🩷 About Bound to Rise 🩷
Bound to Rise is a kinky community space that blends presence, connection, and rope bondage into one delightful evening. Rooted in community, learning, and respect, it offers a container where people can engage in experiential relational learning at their own pace. We honor the balance between curiosity and caution, comfort and risk. By practicing presence and attunement, people are encouraged to be active, conscious participants in their exploration of self and other. People describe Bound to Rise as as “safe”, “inclusive”, “therapeutic”, and “truly transformative." 🌀
Whether new to rope or experienced, we welcome you to connect, learn, and express your authentic self. Discover what rope community can mean to you: attuned presence, nervous system regulation, embodied connection, dominance and submission, shadow work, and more. ☀️🌙
The evening begins with an all-levels rope workshop to learn foundational skills for creating a fun and meaningful rope experience. Then, we transition into an open jam with space for socializing, snacking, rope labbing, and rope scenes. During the jam, a House Top will be available to tie participants and help create a magical night. ✨🌌
You're welcome to come partnered or solo. The workshops are thoughtfully designed to weave people together in gentle ways, so that by the time the jam comes around you've already had neutral-positive interactions with half a dozen people you could potentially ask to tie with; we model consent and attunement so people know how to treat each other in this space; and we have enough time so that everyone can both tie and be tied. And of course everything we offer is an invitation, you're welcome to adjust the exercise or sit out and observe if that better suits you. ⭐
🪢 Workshop: Leg Day 🪢
Shibari typically focuses on using hands and arms to tie- but what about the rest of your body? This beginner-friendly, all-levels workshop explores how tops can use their legs to support, guide, and connect with their partners. We'll focus on practical body manipulation in combination with basic rope handling to create an environment for interactive, embodied connection.
🎟️ Ticket pricing 🎟️
For low-income folks, limited work-trade tickets are available at $10 off the ticket price at the time of registration: $25 Super Early Bird, $30 Early Bird, $35 Regular. Work trade involves coming 15 minutes early and staying 15 minutes late to help set up and break down.
Space is limited to 30 attendees.
💙 Community Guidelines 💙
🐛This is a place of practice. Come and learn new skills, meet people, and share what you can. We hope to cultivate a community centered around practicing rope in a safe and supportive container.
🐒Take really good care of yourself. Giving or receiving "no" can be a challenge in our wider culture. Let's use this as a space to practice being honest about what we want, what we don't want, and what we're not sure about. Having boundaries is how we can be in good relationship with one another.
🐝 Let's take care of one another. By practicing together, in community, we can be a source of support for people around us, and receive support from them as well. We're not strangers here, or at least not for long. Santa Cruz is small. Say hi.
🌱 Play within your skill level. There's a wide range of what's possible with rope. It takes training—more than you might initially think—to build awareness of all the possible risks. Aim to play within your risk tolerance. Be safe and take it slow.
🐙We all make mistakes. If you experienced a consent violation, a consent oopsie, or anything that just made you feel a bit uncomfortable for any reason, please let us know. Seriously—no matter how small or big! Having that information helps us understand what's happening in the space, recognize where we as a community could use more awareness, and help individuals understand their impact and potentially change their behavior for the better.
Feedback form: https://forms.gle/2NQmTkNjsHVjhHfx9
💛 Schedule 💛
6:45 - 6:55PM – Arrival
7:00PM – Opening Circle
7:15PM – All-levels Workshop
8:45PM – Open Jam
10:20PM – Closing Circle
10:30 - 11PM – Departure
🧡 Offerings and Definitions 🧡
✨ All-levels Workshop: Workshop for newbies, beginners, and intermediates to learn relational and tactical aspects of rope.
🍓Snack lounge: Potluck-style social space. Bring a snack to share with others and connect with like-minded folks.
🌟 Rope scene: Negotiated rope experience. People outside the scene are welcome to observe, but please refrain from chatting nearby.
🧪 Rope lab: Place and practice for experimentation. Unlike in a rope scene, rope labbing is informal and encourages dialogue for learning about knots, sensations, boundary exploration, and more.
🎩 House top: Experienced rope casters who are available to tie with participants during the jam. This is a great opportunity for folks who are new to rope to be tied.
🙏 Love for Bound to Rise 🙏
“I felt very safe and held in the beautiful and clearly stated container you created... I walked away feeling nourished on so many levels. I love the deep healing that I am experiencing in this space.” - J.M.
"I loved the way you taught. Each step was accessible, and it was amazing how much connection and enjoyment was possible in the first part before we learned any knots. Masterful facilitation." - A.P.
“Thank you so much for hosting such an amazing event last night! I am still feeling the effects today... I feel grounded, connected, embodied... truly transformative." - J.G