A body-positive fitness instructor mother has opened up about how she overcame her insecurities through pole dancing, revealing why she kept up her beloved hobby throughout her pregnancy and into motherhood, now even posing for pictures on her pole while holding her baby in her arms.

Mathea, 28, from Oakland, California, led a wildchild lifestyle filled with parties in her teens, all the while feeling totally worthless. However, when she discovered her love of dance and fitness through pole dancing, she began to realize her inherent worth, and was able to leave her unfulfilling life behind her.

The stay-at-home mother, whose son B is one year old, found such a welcoming community and support network in pole fitness that she continue to pole dance up until she was eight-months pregnant, and started it up again just two months post-partum.

Unique hobby: Mother-of-one Mathea began pole dancing at age 20, continued up until she was eight-months pregnant, and has even posed on the pole with her son in her arms

Happy as can be: The 28-year-old says that pole dancing helped her to overcome body dysmorphia, and discover her love for fitness and dance

Moving on: Mathea admitted that she lived a fairly wildchild lifestyle as a teen, but says the endless partying made her feel 'worthless'

Mathea explained the changes she found in herself through pole dance fitness and the reaction she gets when people find out what she does while being a mother.

'Their reaction is almost always amazement and respect,' said Mathea.

'Pole is becoming more mainstream, so people generally recognize and appreciate the skill and strength it takes to do pole dance fitness. In fact, very rarely do I encounter "haters", but the good news is that I'm not looking for anyone else's approval — I pole dance because it brings me joy and keeps me fit.

'I don't really have time to worry about what people think of me. I always make an effort to stand in my integrity as my most authentic self, so people can take it or leave it — I am both a pole dancer and a mother, and I am proud of it.

'I started pole dancing in 2010, because it sounded fun and interesting—plus it was a new and exciting way to get fit. After my first class I was hooked—and not just because it was a great workout.

'The women I met at the pole studio were incredibly supportive, encouraging, and uplifting, and I truly felt that I was part of a sisterhood. Body image, insecurities, and shame are forgotten and irrelevant during pole class—every body shape is cheered on and celebrated equally.'

Mathea describes herself as being body positive, a social movement rooted in the belief that all human beings should have a positive body image, and be accepting of their own bodies as well as the bodies of others. The movement has become popular in recent years.

Support system: The body-positive activist, who is also an outspoken supporter of public breastfeeding, says the pole dancing community around her is nothing but supportive

Deeper meaning: Not only has pole dancing helped Mathea to become fitter and more confident, she says it has also enabled her to cultivate 'self-love and acceptance'

Staying strong: Although Mathea says she does not encounter very many 'haters', she noted that won't allow anyone who does critique her lifestyle to upset her

The mother-of-one, who still works out three to six days a week, attributes pole dance fitness to her increase in confidence and explained what being body positive means to her.

'Of course, you will build muscle, burn calories, and break a sweat while pole dancing, but you will also discover that your confidence skyrockets,' she said.

'There is something very special about the pole community: the support you receive from being a part of it, coupled with the quest for personal strength, is a combination that encourages the cultivation of self-love and acceptance.

'As a woman who has struggled with body dysmorphia and crippling insecurities, I don't think it is realistic to assume that we can simply replace negative self-talk with positive affirmation and suddenly love ourselves entirely.

'I personally believe that body positivity is a journey—not a destination—and is created by the daily grind of choosing authenticity over self-deprecation, and actualising the fact that we are worthy of love, success, and opportunity regardless of our appearance.

'We become disempowered when we believe our aesthetic determines our worth, and when we recognize that bodies are not merely the sum of our parts (we are whole women), we can begin to transform shame and self-criticism into self-confidence and acceptance.

Fit and active: Pole dancing has remained one of the most consistent aspects of Mathea's life since she was 20, and she said it brings her nothing but 'joy'

Powerful: 'I am saddened by a society that would shame a mother for nourishing her child in public,' Mathea said of her determination to breastfeed in public

Statement: 'By nursing my child in public, I feel that I am encouraging other mothers to do the same, so that we might normalize this beautiful, natural thing,' Mathea added

'Body positivity is important because, if we ever expect to liberate ourselves from insecurity and self-doubt, we must again and again reject the arbitrary societal beauty standards that tell us we are unworthy, until we know in our heart of hearts that we are enough, as is.'

There is often controversy in the US over women breastfeeding in public, with many viewing this as unacceptable behavior, while mothers try to explain it is a natural act.

For Mathea, part of being body positive is to love your whole body and as a mother to a young child this means breast feeding as and where is required.

'I am saddened by a society that would shame a mother for nourishing her child in public,' she said.

'As a woman, my body was biologically designed to birth and breastfeed, and I will not be discouraged by an oversexed and undereducated culture that deems breastfeeding as gross or immodest.

'I breastfeed in public for no other reason than because I must feed my child. If someone is disgusted by, or sexualising the act of a mother nursing her baby, it seems to me that the problem belongs to a misguided society—not the breastfeeding mother.

'By nursing my child in public, I feel that I am encouraging other mothers to do the same, so that we might normalize this beautiful, natural thing.'