You don’t need to be “educated” to enjoy ropes
A newbie rope bottom told me that a rigger had stopped tying them because they were “not educated enough”. That sentence stayed with me. When did we start believing that we need an education before we are allowed to experience our own bodies? There is much we can learn in ropes – but perhaps we should be careful not to let knowledge replace something we already carry: our capacity to feel, respond, enjoy and say no.
Trying too hard
Autumn arrived quietly on our street, with yellow gingko leaves scattered across the grey asphalt. Walking through them one morning, I found myself thinking about how much we are always doing – in ropes, relationships, teaching, learning. We push, force and try to make things happen. But what if sometimes the way forward is not to do more, but to let something go?
On Invitation
Surrender is not passive. When you offer yourself in ropes, you are also making an invitation: take me here, challenge me, perhaps bring me a little further. But for your partner to respond, they need to be able to see you, feel you and read you. Resonance is something we create together – and learning how to invite is part of the art of being in ropes.
Rope bottoms often ask: where must I endure, and where must I stop?
Where must I endure, and where must I stop? It may be the million-dollar question in rope bottoming. I no longer believe there is a fixed line we can learn from an anatomy lecture or a safety checklist. We have to discover it anew each time – by slowing down, listening closely and learning the language of our own body.