Better Bottoming: for Riggers & Bottoms

a 1 to 3-day workshop with Saara Rei

“Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.”

- Eckhart Tolle

Being in rope can be an incredibly intense experience. The array of sensations and emotions that can be felt is limitless and often ever-changing within the experience of being tied. Processing, managing, and allowing these sensations and emotions requires a continuous, real-time evaluation of what we are feeling, and if we can accept the situation we are in or not. We need to be able to relinquish control and at the same time maintain absolute oversight so that we are able to react appropriately and responsibly. This level of balance is no easy task and exactly what we hope to develop a practice for during this workshop.

In this workshop, we will go through a series of hands-on tying exercises, practiced with a rigger, designed for those who are being tied to develop a personal bottoming practice. We will explore how to manage physical and emotional pain while in ropes as well as use techniques derived from dance and mindfulness meditation for developing body awareness. We will learn about body mechanics, including blood pressure, nerve compression, and muscle tension. We will practice following with our bodies so that we do not help, but rather enable the rigger to take the lead. And we will dive deep into our own personal strengths, limits, and weaknesses in order to develop a better understanding of what we are comfortable with, what we would like to work on, and what we would like to leave well-enough alone. 

We will also work on the emotional body. We will seek to understand our own intentions for doing rope as well as our intentions for doing rope with others. We will look into what we hope to gain and explore emotionally, and what emotions can be challenging for us to face while in rope. For every exercise focusing on the body, there will also be an analogous exercise for the mind. We will hopefully see throughout this workshop that there is a feedback loop between the physical and emotional bodies that feed into each other through our thoughts and feelings. In this workshop, we hope to reach a place where we can understand how this feedback loop works for ourselves and how we can use this channel of communication within ourselves to allow the body and the mind to speak to each other.

By the end of this workshop, every bottom should hopefully leave with a better understanding of themselves in rope as well and an understand of how they would like to practice rope, from their intention to their fitness.

Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is for any rope bottom at any skill or experience level. It is best if the bottom comes with a rigger who is fluent with tying so that there is little to no need to focus on tying technique during the workshop, allowing both to be able to fully concentrate on the conceptual content within this workshop. And, as usual, it is also best if both parties have tied with each other before and feel comfortable with each other.

If you are interested in booking this workshop in a part of the world near you, then please send an email.