Knot How-to Videos:
YouTube video of the Lark's Head Knot
YouTube video of the Double Half-Hitch Knot (or "Two Half-hitches Knot")
YouTube video of the Taut Line Hitch Knot
YouTube video of the Square Knot
YouTube video of the Cat's Paw Knot
Materials:
Rawganique - Unprocessed hemp, jute and flax rope by the foot and by the spool.
Kinbaku Studio - Lots of finished, small-quantity rope at a "reasonable" price
The Twisted Monk - The most trusted name in bondage rope - incredible selection, Seattle-based
Amazon - Link to the ribbon I use for bondage
Video:
Materials:
Piping Cord - This is surprisingly strong and soft. I love this stuff. You're getting some of this in your kit.
Twill Tape - This is also surprisingly strong and soft. And I love THIS stuff. You're getting some of this in your kit, too
Waxed Polyester Thread - I love this stuff for both cock and ball torture bondage and also for nipple play.
Satin Ribbon - I use this for all kinds of bondage, including cock and ball bondage.
Vet Wrap - This is brilliant for cock and ball bondage as well. Remember that it compresses over time so that if you wrap it tightly around the balls, the pain will increase significantly.
Toys:
Ball Vices - From my friends at Bare Leatherworks, some of the best ball vices on the market. I particularly like this one (the multi-channel electric version of the toy on this link).
Other seach terms:
Paint Stir Sticks
Chop Sticks
Elastrator
Oxballs cock rings
- From Sleepingirl:
- Learn Hypnokink - A simple, free resource for learning erotic hypnosis. START HERE
- Two Hyp Chicks Podcast - a stunning, sometimes hilarious, sometimes messy podcast by Sleepingirl and her slave CC. GREAT hypnosis resource STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- Book: The Brainwashing Book: Hypnotic, Erotic Behaviorism and Beyond by Sleepingirl - From Sleepingirl's Website
- Book: Kinky NLP: Neuro-Linguistic Programming for Erotic Hypnosis - From Sleepingirl's Website
- sleepingirl at Gumroad - Sleepingirl's gumroad list of writings and other resources
- sleepingirl at Patreon - a lot of wonderful, well-thought-out work on hypnosis. This content is absolutely worth the cost of the paywall for anybody truly interested in hypnosis.
- Visible Restraint Hypnosis Education.
- My YouTube Channel!
- START HERE:
- Playlist of all the shorts by publication date: "Hypnosis Is..."
- Other Playlists By Topic
- START HERE:
- My YouTube Channel!
- From Mark Wiseman:
- Book: Mind Play: A Guide to Erotic Hypnosis by Mark Wiseman - From Amazon. Considered by many to be the Bible of erotic hypnosis. It's an important read even if my own hypnotic practice has diverged from this path in significant ways. It is still an excellent primer and guide to the kind of erotic hypnosis practiced by a lot of folks in our community. You'll meet folks who quote it chapter and verse. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- Book: The Mind Play Study Guide by Mark Wiseman - From Amazon - an even deeper dive into the subjects covered by the first book.
- "Hypnosis for BDSM: A Beginner's Guide with Mark Wiseman" - an extensive interview with Mark Wiseman
- Books from Milton Erickson:
- My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H Erickson (edited by and with commentary by Sidney Rosen)
- The Wisdom of Milton H Erickson
- Hypnotic Realities (with Sheila Rossi and Ernest Rossi) STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- Hypnotherapy: An Exploratory Casebook (with Ernest Rossi)
- The Collected Works of Milton H Erickson MD (edited by Ernest Rossi, Roxanna Erickson-Klein & Kathryn Lane Rossi)
- Books from from Richard Bandler and John Grinder
- Frogs Into Princes: Neuro-linguistic Programming
- Trance-Formations: Neuro-linguistic Programming and the Structure of Hypnosis STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- The Structure of Magic, Vol. 1: A Book About Language and Therapy A Book About Language & Therapy / A Book about Communication & Change
- The Structure of Magic II: A Book About Communication and Change Volume 2
- From James Tripp:
- Book: Hypnosis Without Trance: How Hypnosis Really Works
- James Tripp on You Tube STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- Book from Dave Elman:
- Hypnotherapy - it's an interesting read from a historical standpoint. If his description of the famous induction that bears his name doesn't talk you out of doing it, nothing will...
- Book from Steven Heller & Terry Lee Steele:
- Monsters and Magical Sticks: There's No Such Thing As Hypnosis? by Steven Heller & Terry Lee SteeleFrom
- Book from Mike Defta:
- Deep Surrender: The Psychology and Practice of Erotic Hypnosis - this is, I think, the only erotic hypnosis manual written by a gay male clinical hypnotherapist. He's a really good writer, and I've already made use of his work.
- Michael D Yapko and Shawn R Criswell:
- Trancework (6th Edition) STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- Mike Mandel:
- Mike Mandel on YouTube - his hypnosis training channel. So much great information here. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- His demo of the Dave Elman Induction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5rXsq3ZL9o
- Anthony Jacquin:
- Reality is Plastic (from Amazon - Kindle or Print)
- His Instagram. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- From Kinkyboys Podcast:
- Episode 34: Hypno – The Kinkyboys podcast - their episode on Hypnosis
- Episode 54: Hypno 2, Going Deeper – The Kinkyboys podcast - a SECOND episode on Hypnosis. These guys like hypnosis.
- Episode 79: Brainwashing - with me, my boy Status and Hairyhypnotist. This was SO MUCH FUN.
