When it’s going to be wrong…
The more experienced we become in ropes, the earlier we sometimes know: this is not going to work. But what happens when that knowledge gets in the way of the experience itself? When anticipation replaces feeling, corrections replace communication, and both partners end up frustrated? Perhaps the practice is not to know less, but to trust ourselves enough to stay with what is actually happening – until there is something real to respond to.
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.
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.