Are you, like many people, enthralled by scenes of suffocation and distress in Hollywood movies like "Frenzy?" Have you started some athletic breath play training and found it fascinating? If you're intrigued by the strenuous thrashing of your body when you deprive yourself of oxygen or have a partner do it for you, you probably have already tried some form of sensual suffocation. You are definitely not alone, even though breath play is still one of the more taboo arts in the BDSM community. Why? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, accidents happen. This type of play is serious and can easily lead to injury, permanent brain damage and even death if the action isn't handled just right. It's definitely fair to say that there are alarmists out there who go too far discussing fatalities due specifically to autoerotic asphyxiation, but when it comes to safe play with yourself or a partner, it's worth it to take a deep breath and learn as much as you can about prevention before you get started.

One of the major concerns for everyone involved in breath play (and not just the puritan panic-mongers) is the potential for cardiac arrest. The reason for this is that players might be very experienced with themselves and each other, but, overwhelmingly, the first noticeable exterior sign of cardiac arrest is one of the last phases of the emergency. In other words, it's very easy to mistake a cardiac arrest for fainting or climax. The consequences for such an event have a profound effect on survivors, so one of the most important things to remember about erotic asphyxiation is that observation is the key to everything. Even so, you won't be able to look at your partner and know that an attack is happening and if you're playing solo, you might not realize what's going on before you're too incapacitated to react.

There are plenty of people out there who advise simply abstaining from this type of play for these reasons and if your partner is one of them, the best thing to do is respect his/her wishes. On the flipside, if you're with someone who wants to go ahead with it on his/her own, that wish needs to be respected as well. A CPR course is a great first step, not only to learn about safety, but also about the human body. If you're into playing with the effects of asphyxiation, you're definitely going to enjoy those lessons huffing and puffing and using the masks. The next thing to remember is that everyone has limits and they need to be respected. This means you should definitely be starting off slow, even if you're a solo player. Start by using your muscles to limit your breathing intake and enjoy the sensation of dizziness and that heavy feeling that comes over you. Set up a mirror or camera - or both if you like. Just reliving your session is awesome, but it will also help to observe your body and get used to what happens when you cut off the air.

Next, learn as much as you can about different apparatuses. There are innumerable instances where couples, groups and solo players use devices or setups with built-in safety measures that either fail or aren't effective. These generally end very badly, so it's very important to understand what you have available. Here's another tip: If you try something on your own and it works, don't assume it will work again. Dowels and joins can break, ropes fray and become less supple, and so on. At this stage, go ahead and consult with other players. Read "The Breathless Orgasm: A Lovemap Biography of Asphyxophilia." Check out performances or log on to your favorite website that offers to depict a scene you describe. Being embarrassed about your breath play is understandable given how "weird" it is made out to be on the news, but that warm feeling you get when your cheeks get red is worth living through when you get the information you need to play safe.

There are a few ways of playing with breath and here are some methods: muscular breath control, use of ligature to constrict airways, use of a bag to induce suffocation, rebreathing, gas or fetish masks, plastic wraps and tape, nose pinching, Queening or Kinging, chest compression and more. Each of these types of play can be undertaken either alone or with a partner and each offers its own risks. The main thing to remember is that if you play alone, no one is around to help you if you faint. The main thing to remember about playing with a partner is that things can go wrong and, unfortunately, the dominant player is vulnerable to prosecution. Take excellent care of yourself and your partner during every moment of preparation - play and after-play. Develop a safe signal that will indicate whether or not you've fainted. Safewords are dependent on your ability to speak, so try for something like a hand on a thigh or other prop, so that when you go unconscious it will fall. If you're playing alone, take many precautions and make sure what you're doing will come to a halt if you pass out.

For those players out there who are just starting out, try some simple forms of holding your breath and rebreathing. Holding your breath is fairly simple and can be done alone or with a partner. You can begin by simply holding your breath while masturbating. Enjoy the headiness and warm feeling that comes over you. Pinch your nose as well and enjoy the muscle strain your body will introduce you to. Take these sessions in very small steps and take heart in the fact that if you do go too far, when you faint, your hand will simply fall away from your nose. Bear in mind that if you're playing with a partner, that person should be monitoring your heart rate and if you faint, he/she should immediately turn you over to ensure that if you start to gag or vomit, you don't breathe in any liquids. This is one of the safest forms of asphyxiation out there, but it is by no means risk free. Once your session is over, have a debriefing and talk over the experience with the other person involved. If that other person is you, consider a diary or an online forum where you can take note of your thoughts and experiences, get some advice from others (which you should always double check), and even read over a previous entry when you want to relive a particular breathless moment.

When you're ready to take your breath a little further, get someone who rings your bell to Queen or King your air passages. This is a simple domination technique called smothering, where the sub's face is covered by the pussy or balls of the Dom/me. In this scenario, there are many variables to take into consideration when the goal is to restrict the breath. The same rules for chest compression apply here, in that the dominant should always have a way of checking on the status of the breathless sub. Having one hand reached up to a pole or rope allows you to easily notice passing out if the hand falls. It's harder to discern if you smother facing forward. Use mirrors and signals to keep your sub's body carefully monitored. It can be very dangerous to undertake smothering with a gag or obstruction in the sub's mouth and when you feel your slave struggling or making sounds they don't usually make, let them turn over in case they need to vomit. It's much better to make sure everyone is safe and work some interruptus into the session than to allow a serious accident to take place.