- Episode 100: Hypno 4: Mantras - Craig and I talk about hypnotic mantras!
- From Pup Amp:
- Other stuff
- Youtube video describing modifications to the Elman induction for group and online induction purposes - this has worked well for me on Skype/Zoom calls (edit: but I don't do the Elman anymore, soooo...)
- YouTube lecture about the Esdaile State - with Jason Linett (edited)
- The Betty Erickson Induction - https://edwardtraversa.com/the-betty-erickson-3-2-1-self-hypnosis-method/
- YouTube channel for Igor Ledochowski STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
- This is a pretty well-written explanation of eye accessing cues. Knowing how to read the representational systems used by your subject as they think their way through life could be a really helpful tool in hypnosis, allowing us, as hypnotists, to be able to join our subjects where they are - which is a key to establishing rapport and congruence. I'm a long way from being fluid in this practice myself - for instance, I may have the information about how to read my subject but it's still sometimes awkward for me to smoothly change modalities midstream so that I'm appropriately pacing my subject. But I'm confident that with practice, practice, practice... https://www.mindtools.co.th/personal-development/neuro-linguistic-programming/nlp-eye-accessing-cues/#:~:text=First%2C%20eye%20accessing%20cues%20are,posture%2C%20gestures%20and%20breathing%20patterns.
- https://hypnosisforguys.com/index.php - An online community/hookup site for queer male erotic hypnosis. It has it’s limitations and faults for sure, but it’s the biggest gayme in “town”.
- https://yourinductionsucks.fyi/ is a REALLY informative and fun website. I'm enjoying it so much!
Note:
A lot of the older writings on hypnosis (work by Milton Erickson, Dave Elman, Bandler/Grinder) are pretty cringey in a lot of ways. There's a fair amount of misogyny living in their work. Some slippery ethics. But if you really want to go deep down into the hypnosis rabbit hole, read that work. There's so much fundamental information (particularly in Hypnotic Realities and Trance-Formations), that it would be silly not to hold your nose and read it anyway. But consider this a strong content warning.
The thing is, though? The "people who teach hypnosis really well but who make me super uncomfortable" list doesn't stop with all those mid-20th-century straight white guys. There's plenty of that to go around right now.
You know who doesn't make me uncomfortable? sleepingirl. I'm such a fanboy. Her take on hypnosis is profound, well-researched, and authentic to her own experience. I haven't found anything of hers I haven't benefited by.
Getting Ready For Rope Bondage
These points pertain to rope bondage, but they would apply to most bondage activities (and not simply bondage activities with me). They're not rules. They're suggestions for those about to be bound.
- Be in the best physical condition that you can be in for your bondage session. Get enough sleep, have enough to eat and drink (but not so much that you feel heavy or leaden), go to the bathroom if you can, trim any long body hair and be clean.
- Don't eat in the hour or so before the bondage session.
- Heavy gym/workout time is not necessarily a great idea on the day of or even the day before a bondage session. You don't want to be stiff. Immobility will do that job well enough. You don't want to start at a flexibility deficit. Having said that, a light workout routine would actually help as warmup.
- Bondage is a physical activity. My suspensions can be torture and endurance activities (if the photograph makes the pose look hard, it probably was hard). You'll enjoy it all more if you're in decent physical condition. You don't have to be young, skinny, musclebound or any of that - but the better your physical condition the more likely you are to enjoy the experience.
- Do yoga. Seriously. If you can't or won't do yoga, then at least stretch before and after workouts. If you can't or won't do that, then at least stretch at the beginning of the bondage session. Plan to stretch after each position, if possible. Do yoga.
- Stay hydrated DURING the session. Dehydration spoils more scenes than lousy knot skills.
- Communicate with your Top. He can't read your mind. He needs to know when things tingle. If you have a circulation or nerve problem he needs to address it and those issues are often not apparent visibly. Nerve issues won't even present cool or clammy skin. So talk to him.
- If you have a short attention span, bondage probably isn't going to work for you. Rope bondage, in particular, is process-intense. In order to get to the good stuff you've got to go through some tedium. Try to engage with your partner. Let him know (verbally or otherwise) that you're excited and anxious to see what he has in store for you. Not only will this help him (Tops have notoriously brittle egos) it'll give your brains something to do while you're getting bound.
- In my dungeon, anyway, come sober when you come to play. I want the guys I play with to be mentally 100%. You need to be able to listen carefully to your body and you need to be able to tell me clearly and articulately what your body is telling you.
- Whether your Top is a newbie or experienced, from time to time he's going fail. Give him a comfortable space to do that safely in. Your impatience with him may implode a scene that could otherwise turn out well. Obviously, protect yourself. But acknowledge that your guy is human and he's trying to create something sexy with you. Keep it on that level and you'll be fine.
- Keep this in mind: every time you let somebody immobilize you, you're putting your life in his hands. Make sure the guy is worthy of that trust, both in skill level and in character.
- Come to the session ready to have fun.
- Don't try to get your Top to preview your scene with him too much. You're going to like it a lot better if he gets to surprise you.
- In my dungeon, if you're a smoker, don't come to the session smelling of smoke. Shower first, get into some clean clothes and then wait until after the session to have a cigarette.
- Most of the time, you'll have a better time if you practice a little chastity the day or two before the session. If you're horny, you'll feel sexier and that will translate into better, sexier photos. Edging (bringing yourself close to orgasm without allowing an orgasm) is one way to amp up the energy of the session.