Breath Play

Take a deep breath...

Is there a safe way to participate in breath play?

I don’t want to be choked, are there other ways to do breath play?

How do you safeword when you can’t breathe?

Take a deep breath...

Breath play comes in many forms. The most common one is probably choking, but that's far from the only option. You can also hold the mouth and nose shut for a time, indulge in some facesitting, press down carefully on the sternum or try out some specialised breath play toys. Safety is paramount, and there's no way to practice breath play that is entirely risk-free. Make sure that you do your research before you begin, and communicate carefully with your partners.

One important thing to discuss before indulging in breath play is the non-verbal safeword. There are many ways to make this work, but one of the most reliable involves three clear sounds from the back of the throat. You can also hold something that will make a noise if you drop it.

Is there a safe way to participate in breath play?

No. Breath play is very much in the Risk Aware Consensual Kink (RACK) side of BDSM. There is no way to stop another person from breathing that is totally 100% safe. There are ways to moderate the risks and it is advised to really research what you’re doing before trying it out.

I don’t want to be choked, are there other ways to do breath play?

There are lots of ways to do breath play. Covering a person’s mouth and nose with your hand is one, you can also use gas masks or fine material to cover a person’s face and restrict their breathing. Be sure you know the risks and don’t do any kind of breath play unless you are completely confident in what you’re doing.

How do you safeword when you can’t breathe?

It’s super important that the bottom/submissive in a scene can communicate that they want to stop. When their mouth is covered, a safeword alternative needs to be agreed. This can be a rhythmic grunt (three short ones in a row is common) but non-verbal communication can be used too. Holding a ball/small item in one hand (one that will make a sound on dropping) means the person only has to let go of it to communicate they want the scene to stop.

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