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Aeysha Stepping Stone

I'd like to talk about Ayesha, because for a lot of pole dancers, including myself, it is or was the biggest pole goal to achieve. Whether it is an elbow grip, hand spring or true grip version, nailing Aeysha is a stepping stone and a door to a more advanced pole fitness.

This is how I started
One of my first steps looked like this

To say that I was obsessed, means to say nothing. Since I started taking classes again it became the one and only move I desperately wanted to get. At first my extended butterfly was secured and that gave me hope that my hand grip is strong enough to move on to more advanced stuff.

Next step was a caterpillar climb. It took about a month to get comfortable with it.  No need to mention, that caterpillar was a goal itself. If this climb is mastered, you are one step closer to  your Aeysha.
September 2015. Finally got it!
My first attempts started from taking my bent knees away from the pole, trying to find the balance. Once it was achieved, I finally managed to straighten my legs, even though only balancing for a couple of seconds. To be honest, Aeysha turned out to be one of the easiest moves to master. It only took about two weeks from the start till I was holding it securely, though I only mean the handspring version . Next two months were devoted to getting into it from the floor, not a Crisifix. That caused quite a bit of frustration.
October 2015. Nailed the upside-down Pencil. This was a pure balance finding move 
Not sure which variation to start working on. It must be different for everyone. Some people find the elbow grip more secure and easy to hold, others prefer twisted grip, which is also my personal preference. The existence of a true grip version wasn't known to me until one of my instructors showed it to us, saying that it doesn't put as much pressure on your shoulder. I still find it a bit funny, although easier to get into from the floor. Some muscle pain occurred after doing twisted grip Aeysha over and over again, it was not healthy.  So to avoid overdoing it I started working on other moves in between my Aeyshas that involved different groups of muscles. Doing so helped me to keep focusing on my obsession move without injuring myself and losing my progress altogether.

June 2016. Ayesha is now working for me on a spinning pole.

A lot about the move was about balance and also, trusting myself. To jump into it from the floor will require some core muscles though. It took some time to stop being afraid of falling down and kick strongly enough to get the necessary momentum. Even now, almost a year since I got the move it is still not 100% success in terms of jumping into it from the floor, and depends on how tired or well warmed up I am.

Aeysha is a stepping stone in pole fitness.  Lots of different tricks and transitions are based on similar grip and involve the same groups of muscles. It will help immensely with creating new combos and get away from a popular Gemini/Scorpio scheme most pole dancers get tired of, giving you freedom to create something more distinctive.

Just one more thing: please do not try it for the first time unsupervised.
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