Practices
Restraint & bondage
Restraining, being restrained, or limiting movement and the senses by mutual agreement. Rope, cuffs, blindfolds, gags, furniture, hoods.
Restraint covers everything from a silk scarf around the wrists to elaborate rope harnesses, full sex furniture, and sensory hoods. The common thread is voluntarily handing over some of your physical freedom — and the partner on the other side voluntarily taking responsibility for what happens next.
Almost everything in this category is safer than it looks, with two caveats: rope suspension and self-bondage. Both warrant real training before attempting.
What it looks like across the spectrum
- Cuffs and simple restraints: leather, neoprene, under-mattress strap systems. The fastest entry point — no rope skills required.
- Blindfolds: removing sight to heighten every other sensation. One of the most universally enjoyable additions to sex.
- Gags: limiting speech. Always paired with a non-verbal safe signal — dropping a held object, ringing a bell, three loud snaps.
- Rope as a rope bunny: being tied for the look, the feeling, and the headspace.
- Rope as a rigger: tying others. There are nerves and circulation to respect — formal classes are worth it.
- Decorative rope: harnesses and ties for aesthetics, without high tension or suspension.
- Sex furniture: crosses, benches, spreader bars, sex swings. Purpose-built and easy to use safely.
- Sensory hoods: removing sight and sometimes sound in a contained way.
- Predicament bondage: putting someone in a position where the only comfortable option involves a trade-off — psychological, playful.
Self-bondage
Self-bondage is inherently riskier than partnered restraint, because there's no second person to help if something goes wrong. If you do it, build in a guaranteed release — a time-locked safe, an ice-melt mechanism, a phone-triggered alarm — so that consciousness is not the only thing keeping you safe.
Safety basics that hold across this category
- Quick-release scissors (EMT shears) within arm's reach for any rope or strap session.
- Check circulation: fingers and toes warm, skin colour normal. Pins-and-needles is borderline; numb is the limit.
- Avoid pressure on the front and inner arm, the side of the neck, and the joints where nerves run close to the surface.
- Don't tie or be tied while alone, drunk, or sleeping (with the exception of well-designed self-bondage, above).
- Have a non-verbal safe signal if speech is restricted.
The practices in this category · 11
Every practice in this category, in the same plain language used in the interests quiz.
Being tied with rope (rope bunny)
Having your body tied or wrapped in rope by a partner.
Tying a partner with rope (rigger / top)
Tying or wrapping a partner's body in rope yourself. Formal education matters — there are nerves and circulation to respect.
Decorative rope / shibari aesthetic
Body harnesses and decorative ties for the look and feeling, without high tension or suspension.
Rope suspension
Being lifted off the ground in rope.
Safety: Advanced. Real injury risk without proper hardware, anchor points, and training.
Cuffs and restraints
Wrist, ankle, or under-mattress restraints — quicker and simpler than rope.
Blindfolds
Removing sight to heighten other senses.
Gags
Limiting speech. Always paired with a non-verbal safe signal (e.g. dropping a held object).
Predicament bondage
Being put in a position where the only comfortable choice involves a trade-off — playful and psychological.
Sex furniture & frames
St. Andrew's crosses, spreader bars, benches, sex swings — purpose-built restraint.
Sensory deprivation hood
A hood that removes sight, and sometimes sound, in a contained way.
Self-bondage (with release)
Tying yourself with a guaranteed release mechanism.
Safety: Inherently riskier — no second person to help. Time-locked or melt-away releases only.
Want to mark how you feel about these?
The interests quiz walks you through every practice here on a six-point scale, then saves the result as a private inventory you can share with a partner.
Take the interests quiz →