Breath Play

By Sam Marie


I want to share something I learned. I acknowledge that I was wrong in the way I was doing this. It is fun and can give us an incredible rush. But it is a subject that is seldom talked about in detail, in regards to the technique.

Breath play doesn’t mean you can use a rope, a belt a stocking to choke someone, or just put your hands on their neck and squeeze. We can cause some serious damage to a person if we are not careful.

So, I asked someone knowledgeable on the subject to please explain to me how it is done correctly. He has years of experience in martial arts and in BDSM.

He showed me by demonstrating, and even trying it on me so I can see how it feels. Then I tried it on a volunteer.







The best way to explain one method is by showing a picture of something similar.

Place one arm around the neck, but the other arm won’t look like this, it will be behind the subject’s head in an angle, and gently pushing forward. Squeeze flexing the arm muscles, but keep an eye on your subject, make sure they are still doing ok. It should be a few seconds, you could count to 5 and release.

Later on in play you will be able to tell if you can extend the time in small increments. Be careful, because this is restricting the blood flow to the brain.

The arm that is not around the neck in the picture is the right arm, place it higher across, behind the head, in the same angle seen in the picture. Gently push the person forward with it.

I like to do it for the feeling of it, the power behind it. I am not trying to strangle my sub, I am trying to give him a quick rush, and I like to do it from the front. Looking at the neck, please observe where the arteries are, and where the airway is. You should not squeeze anything on the neck. You can grab the person upwards pressing more under the jaw. That will help give the person the feeling of being restrained by the neck, but in a safe manner.

So place the hand in this manner, but don’t squeeze the neck, push up, and most of the pressure should be along the top edge of your hand against the jaw and not on the neck.






Here is what NOT to do:

Strangulation

“A ligature such as a belt or rope around the neck, or hands or arm pressure on the neck compresses the internal carotid artery. Apart from the direct restriction of blood to the brain there are two other significant responses produced by pressing on the neck:

· Pressing on the carotid arteries also presses on baroreceptors. These bodies then cause vasodilatation (dilation (widening) of the blood vessels) in the brain leading to insufficient blood to perfuse the brain with oxygen and maintain consciousness.

· A message is also sent via the vagus nerve to the main pacemaker of the heart to decrease the rate and volume of the heartbeat, typically by a third.[7] In some cases there is evidence that this may escalate into asystole, a form of cardiac arrest that is difficult to treat.[8] There is a dissenting view on the full extent how and when a person reaches a stage of permanent injury, but it is agreed[by whom?] that pressure on the vagus nerve causes changes to pulse rate and blood pressure and is dangerous in cases ofcarotid sinus hypersensitivity.

This method is responsible for most, but not all, of the reported fatalities.

The method is especially dangerous when practiced alone. Involuntary movements can lead to head trauma and other injuries. If standing, loss of consciousness can result in substantial head trauma through falling. In the event that consciousness is not immediately regained, medical help cannot be sought by a third party, observer, or friend. If the administration of CPR or basic life support is needed due to respiratory or cardiac arrest, help would not be available or quickly summonable when unconscious or not breathing. Also this act could be mistaken for suicide when practiced alone, but accidentally observed by a stranger, to whom the motivation behind the apparent 'strangulation' is not known.






"Self-induced hypocapnia


The second mechanism requires hyperventilation (forced overbreathing) until symptoms of hypocapnia such as tingling, light-headedness or dizziness are felt, followed by a breath-hold. This alone is enough to cause a blackout, but it is widely believed that the effect is enhanced if lung air pressure is increased by holding the breath "hard" or "bearing down" (tightening the diaphragm as in a forced exhalation while allowing no air to escape or having an assistant apply a bear-hug).[9] These latter actions may augment the effects of hypoxia by approximating the Valsalva maneuver, causing vagal stimulation.


The hyperventilation leads to an excessive elimination of carbon dioxide (CO2) whereas no significant additional amounts of oxygen can be stocked in the body. As only carbon dioxide is responsible for the breathing stimulus, after hyperventilation, breath can be held longer until cerebral hypoxia occurs. The blood also becomes abnormally alkaline as a result of the excessive elimination of carbon dioxide; this subsequent rise in blood pH is termed alkalosis. Alkalosis interferes with normal oxygen utilization by the brain. The symptoms of alkalosis are neuromuscular irritability, muscular spasms, tingling and numbness of the extremities and around the mouth, and a dizziness, or giddiness, often interpreted as a sense of euphoria.


In the body alkalosis generally induces vasodilatation (widening of the blood vessels) but in the brain alone it causes vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels). This vasoconstriction appears to be made even worse by a sudden increase in blood pressure caused by squeezing or holding the breath "hard". The alkalosis-induced euphoria can be followed rapidly by hypoxia-induced unconsciousness. The sequence of events leading to unconsciousness from hyperventilation is as follows[citation needed]:


1. Decrease in partial pressure of alveolar CO2.

2. Decrease in partial pressure of arterial CO2.

3. Increase in blood pH, (respiratory alkalosis).

4. Vasoconstriction of blood vessels supplying brain.

5. Pooling of the blood present in the brain at the time.

6. Brain rapidly uses up oxygen (O2) available in the pooled blood.

7. O2 concentration in the brain drops.

8. Unconsciousness from hypoxia of cerebral tissue.

Because the brain cannot store reserves of oxygen and, unlike other organs, has an exceedingly low tolerance of oxygen deprivation, it is highly vulnerable if vasoconstriction is not reversed. Normally, if the brain is hypoxic, autonomous systems in the body divert blood to the brain at the expense of other organs; because the brain is vasoconstricted this mechanism is not available. Vasoconstriction is only reversed by the build-up of carbon dioxide in the blood through suspension of breathing.

In some versions the bear-hug is replaced by pressure on the neck in which case blackout is a hybrid of strangulation and self-induced hypocapnia." (Wikipedia)

References:

Copied the portions about strangulation and self induced hypocapnia from Wikipedia.