Yoga for Bondage?

Bondage or Yoga, Can You See the Similarities?

Peaceful stretches, centering minds, focused attention, graceful poses, meditation, and awareness are all things that come to mind when one thinks of yoga, but these are also all the conditions one can expect from practicing bondage. When perusing the internet looking at different bondage art it is pretty obvious that some yoga poses are very similar to bondage positions. Practicing yoga can increase flexibility and prepare an aspiring rope bunny for more advanced positions and a deeper connection to bondage scenes.

Woman in bondage doing the Yoga Bridge Pose.

Meditation

Being mindful and present in the moment is something that may take practice. Bondage and yoga are both about awareness of self and in bondage -- the rope. Being able to clear your mind and focus your attention on breathing and awareness is something that doesn’t always come naturally. Yoga is a great way to prepare the mind for a bondage or BDSM scene. Learning to meditate brings great peace to the life of a yogi and a bondage connoisseur during and after their chosen style of meditation.

Wrists bound in a meditative bondage position.

Preparing the Body

Going back to similar positions, flexibility is required for bondage. Yoga is tremendously helpful in increasing flexibility -- flexibility that a bondage bottom can use to increase their experience level and contort their bodies in more extreme ways safely. Handing control to a rope top and allowing them to control the position of your body is such an exhilarating experience, but when the body is prepared for whatever vision a rigger has in mind, it will increase the pleasure for voyeurs, tops, and bottoms.

Poses to Increase Bondage Flexibility

Arms

Forward Folding Clasp

Man doing Yoga -- Forward Fold with Clasp

Reverse Prayer

Woman doing Yoga -- Reverse Pray Pose near water.

Cow Face

Woman doing Yoga -- Cow Face Pose.

Eagle

Woman doing Yoga -- Eagle Pose on the beach.

Back

Cat-Cow

Man doing yoga -- Table and Cat-Cow Poses

Bow Pose

Woman doing Yoga -- Bow Pose

Bridge

Couple doing Yoga -- Bridge Pose

Wheel Pose

Woman doing Yoga -- Wheel Pose on big rocks.

Hips

Tree Pose

Woman doing Yoga -- Tree Pose in front of a tree

Butterfly

Woman doing Yoga -- Butterfly Pose

One-legged Downward-Facing Dog

Woman doing Yoga -- One-Legged Downward Dog outside

Standing Split

Woman doing Yoga -- Standing Split outside

Listen To Your Body

While some of these poses may make you think, "Are you CRAZY?" Yoga and bondage are about the awareness of yourself. So, when you start practicing either make sure you listen to your body and find poses that match your experience level. Check out some straps that you can use to help increase flexibility slowly and safely. Let go of ego and start exactly where you are to build toward being a more flexible rope bunny.

Focused Breathing

Ujjayi Pranayama

In yoga Ujjayi Pranayama or “Ocean Breathing” is about breaking free from bondage, while in preparation for a bondage scene Ujjayi Pranayama prepares you for freedom through bondage. Ocean Breathing is incredibly useful for a rope bunny because it helps bring awareness to the spaces that a breathe fills.

The Ocean Breathing Technique

For this exercise of breath, slowly inhale filling first your stomach with the air and moving up to the top of your chest filling your entire torso with the breath. On the exhale, release the oxygen from the top of the chest to the bottom of your stomach. Learning how to fill different spaces in the body with a breath will help a rope bunny take deep breaths in spaces that are not experiencing compression from the bondage ropes.

Woman doing yoga to practice breathing exercises.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

When a person’s body is in a deep state of relaxation, the diaphragm is doing most of the breathing work. So, if in a bondage situation where you need to find your cool, using this style of breathing will relax your body involuntarily. Diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the vagus nerve which is the information superhighway of the body. The feeling of shortness of breath or rapid heart rate is a signal from the vagus nerve to the brain -- so by stimulating it with the focused breath, this nerve can be used to slow heart rate and bring breathing back under control. Anyone can see how this is very useful during a bondage scene.

Including Yoga in Bondage Practice

Woman practicing yoga with an instructor with a strap to increase flexibility.

Yoga and bondage are a lot more similar than one may initially think. The meditation, positions of the body, flexibility, and focused breathing are all crucial to yoga and bondage -- not to mention the stress relief, mental clarity, and peaceful, relaxation as a result of both activities. Including yoga by stretching to prepare for a bondage session or even in the aftercare plan are great ways to incorporate yoga into a BDSM lifestyle and can increase your bondage skill level mind, body, and spirit.

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