Got Rope? - Day 2

I arrived early for my sleep sac suspension demo and as I looked at the leather encasement on the ground, the first thing I thought was, "There's no way I'm fitting in that." Griffin held it open as I slipped my feet inside and lay down, Griffin and Max tried unsuccessfully to stretch the leather around my shoulders....which went on for about a minute before all realized that....as Lorelei put it, "I was just too manly to fit inside the sac." Luckily, they had a back-up individual in mind and once he showed up he was quickly encased and hoisted up by his shoulders and suspended about a foot off the ground. Hanging there Max described what to look for if someone happened to be hanging 20 feet above ground in such a sac (as he had done on one or two occasions).

As the demo ended and class began A settled into her seat next to me that I had set aside for her. Sitting next to her I could feel our connection from the day before, almost an electricity to it. We were lectured about partial suspension and how it can be more strenuous on the equipment because of the dynamic load, as the bottom could bounce or lift their feet off the ground to put more strain than just their body weight on the rope and suspension ring. We also learned how to untie someone safely from a suspended or partial suspended position....which body parts to release first and how to adjust the body position so that the bottom wouldn't fall over. We also learned how to provide more body support (more rope) and different ways to tie off the lines from the body to the ring.

We spent most of the morning practicing knots and before I knew it it was lunch time. I sat alone with A and we continued our discussion of our poly lives and how we got into rope bondage. It was interesting to hear about how she got into the BDSM world and came to working with Max. I told her how J and I had spent about a year and a half researching the poly lifestyle before actually entering the world so that we could be prepared as much as possible; however we both agreed that no matter how much you thought you knew every relationship is its own animal.

After lunch and practicing knots on our rope bags, it was time to practice partial suspension and were given 5 pictures of different partials to attempt. I went with a hog-tie partial as it allowed me to practice parallel lashing as well as a chest harness. As I began tying the harness, A turned to me and said, "I'm feeling a little tired today, so you're going to have to hurt me a little bit to wake me up.' Note taken!!! Off I went securely tying her hands behind her back with a little extra pull to provide her with her requested pain......After tying her feet I got into trouble trying to figure out a secure tie point to provide the proper arch. As I struggled with the tie I asked Griffin if he could provide some guidance, however no matter what he provided I couldn't seem to figure out how to finish off the bind properly...quickly getting out of my head and starting to stress.

With J one of my topping issues was losing control of the scene and allowing her and myself to fall out of our headspace. As my brain was racing I checked in with A and she said he hands were okay but she could tell they were going to lose feeling soon, at least my wrist tie was working....I attempted once more to complete the arch, but quickly realized it wasn't working. I untied her completely and held her from behind to make sure she was okay....retrenching that connection to let her know I was present, luckily we were both able to maintain our headspace and proceed, which was a great learning experience for me as it was something that I've always struggled with. As she relaxed I began another bind, tying her right ankle to right wrist to provide a side arch, looping that through the ring twice I pulled up lifting her torso and leg off the group, so that she was only supported by her left hip and leg. From almost falling out of our heads to a quick recovery I was elated, as Griffin checked on my handiwork it was deemed acceptable...untying A I checked in and provided some more comfort.....my turn.

A decided to do a simple tie and leave me lying on my left side, with my left leg in a frog-tie and my right leg suspended from the ring. We had to wait a while as all the instructors were busy so, I tested my mobility flipping myself to my front and rolled around, testing the integrity of the tie as well as the dynamic nature of the position...an incredible feeling with one leg supported, the other bound and the rest of your body free to support itself on from the ring. After Lorelei's approval we had a quick lecture and demo on 3 full suspension positions: facing the ground, the ceiling, and the side; learning how to properly attached a hip harness to our bottom for lower body support.

As A began rigging me for my suspension, she doubled up the chest harness for additional support and secured a hip harness around in preparation for a face down suspension. Once secured and checked, she put all of her body weight into the rope lifting her feet off the ground got me up halfway. On her second pull I looked over and saw her feet leave the ground, but I didn't budge...stifling a laugh....Griffin to the rescue again! The weight disparity and the friction created from the first hoist had left me stuck; with the two of them pulling I quickly popped into position.

Hanging suspended was an intense feeling; one and a half arm's lengths from the ground I hung there for about 10 minutes as A rigged my feet up to the ring into a lying down L shape. I'm not sure if I ever really got into the proper headspace but could feel the tightened ropes around my hips and chest, and especially in my lower abdominal region. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be as much of a workout as it was but my abs were fully flexed the whole time providing support to my back and upper body. I quickly transitioned to yoga breathing to maintain the feeling of calm and to ensure that my muscles remained relaxed. The constriction about my chest was lovely as the majority of my weight had shifted to the chest harness. Releasing me I could feel the blood rushing back to parts of my body that had been drained; A had checked in numerous times during my suspension and now that I had 2 feet on the floor she ensured I was doing ok, I was.

A and I negotiated a side suspension for her, but we had to move quickly as we were running out of practice time. Chest harness, with her arms free and a side hip harness as a lower secure point. I didn't have much of a problem hoisting her up into the air and as my ties got approval I checked in and supported her head with my arm, spinning her slightly allowing her to enjoy the weightlessness. She lay there suspended for a couple of minutes before Max called the class to order with the snap of a single tail. As I brought A down gently we embraced to check and I wrapped Monk's rope, returning it to its case.

As Max summarized the class he did a hair bondage demo on Lorelei hoisting her up by her hair through the ring so that she was on her tip-toes; really a wonderful pose and demo. After class I assisted with clean-up and was the last to receive my certificate of completion. As I was saying good-bye to Max he invited me to accompany him, A, Griffin, and Lorelei to dinner...an offer that I quickly accepted.

Dinner was a privilege; an honour to be permitted into their inner circle, something I couldn't have planned or hoped for. It was a wonderful experience to get to know all of them not only as instructors but also on a personal level....their poly lives, BDSM explorations and who they are as individuals outside of class.....a feeling that gave me a high the whole 3 hour drive home. This was a weekend that I wouldn't soon forget or replicate....however as I write this I'm back in Seattle for SEAF and oh what a night last night was; not a replication of the previous weekend, but the feeling of acceptance into a community I've longed for.....words cannot describe.