Av8r
Posts: 1
Joined: 12/25/2004 Status: offline
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Very interesting topic. As a dominant, I have frequently engaged in SOME forms of breath play over the years and if done properly it can be a very exciting and rewarding experience for all involved. Cyd posted a very valid point, Insex has been at the forefront of breath play in the public realm for years, and love him or hate him, PD is absolutely one of the leading practioners of S&M anywhere today. However Gord, who even PD quotes as an influence, tends to have a completely opposite view on the subject. So for sure it's controversial. In over a decade, I have never known of, or even heard of, any adverse effects from breathplay, so long as it is conducted in a SSC environment by people who know what they are doing and follow basic safety rules. There is always some risk involved with any activity that puts stress on the vital systems of the body. People DO die while practicing BDSM. But no more than people die while having vanilla sex, or working out, jogging, etc. Breathplay puts stress on the body for sure, as does many other kinds of BDSM activity. Electro, forced excercise, confined positions, breathplay, hell, even multiple orgasms, all of these can cause stress on the heart, circulatory and respiritory systems. The key is to ensure that you take reasonable precautions not to overstress your subs system, and play to a level that is appropriate for the individual subs fitness level and medical conditions.. Also, when playing in this manner you must consider the health of the dominant too. The default position for ANY form of breathplay MUST be one that allows normal breathing. In other words, stopping or restriction of breathing should always take positive input from the dom, (like holding the end of a tube closed, covering mouth with hand, etc) this way if the dom passes out or has a heart attack, the input stops and the sub can breathe again. The real risk in breathplay in my opinion however, is not the medical risks. The medical risks can be managed and if managed properly are no more dangerous than some other forms of BDSM. No, the real risk is the legal risk. Explaining to an ambulance/police officer/coronor that your leather and chains clad sub had a heart attack/stroke whilst being encouraged to perform on that dildocycle is bad enough. But explaining that it happened while they had a plastic bag over their heads, or your hands around their neck, is a guaranteed way to get charged with a felony. Proper documentation of mutual consent will likely stop it from being a murder charge, but felony endangerment or negligent manslaughter would be real possibilities. So be careful, and be cautious, and whatever you do, cover both your medical and legal bases.
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