Mental Health and Pole Dance

These recommendations are from SkyLuna’s webinar ”Nurturing Minds, Empowering Souls” held on February 13, 2024. Members can view the entire webinar at this link. 

Why We Dance

Many pole dancers start pole as a way to get in touch with their bodies and explore their sensuality.

Those who stay, feel a sense of companionship with other dancers, and love feeling fit and strong. However, those feelings can fade, especially once you hit a point where you decide to compete in pole dance.

Pole competitions are much newer compared to other types of dance such as ballroom or jazz, and competitors may feel ownership over particular combos—even if others have found those same pathways.

In IPIA’s talk with Sergia Louise Anderson she discusses how as a competitive dancer if she or her cohort found a pathway or move that would be performed better by someone else they would share—that doesn’t always seem to be the way of the pole world.

SkyLuna’s Research

In 2022, SkyLuna did a research study and a needs analysis for the pole dance industry. At the time, there were few resources for mental health in pole dance.

Her research showed:

• 78% of dancers connect through peers on social media
• 50% of pole dancers feel there are not enough networking opportunities

Other research has shown that 35% of elite athletes experience mental health crises.

If you compete in pole and think you aren’t elite, try shifting your paradigm. Pole is hard and you’re doing amazing things with your body at all levels of pole competition. Pole dancers are elite athletes.

Mental Health and Pole

Like elite athletes in more traditional sports, pole dancers face a lot of mental health issues around a constant need to improve, concerns over body image, the financial burden of being a full time pole dancer, a lack of connection with the community, fear of rejection or lack of recognition for their work, and limited career opportunities.

Pole athletes face additional issues because pole is still highly stigmatized. Professional dancers may face exploitation or abuse from clients, club or studio owners, club or studio management, and substance abuse or addiction.

Elite athletes are always scrutinized for their bodies—it runs the gamut from praise and sports illustrated covers to getting torn apart in comments sections if someone doesn’t present the way the population at large thinks they should. This can lead to a fixation on appearance and feed the constant need to improve.

Athletes may get stuck in thought cycles like “If I can execute this move, no one will talk about this other thing that makes me uncomfortable.” Which, sadly, is never true. Especially with the rise of social media, anyone can say anything about another person and it seems many take joy in making others uncomfortable.

What We Can Do

Sky Luna’s research and realizations about her own mental health in relation to pole led her to change her perspective.

Instead of thinking about pole as a competitive sport, she shifted her mindset to think of pole like a yoga practice. Using pole as a way to connect with her mind, body, and chakras instead of pressuring herself to get every move as fast as possible had a healing effect for SkyLuna. This led her to start the Pole to Glow program.

Pole To Glow is for mental wellness, social connection, and spiritual practices in the pole community. They have hosted events such as outdoor picnics/meet ups and hygiene kit assembly drives. Based in North Carolina, Pole to Glow seeks to create social support systems in the pole dance world.

If you own a studio, hosting community events like hygiene kit drives, volunteering for social support groups as a studio, and planning group transportation to demonstrations you care about are great ways of fostering community and getting people talking outside of class. Giving people a chance to connect outside of classes fosters a stronger sense of community and keeps people coming back for more.