NAME: Sidhima Intodia
AGE: 30 years
INSTAGRAM HANDLE: @pole_sided
JOB TITLE: Pole Fitness &Yoga Instructor
MOVED TO THE UAE IN: 2004 – 2009 & back again in 2018
Sidhima Intodia, was born in India & raised in Dubai. After her schooling in Dubai, Sidhima realised that to learn to be independent in life she needed to move out of her safe space & move to a fast-moving city like Mumbai, India. She studied B.Com (hons) with a specialisation in finance in Mumbai. During her course a module on advertising & brand management made her realise that her interest lies in consumer insights & brand building. After a few years, she moved to the client side to understand the business side of building a brand. Her marketing career was progressing well in India, but she always felt that the quality of life she wanted was something she was compromising on for her career. She had always been an advocate of leading a healthy life rather than a life that is only based on financial stability. Sidhima left Mumbai in 2018 and moved back to Dubai, ready to focus on herself more than her career. Sidhima took a 1-year break and has since restarted her marketing career at MNCs. Her quality of life improved dramatically, which meant she had more time to do the things she always wanted to.
During the pandemic, Sidhima started practising yoga & meditation, and with each passing day, her practice deepened & she got more interested in the fitness & wellness industry. As soon as covid restrictions eased, she joined pole fitness classes in 2020 and there was no turning back after that. She fell in love with the form. The amount of patience, technique, discipline, and acceptance it taught her is incomparable to any sport. She has been teaching pole & yoga for almost a year now & she hopes to bring a change to the pole & fitness industry. She hopes to make it more inclusive.
Here’s a look at a typical day.
5.30 AM: My day starts quite early since my full-time marketing job starts at 7 am. I start my morning with a glass of water and transcendental meditation, followed by a shower & getting dressed for work.
7 AM: I’m in the office by 7 am and kickstart my regular workday with emails, calls, or any
early morning meetings. On a regular day, I would have my breakfast around 8 am
which usually consists of fresh orange juice and sprouts or fruits.
10 AM: I usually take 5 min walk breaks every 2-3 hours in the office, where I get some
fresh air & sun, and check my pole & yoga-related enquiries and do some quick
calls, sometimes I also check pole or yoga-related content (tricks, poses to try) on
social media & save them to try later in the day.
1.30 PM: I have my lunch around 1.30 pm and continue with my regular day job,
working on presentations, ideas, etc.
4.30 PM: I finish my day job at 4.30 pm and shift complete focus to my passion - pole
& yoga. I usually go home straight after work and finish my own yoga practice for an
hour followed by spending some time with my mother.
6 PM: My regular day schedule in the evening is quite dynamic as some days I leave
home at 6 pm to go to the pole studio to either teach a pole class or take a class with
my head instructor to improve my own skills. On other days, I take yoga classes in
my community park. I usually spend 2-3 hours in the studio, teaching, learning and
creating content for social media.
9.30 PM: I’m usually back home around 9.30 pm when I try to spend time with family
and share interesting highlights of my day with them. For dinner, I usually just grab a
small bite of a healthy snack as I don’t like to eat heavily & sleep immediately.
11 PM: I try to sleep around 11 pm, with the intention to not scroll though my phone.