Sensory deprivation is the act of removing one or more senses. Many times the world of BDSM incorporates sensory deprivation into playtime as it can enhance scenes and make them more enjoyable. There are also plenty of people with kinks that revolve around some form of sensory deprivation.
Today we are going to talk about all of the things that you should know about sensory deprivation in the BDSM world.
Why is Sensory Deprivation Fun?
One of the first things that people want to know is why is BDSM sensory deprivation fun? The main reason is that when you take away one or more senses the rest of your senses become heightened. For example, many people choose to use blindfolds because it heightens the senses of hearing and touch. Every touch, every sound, makes the scene more real and more exciting.
People with kinks that involve sensory deprivation also choose it for that reason. Not being able to see what is happening can be exciting, as can not being able to hear what is going on around you.
What Forms of Sensory Deprivation are There?
The most common form of sensory deprivation in the BDSM world is blindfolds for sight. This is simply because it is the easiest and most powerful impact on playtime. You can use anything from a blindfold to a scarf to remove someone's sense of eyesight.
As a close second hearing deprivation has been a recent popular choice. Noise-canceling headphones, earplugs, and similar devices allow for you to remove most of someone's ability to hear and thus they are unsure of when or if they are going to be touched.
Some other sensory deprivation options out there include:
Taste - Using strong tasting foods to remove taste and often smell along with it
Smell - Plugging the nose or clothespinning the nose, sometimes taking some of your sense of taste with it
Touch - Utilizing latex or another barrier to remove some of a person's feeling of touch or to change the way they experience a touch
How To Incorporate Sensory Deprivation into BDSM?
Many people who have never tried sensory deprivation before wonder how they can incorporate it into their scenes. The answer to this question is not one that some people want to hear, you can incorporate it in almost any way you want. The world is full of possibilities.
Our best advice is to start slow when incorporating sensory deprivation into your BDSM for the first time. Try working with a single sense to start and be easy about it. Use a blindfold and tease your partner, for example. Don't try to remove many senses at one time as it can be quite overwhelming.
At the same time, part of the fun of sensory deprivation is exploring. Talk with your partner and come up with creative ways that you can integrate it into your play. Ice cubes make for an interesting way to take away the sense of touch. A blindfold and random foods or objects can make for a fun tasting game, just make sure there are some "fun" objects thrown in there.
Always Keep Safety in Mind
Safety is important in BDSM as a submissive has to put a lot of trust in their partner to watch out for them. Sensory deprivation can make safety even more important because the submissive may not always be able to tell what is coming and can quickly become overwhelmed if they are not prepared for the experience.
One of the first things that you should do when engaging in BDSM is to set up safewords so that your partner will no how to signal to stop if they want to stop. A safeword should always be something that signals stop, not just to go slower. You can always set up a second word that means slow down, but that needs to be clearly distinguished.
A second safety thing to keep in mind is setting limits. Limits help let your partner know what you are willing to try and what you are willing to try. A discussion about limits should be something you have before you even start practicing BDSM in the first place. Before trying sensory deprivation it is important to review these so that everyone is on the same page.
Lastly, when it comes to safety keep in mind the methods you are using for sensory deprivation. For example, if you are using ice, you need to make sure that you don't leave ice on exposed skin for too long. When using latex you don't want it to cover the mouth or be too restrictive in certain places.
Sensory deprivation gives you another tool to enhance BDSM scenes. With so many different options out there it will help you to refresh your love life and enhance your play. Anyone and everyone can find a way to integrate sensory deprivation, from the most vanilla to the most kinkiest of kinksters, how are you going to implement it into your next scene?