I was lucky enough to do my first suspension this past sunday, August 17th. A few days prior a friend of mine, Shawna, had told me a team was meeting up to suspend, but unfortunately I had planned to visit family that weekend, and it didn't look like I'd be able to schedule everything so that I could attend, much less hang. But thankfully, (sorry mom!) The thursday prior, plans changed, and everything was on for sunday.... I remember being immediately pumped, I've been fascinated by suspension since about the time I wanted my first tattoo....
At A Glance Author Temptation Contact Temptation@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Erin/Angel Studio Someplace in the woods....... Location Cary, NC So sunday rolls around, at that point I'd been excited for about 3 days straight, so I had no problem waking up early to get ready. Shawna and I headed out for a nice healthy diner breakfast, to grab some camera batteries, and then drove onward to meet up with our piercers. After making a lengthy twisty drive to the actual meet location, I got to watch the rig being set up in a tree in the backyard, and more people started to arrive..... I even ran into the wonderful man who did my madison and hood piercings!
Everything got going, and I watched some other people go up on hooks first, and be a bit calmed down about the prospect of actually hanging...
Later, I got Erin aside to talk about how I was going to suspend. There was an issue with me doing a 4 or 6 point from my back due to surgeries I've had in the past that left me with extreme nerve sensitivity in places, so we decided to go for the knees. When she told me to get ready to be pierced, I remember just wanting to squeal with joy.... I hadn't planned on going up by my knees, so I ended up in my undies and boots. Erin and Angel were piercing me in tandem, so that it wouldn't be as hard to get through(four 8 gauge piercings Is a lot to do at once)Erin got me in position on the table, cleaned and then marked me(you're welcome, Erin), and she and Angel both pinched me and got ready to go... Deep breath, and my first two hooks were in. Repeat process, and I was done, with four big beautiful hooks on either side of each knee.
Shawna grabbed her camera and let me lean on her to walk out to where the rig was hanging, and I got up on the ladder(top rung. scary!) so that Erin could tie me in close to the rig rather than having to raise me from sitting on the ground. She got everything tight, and the tension decent, but I needed to be more directly under the rig, so Shawna and another attendee, Jason, came to hold me up, and Erin moved the ladder out from under me. Then Erin started to tighten the rig a bit, instructing my 'handlers', if you will, to let my legs hang free from my hooks, as they each kept an arm under me and I wrapped my arms around their necks.... The first sensation of pressure was definitely burning, yes, it did hurt, but not for long... We were going slow, Erin cranked the rig a bit higher and then they were tipping me back from my sitting position on their arms slowly.... the first or second time I got them to stop on the way down, I remember Shawna kissing me on the cheek...And w hat's even better was that Erin and Shawna were both very encouraging, telling me how proud they were and how well I was doing...
When I was about parallel to the ground, Shawna moved away to take pictures and it was just Jason holding me up from behind, me gripping onto him while staring at my flesh stretch, really. At that point there didn't really seem to be pain, just an "other" sort of sensation.
Everyone around me was being so good, working to keep me calm - Jason telling me how it wasn't going to hurt any more than it did at that moment, pointing out that all my weight really Was on those hooks.
I asked Shawna to light me a cigarette, which I smoked about half of, attempted some smoke rings, though it was too windy, and dropped it.
I was ready for more..... And heard a song I absolutely adore(Halo Flaming Lead by Foetus) start in what seemed to be the faraway background. So I slowly lowered myself and let go..... I was so amazed - here I was, hanging vertically upside down from my knees!
I almost felt detached from my body, all the sensation were So new. Unfortunately, the chains of the rig had gotten twisted, and I started to spin a bit.... At which point the sensations of my stretching skin,pulling away from the muscle, that full-body buzz, the near-detachment from my body, were So intense.... I almost thought I was going to have a full-body orgasm right there, and I had to ask to come down, it was so much to deal with. Jason and someone else(I'm sorry I can't supply this detail, I was understandably still riding the rush..) picked me up, and Erin sliced my ropes for me. Everyone clapped when I came down, and that definitely put a smile on my face. It felt like I had been hanging forever, but since I was handed my still-not-burned-down cigarette as I stood up, I know it was just a few seconds. Shawna helped me walk back to the porch to sit down and chill for a moment....Then Jason came up and I thanked him for being so good to me, and the proceeded to hug him and slap the hell out of the hooks in his back, which he graciously forgave me for....
The whole experience was great - I'm so proud of myself for doing it, and I enjoyed it so much. Everyone there was absolutely wonderful to me. Still amazing to know what you can do with your body, and I can barely wait to get together again next month and do it again!