'Pole dancing for Jesus' class mixes faith and fitness; Church going women offered free class

'Pole Fitness for Jesus' is offered on Sunday at the Best Shape of Your Life studio, outside of Houston.
 

Women in Texas aren't pole-dancing for tips.  They're pole-dancing for Jesus.In a dance studio in the town of Spring, outside of Houston, women are taking on the now-popular fitness trend of stripper aerobics – but instead of moving to a pulsing beat, they're grinding along to Christian music. 

"Pole Fitness for Jesus" was the brainchild of Crystal Deans, the owner and class instructor at of Best Shape of Your Life.

Deans, a former "dancer," told MyFox in Houston that she quit the pole-dancing business years ago.

"It's not something I felt very rewarded with … I decided I didn't want to do any more, so I decided to take the part that I liked about that and bring it here," she said. 

She said her goal is to teach fellow female churchgoers how to get fit, work their legs and core and to make a connection with God.  The goal is not to teach women to be strippers. 

"We do the upbeat contemporary Christian music because people have to bring their church program to get into the class, so we basically are just continuing the whole worship thing here," she said. 

According to the studio's website, the first eleven women that bring in their church program every 2nd Sunday of the month receive a free class.

On other days, the studio offers regular pole-dancing classes without a religious bent.

Women seem to be singing the class' praises for its tough workout and its wholesome outlook.

"I think it's a fabulous thing. I was raised around religion. My parents were very religious, and it's a great way you get the stigma off," said Tiffany Booth.  "It's not just dancing on a pole. You have music and you have girls together working out. There's tons of different kinds of workouts; this just happens to be one."

Mixing pole dancing and religion has raised some eyebrows.  But Dean said that the Lord is the only person who can judge her choice of fitness routine.

"People who want to sit there and judge it, you know, like, 'Well, that is sacrilegious,' or you know," Dean told News KXAN in Austin. "That doesn't make you a good Christian when you judge other people."