09-28-16 What if You Tried Something New, Silly and Fun, and it Ended up being your Life’s Work?
That’s exactly what happened to Ashlee, owner and creative director of Tease Studios in Denver. Through this work Ashlee has learned to love her body, just as it is, and to love herself in the process. She is also an inspiration to many other women as well as men through her presence, determination and commitment to solidly being herself.
As silly as it might sound to say that pole fitness and pole dance were a life changing, spiritual experience for Ashlee, the ancient Buddhists themselves worked out with a pole as a form of meditation and strength training, so clearly they were on to something!
Ashlee discovered pole fitness/dancing when she and some of her co-workers in the clinic she was working as a nurse in, decided to give it a try. At the time she had never thought about pole fitness or what is was, merely a fun and wild way to get to know her co-workers. She instantly fell in love with the confidence that she felt when she was in class. The community was so accepting and encouraged her to love her body, self and to grow.
At the time, her primary form of fitness was power lifting. So to find something that encompassed the strength but also the femininity she lacked was amazing. After a year or so she began instructing and fell in love all over again but this time it was the joy of watching women fall in love with themselves and be empowered in all areas of their lives. Ashlee was in a car accident in 2014 that left her with a TBI and mobility issues. She credits pole and the community that surrounded her for her recovery and the ability to come back to pole.
The universe, in ways it always does, presented the situation for her to take over the very studio she instructed at. In March of 2015, Ashlee was blessed enough to take Tease Studio and has not looked back since. She has competed in PSO Nationals in 2015 and took 3rd place in her division. This last year she was a finalist in Colorado Pole Championships showing the community that staying true to ones self is far more important than becoming what everyone expects.