A fun way of getting into the spirit is head mummification. If you use duct tape or plastic wrap, keep scissors on hand to cut away obstructions immediately. For first-time wrappers, leave the mouth and nose uncovered, then have the sub hold their breath, maybe using a feather or mirror against their mouth to monitor their commitment to the scene. Slowly introduce nose pinching and make sure to listen to your sub's body and your own. Spot checks are important, particularly when you're playing with cutting off oxygen to the body and brain. If you prefer to play solo, please do not, under any circumstances put a bag over your head. One, you're prettier than that. Two, if you faint, how is the bag going to get off your head? Use a paper bag to rebreathe, such as what you might do if you are hyperventilating and then move up to rebreathing bladders. You can also hold a bag up to your mouth and nose, again ensuring that if you faint, your hands and, hence, the bag will fall away.

Hoods and gas masks are a hallmark of the fetish world and can easily be used to control and restrict the breath of any player. When making purchasing decisions, be careful of the ones that fully cover the face and use tubes for the nostrils and mouth. These types of masks are often amazing for regular play, but not a good decision for safe breath play. If you faint and fall while using these toys, the tubes can be pushed far into your nose and mouth. Painful and dangerous. Another thing to remember is that this type of mask is often difficult to remove quickly. If you start vomiting or pass out or both, your partner might not be able to get it off quickly enough to prevent a serious accident. Look for high-quality gas masks with separate breathing apparatuses on the front that you can block with your hands. If you faint, your hands are likely to fall away from the nozzle, immediately allowing for air, and if you're with a partner, they can simply remove the nozzle without struggling with the entire mask. Inflatable masks are not ideal in this scenario since they don't allow your partner to easily see if you are in distress and they take too long to deflate, putting you in danger if you start to faint.

Now we're at the point where only the very experienced should venture. Using ligatures, ropes or arm pressure on the carotid artery can very seriously damage the artery, your brain, heart and larynx. If you're into playing police, understand that a choke hold that applies pressure to the carotid artery with the arm is officially considered "deadly force." It only takes 15 seconds of pressure to induce unconsciousness. This is one of the easiest ways to cause a serious accident to your favorite sub, so be sure to have safe gestures and words understood between you. If your intention is to induce unconsciousness, please make sure that you are playing with experienced Dom/mes, that you have a third person involved who can check on you at various intervals and that that person is fully trained in CPR. It might seem hysterical to go to all this trouble, but since fainting and vomiting can be a sign of cardiac arrest and since there is no way to tell if cardiac arrest is immanent, it's best to play super safe with this type of strangulation. As an experienced sub, let yourself fall into the role of having attention and care lavished onto your body by two or more people and enjoy the attention that comes from constant monitoring.

Do you know a professional anesthesiologist? Are you friendly with the huffers downstairs? Good for you! When they offer to "safely put you under" or slow and stop your oxygen intake with drugs, there's really only one answer: No thanks. Professionals use exhaustive measures to be sure they're putting hospital patients under properly and they still lose people every year. There is no safe way to understand that if you are allergic to the anesthesia you're about to use and if the dosage is wrong, there will not be enough time to get you to the hospital, period. When you choke or faint, obstructions can be removed from your mouth and nose and CPR can have some effect. Nothing will get drugs out of your bloodstream in time to get oxygen back into your brain. This is one type of play that is downright dangerous and should not be undertaken even by experienced players. If you really want to get into your medical fetish, get an oxygen mask.

Sounds simple enough, right? Get lots of experience under your belt and then back off if you notice anything wrong. This is a great rule for all kinds of bondage play, but you'll run into a problem specifically with breathing. The reason for this is that once the heart has begun to lose oxygen, it fires off a "pacemaker" beat that can cause rapid skipping with the clinical name "premature ventricular contractions." There is no way for even someone experienced to recognize these without a cardiac monitor and taking the pulse won't do it. These can throw the heart into ventricular fibrillation, a form of cardiac arrest. This is the serious part since there is no way to determine when or if this will happen. It could take a minute or less than 30 seconds. This means that no matter how often you have successfully played in the past and no matter how experienced and trustworthy your partner is, the bottom is exposing her/himself to cardiac arrest every single time. We're not here to make you feel unsafe or kill your wet little buzz, but it's really important to understand what is going on with your body when you play with oxygen. Permanent brain damage, damage to the heart, ligatures, larynx and spine are also possibilities for extreme sessions and it's worth noting that there is the possibility of stroke in this type of play.

Feel like a bucket of cold water was just poured on your sexy self? For once, we hope so. When you're really curious about this type of playing, the urge will definitely come back and when it does hopefully you'll have had time to get yourself informed on the best ways to protect yourself. Check out some shows, go to martial arts demonstrations that show choking and choke holds and don't be afraid to seek out SM-friendly doctors and paramedics who can talk to you about the heady sensation you're looking for. If you've had the curiosity for a long time, nothing will prevent you from taking full ownership of your gorgeous body and treating it to the session of a lifetime. Just be sure it isn't your last by putting failsafe after failsafe in place.

Of all the edge play out there, this is one of the most controversial, with even some of the most respected BDSM gurus out there warning against the consequences of an unsuccessful session. Wade into this one slowly, keep yourself monitored and, most of all, have fun. Know your body, respect its boundaries and when you push yourself, make sure there's someone on the other side ready to pick you up, even if you want to play out your session alone. Breathe deep, lean back and enjoy the dizziness that comes from the whole body straining for cool, clean air. Remember: always play safe.

References:

Deviant's Dictionary: Breath Play

Science of Sex: Scary Sex Issue

The Natural Order: She Obeys