutorials, click here! We offer beginner to advanced pole dance fitness lessons online, as well as lessons for lap dance, striptease, flexibility, and more!

Pole Dance Workshops with Phoenix Kazree at Tantra Fitness! – Sunday, April 21st

Tantra Fitness — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:05:18 +0000

Thrilled to announce the smooth and talented Phoenix Kazree will be stopping into Tantra Fitness on Sunday April 21st for 3 workshops!!!

2:15pm to 3:15pm: Kazree Flow $65 + tax (60 min, all levels)
Focus on pole “dancing”. Learn Phoenix’s style of floor work and pole choreography. Open your mind and body to new types of movement on, off and around the pole.

3:30pm to 4:30pm: Phoenix’s Signature Tricks, Transitions and Combos $65 + tax (60 min, int-adv)
Is “Titanic” on your list of pole moves to accomplish? Phoenix Kazree’s Signature Tricks and Transitions is where you will learn all four versions of it. Along with floor to pole transitions, more signature tricks, creative ways to enter and exit classic tricks, and so much more.

4:45pm to 5:45pm: Line Clean Up $65 + tax (60 min, all levels)
Boot camp for the “non dancer” pole dancer. Stress the importance of straight legs, pointed toes and more. No new tricks are learned, but you are encouraged to perform the tricks that you know, in a clean, efficient, and beautiful manner. Your entry, finished picture and exit will be smooth like butter.

To reserve a spot, please call 604.738.7653 or click here to send us a message!

Who is Phoenix?

Phoenix Kazree is native of Los Angeles, CA. She is a former gymnast and is trained in classical, contemporary and ethnic
dance styles. Her dance training includes the Alvin Ailey American Dance School, Joffrey Ballet, and 2 years on scholarship with
Bella Lewitzky. Phoenix has been been dancing professionally and teaching dance since graduating high school. She currently
travels the US and Canada with the touring company of a hit Broadway show.

Phoenix is the 2011 California Pole Dance Champion, the 2011 Pole Dancing Universe Amateur Champion, and the 2nd place
winner of the 2011 American Pole Fitness Championships. She was a finalist in the 2011 Pole Art competition in Helsinki,
Finland and is also a finalist in Pole Art 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. She made it as one of the top 25 semi finalists for the 2012
International Pole Championship. Phoenix was awarded for “Best Show” at Aerial Pole International Competition 2012 in Bern,
Switzerland. She also earned the award for “Pole Athlete of the Year” at the American Pole Fitness Championship and La Pole
Battle Internationale in Montreal, Quebec.